One of the first jobs on a cnc is making a few simple wooden clamps from a peace of scrap plywood 3/4 just a long 5 or 6 mm dlot and cut out several strips of them The second job is a few cam levers and or wedges Clamping with wood doesn't kill too many bits
I can add an indicator to the list. Not a thing you use daily, but very good for detecring if your angles are straight, if what needs to be parallel actually is, or even if your spindle is not off center too much.
Hi i have replaced the original bolt and wing nut on the clamp with a 13mm coach bolt and wing nut, the coach head fits into the slot on the bed easily but wont spin so clamping your job down is one handed.
Nice round-up of an underrated subject. I don't have one myself so I cannot be sure, but I thought the boots were supposed to be left "free floating" so they "just followed the spindle around". I've seen videos with boots that have magnets that hold them close to the spindle mechanism but that is just for when you're changing bits etc. While milling you pull them away from the magnetic 'base' so they do not exert any force on the work piece, they just skate round on their bristles. I use something more like the nozzles myself, but I fashioned the end out of expanded polystyrene so I have a (free) sacrificial nozzle that I can put close to the spindle and if it touches anything then I just get a few poly fragments knocked off. A massive bodge but it works for me.
There are different type and I think on bigger machines they do work like that, as you say to not put any pressure on the work piece. I dont think I have seen a floating type on a smaller machine but I am sure someone has probably created one
G’day James, really nice tips mate & I in particular like the vernier with the dial on it because every time I went to use my digital one the battery was flat lol. Agree that you get what you pay for 🍻🇦🇺👍
Foxalien have just released there's which looks pretty good www.foxalien.com/products/69mm-dustshoe-compatible-with-52mm-65mm-69mm-router?_pos=4&_sid=4b5d15b73&_ss=r&sca_ref=725103.t6qfXeHAnx
Hi, thanks for your explanation! I have a question: for the Dewalt router is possible to install a ER11 Collet ? What accessory do you recommend for using the smallest bits? Thank you so much!
How is the battery life with that digital caliper? I bought a cheap one from Harbor Freight some time back, and in that case it was horrible. Several times I went to use it only to find the battery dead, until I got smart and took the battery out of it when I put it away. And substitutted an SR44 Silver Oxide battery for the LR44 alkaline that they suppliied initially. At this point I'm opting for one with a dial. :-)
The first battery didn't last that long but I also noticed it stayed on for a while and every time I moved it, it came on. So when I put the next battery in I now make an effort to turn it off when not using it and its lasted much longer
On digital calipers, the processor remains operational all the time, even when the display is off, and that's why you don't need to re-zero it every time you switch it on. On more expensive ones, such as Starretts or genuine Mitutoyos, the processor also goes into a lower power sleep mode, and uses something like a quarter of the current, so batteries may last years. I replace the SR44s in my Mitutoyos about every 3 years or so. On cheap ones and knockoffs, often only the display is turned off, the difference in current draw isn't very much, and LR44 batteries often only last several weeks. Sadly, one of my nice Mitutoyos (genuine, not a knockoff) died a few weeks ago and was so old that spares are no longer available (Mitutoyo will repair faulty ones) so I had to buy a service replacement unit. That had about a 35% discount, but still a bit spendy.
Hi, I'm needing to know where can I get parts like the Y axis piece that is the nut with the spring on it under the plate which moves the plate? Mine has a lot of movement can't get actuate cuttings with the play it has.
The caliper you showed is a digital caliper. And yes, it's "a caliper", not a pair of calipers. A vernier caliper is one with opposing scales; where the main non-moving scale is marked in units such as millimetres or inches, and the opposite, moving, vernier scale, is marked with unlabelled graduations at a different pitch, often 10 divisions for every nine on the main scale. By gauging which of the ungraduated marks best aligns with a mark on the main scale you can measure to tenths of the main graduations (Wikipedia has a good diagram). The third type is a dial caliper, where instead of a vernier scale, there's a dial with a rotating needle.
How would you set up the laser on a cnc 3018 to burn like a short poem for example on the inside of a 'U' shape, or something not as mathematically smooth, like drift wood? ⬇️ 〰️〰️ ↘️🌶. Maybe doing it in small sections?
the default jog rate for new installation is tiny, it's possible it's moving at imperceptible amount. set initial distance 10mm & jog rate 1000mm/min see if that improves your symptoms
Have you got it set up to do homing ? Is so, it will not cooperate until you have done a homing cycle - the controller starts up in a "locked" state and you either need to home it or explicitly unlock it. I have not used UGS. In Candle there is a padlock icon that shows if it is in this state, I guess UGS will have the same functionality but I don't know what it looks like. I suppose the other obvious thing to check is that none of your axes are at an end and tripping any limit switches - try first manually moving all the axes to mid-range with it turned off.
One of the first jobs on a cnc is making a few simple wooden clamps from a peace of scrap plywood 3/4 just a long 5 or 6 mm dlot and cut out several strips of them The second job is a few cam levers and or wedges
Clamping with wood doesn't kill too many bits
The alternative way to read the depth on the calliper is ingenious. Need to try that out. Thanks for sharing the video.
