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Cnc machine

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Revision as of 22:57, 5 August 2014 by Drbytes (Talk | contribs) (Some testing and milling with our new spindle)

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Project: cnc machine
360x360px
Name cnc machine
Initiator tkkrlab
Status Actief
Skills {{{Skillz}}}
Summary bouw van cnc machine voor TkkrLab

Zen CNC

After some searching, debating and comparison we have decided to spend our 500 Euro budget on the Zen toolworks 7x7 CNC.
our machine with test setup:
CNC-zen-toolworks7x7.jpg
PDF Manual or wiki

First tests with pen and 1mm drill as cutting tool:
CNC-pen-TkkrLab.jpg.CNC-pen-Tux.jpg.CNC-Tkkrlab-foam.jpg
First Actual PCB drilling:
Lock-O-Matic-PCB-Drilling-with-CNC.jpg

Leveling the base

Leveling of our pexiglass plate took 3 hours. We needed to add some aircooling to prevent melting the plastic. That happened during several tries before. The final result worked out quite well.
Start-leveling.jpg Owls-watching.jpg Owls watching the slow process. Almost done.

Some testing and milling with our new spindle

Test1.jpg Cnc-test3.jpg

Error creating thumbnail: Invalid thumbnail parameters

Cnc-test4.jpg
Cnc-test2.jpg


Current State:
Cnc-front-30-07-14.JPG Cnc-right-30-07-14.JPG

Who

Goal

  • CNC machine voor minstens XY as
  • minder dan 500 Euro aan onderdelen
  • kop: Dremel boor of extrudeer machine monteerbaar
  • suitable for PCB-milling

Electronics

From many electronics options we have chosen to make reprap Generation 7 Electronics. It can drive 4 stepper motors (XYZ and one Extruder), is easy to build, uses common pololu stepper drivers and has many options including electronics for contolling heaters, endstops etc.
The finished electronics (parts for 3D printer left out):
CNC-electronics.jpg

Firmware

Currently we are testing with Teacup Firmware which is supposed to also work for CNC-milling. but the firmware lacks Arc support in Gcode so we might have to switch to Marlin or grbl.

  • In the mean time we modified the Teacup firmware so it now supports arcs :)

Cad / Cam and other software

We are testing some software for different purposes:

Free 3D Modeling Software

Add ons / Wishlist

List of add ons and options for use with the CNC

(short) PCB milling instructions using eagle with gcode V3.6.4.2 or newer with the TkkrLab CNC

  • Make sure the lower left corner of your board is at coaordinates x=0.0, y=0.0
  • If you have a double sided board draw a hole of 1.0mm at x0, y0. This helps to allign the board after swapping sides.
  • If you want to cut out the board from the pcb after milling and drilling draw some 'wires' around your board in the milling layer (46). The with of the wires should the same with of the milling bit used to cut out the board (2mm is available for this at the moment). The dimention should be your PCB outline + radius of your milling bit.
  • Check your board (DRC) with design rules file for eagle: File:Tkkrlab-CNC.zip (needs to be updated for the new settings below)
  • Use the following settings File:Tkkrlab cnc20140730.zip for the gcode plugin (Download pcbgcode V3.6.2.4). inside the zip is a readme file that explains how to install and use these settings.
  • when all is done split your bottom.drill file in seperate files for drill diameters 0,7mm 0,8mm and 1.0mm. Everything larger then 1.0mm should also be drilled with 1.0mm and can be manually drilled with a larger bit after your board is finished.
  • Place your PCB material against the x-axis and set your home (0.0) position on the lower left on the pcb. If you cut out your board afterwards leave enough room for the mill bit you use for that
  • Put a piece of scratch (but evenly thick) wood under your board so you not cut or drill into the bottom plate.
  • for single side boards: bottom milling and after that use your splitted drill files to drill the holes using the correct drill bit for each file.
  • for double sided boards: First drill a 1mm hole at 0.0. Then start top milling, wait until ready and then turn around your board and place it again agains the x-axis. Allign your board using your drilled hole and home the CNC to that. Start milling the bottom layer and finaly use your splitted drill files to drill the holes using the correct drill bit for each file.
  • end cut out milling: Make sure the cnc is still aware of the correct coordinates (go to 0.0 and check if it at correct). Place the miling bit, home the Z axis and use the bott.mill file to cut out our board. (press the board down a bit when its almost finished and becomes loose).