Is great but I wouldn’t call it ingenious. It on purpose. It is just that nobody reads the manual
I can add an indicator to the list.
Not a thing you use daily, but very good for detecring if your angles are straight, if what needs to be parallel actually is, or even if your spindle is not off center too much.
I use dial calipers because they are easier to read, and the batteries never die.
Hi i have replaced the original bolt and wing nut on the clamp with a 13mm coach bolt and wing nut, the coach head fits into the slot on the bed easily but wont spin so clamping your job down is one handed.
Nice round-up of an underrated subject.
I don't have one myself so I cannot be sure, but I thought the boots were supposed to be left "free floating" so they "just followed the spindle around". I've seen videos with boots that have magnets that hold them close to the spindle mechanism but that is just for when you're changing bits etc. While milling you pull them away from the magnetic 'base' so they do not exert any force on the work piece, they just skate round on their bristles.
I use something more like the nozzles myself, but I fashioned the end out of expanded polystyrene so I have a (free) sacrificial nozzle that I can put close to the spindle and if it touches anything then I just get a few poly fragments knocked off. A massive bodge but it works for me.
There are different type and I think on bigger machines they do work like that, as you say to not put any pressure on the work piece. I dont think I have seen a floating type on a smaller machine but I am sure someone has probably created one
G’day James, really nice tips mate & I in particular like the vernier with the dial on it because every time I went to use my digital one the battery was flat lol.
Agree that you get what you pay for 🍻🇦🇺👍
Thanks James.
Hey James, do you have a video on vacuum solutions ?
James can you give a link to where you got the rubber dust boots from? I can’t seem to find them online.
do you have a link for a 65mm diameter dust shoe?
Foxalien have just released there's which looks pretty good
www.foxalien.com/products/69mm-dustshoe-compatible-with-52mm-65mm-69mm-router?_pos=4&_sid=4b5d15b73&_ss=r&sca_ref=725103.t6qfXeHAnx
Hi, thanks for your explanation! I have a question: for the Dewalt router is possible to install a ER11 Collet ? What accessory do you recommend for using the smallest bits? Thank you so much!
How is the battery life with that digital caliper? I bought a cheap one from Harbor Freight some time back, and in that case it was horrible. Several times I went to use it only to find the battery dead, until I got smart and took the battery out of it when I put it away. And substitutted an SR44 Silver Oxide battery for the LR44 alkaline that they suppliied initially. At this point I'm opting for one with a dial. :-)
The first battery didn't last that long but I also noticed it stayed on for a while and every time I moved it, it came on. So when I put the next battery in I now make an effort to turn it off when not using it and its lasted much longer
On digital calipers, the processor remains operational all the time, even when the display is off, and that's why you don't need to re-zero it every time you switch it on. On more expensive ones, such as Starretts or genuine Mitutoyos, the processor also goes into a lower power sleep mode, and uses something like a quarter of the current, so batteries may last years. I replace the SR44s in my Mitutoyos about every 3 years or so. On cheap ones and knockoffs, often only the display is turned off, the difference in current draw isn't very much, and LR44 batteries often only last several weeks.
Sadly, one of my nice Mitutoyos (genuine, not a knockoff) died a few weeks ago and was so old that spares are no longer available (Mitutoyo will repair faulty ones) so I had to buy a service replacement unit. That had about a 35% discount, but still a bit spendy.
Hi, I'm needing to know where can I get parts like the Y axis piece that is the nut with the spring on it under the plate which moves the plate? Mine has a lot of movement can't get actuate cuttings with the play it has.
The caliper you showed is a digital caliper. And yes, it's "a caliper", not a pair of calipers. A vernier caliper is one with opposing scales; where the main non-moving scale is marked in units such as millimetres or inches, and the opposite, moving, vernier scale, is marked with unlabelled graduations at a different pitch, often 10 divisions for every nine on the main scale. By gauging which of the ungraduated marks best aligns with a mark on the main scale you can measure to tenths of the main graduations (Wikipedia has a good diagram). The third type is a dial caliper, where instead of a vernier scale, there's a dial with a rotating needle.
How would you set up the laser on a cnc 3018 to burn like a short poem for example on the inside of a 'U' shape, or something not as mathematically smooth, like drift wood? ⬇️ 〰️〰️ ↘️🌶. Maybe doing it in small sections?
ive ust got into cnc and i cant get ugs to work with my machince it will connect but wont move
the default jog rate for new installation is tiny, it's possible it's moving at imperceptible amount. set initial distance 10mm & jog rate 1000mm/min see if that improves your symptoms
Have you got it set up to do homing ? Is so, it will not cooperate until you have done a homing cycle - the controller starts up in a "locked" state and you either need to home it or explicitly unlock it. I have not used UGS. In Candle there is a padlock icon that shows if it is in this state, I guess UGS will have the same functionality but I don't know what it looks like.
I suppose the other obvious thing to check is that none of your axes are at an end and tripping any limit switches - try first manually moving all the axes to mid-range with it turned off.
Hmmm Not sure why my earlier comment is not showing!
I didnt delete it but UA-cam can be fussy sometimes. What did you put?
First to comment 😁
oops made here not her, sorry about that.