Fabrication catch-all (CNC, 3D printing, machining, welding, etc.)

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I'm not sure if there's enough of us to warrant a thread, but if not it'll just die off. By keeping it large enough in scope I thought it might pull enough of us in.

I don't yet have much to contribute, but I'm in the middle of building up a 3D printer and will hopefully have a laser cutter by the end of the year. Anyone have some CNC experience to offer pointers or resources on getting up to speed with the likes of Mach3 and/or EMC?

Anyone else have cool toys for making sawdust, sparks, and fumes?

Here is my 3D printer kit "out of the box". I should snap a shot to show last night's progress.

IMAGE(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/Liquidmantis/2012-10-30_08-15-51.jpg)

No advice, but tagged for awesomeness/future ordering.

If I only had the money...

Would I love a CNC multi-axis milling machine and/or 3d printer.

I have been toying (ha, get it?) around with starting my own toy company for years.

I can't wait to see more updates on this.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10450...

What did you get, LiquidMantis? Is that a RepRap of some type?

This topic is filled with awesome!

The October issue of WIRED magazine has an article on MakerBot's new 3-D printer and bringing CNC to the masses. Worth a read for getting up to speed on this topic for anyone interested.

BadMojo wrote:

https://plus.google.com/photos/10450...

What did you get, LiquidMantis? Is that a RepRap of some type?

Very cool, I'm going to check out your gallery.

Yeah, mine is a MendelMax 1.5 kit. The MendelMax is a Prusa variation that uses aluminum extrusions rather than all-thread and nuts. The benefit being easier assembly and increased rigidity, just with a nominal price increase. The kit I got from 3dPrinterTek's ebay store. I probably could've gone cheaper, but this includes quite a few upgrades and by the time I sourced all the parts from various suppliers I doubt I really would have saved any money especially considering my time investment doing so.

[Edit] October 17th? So you must've just gotten yours too then. How's it coming along? Printed anything cool yet?

fangblackbone wrote:

If I only had the money...

Would I love a CNC multi-axis milling machine and/or 3d printer.

I have been toying (ha, get it?) around with starting my own toy company for years.

I can't wait to see more updates on this.

If I had the former, I would get in way too much trouble.

The upcoming Make magazine is supposed to have a big article on the current assortment of 3D printers as well.

Here's where I made it to last night before my kids forced me to stop so we could watch Mythbusters.

IMAGE(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/Liquidmantis/2012-10-31_11-46-45.jpg)

I have not commissioned my printer yet. It's slow going because I don't have all the tools required and my time is limited. Aetius is helping me do assembly and we're about half-way. The RepRapPro Huxley is what I have, and while it's more difficult to build, it was a good price for a foray into printing.

Some upcoming technology for home 3d printing:

http://www.wired.com/design/2012/09/...
http://www.solidoodle.com/

I wonder if you can use bonding putty as a 3d printer medium. Hmmm.

BadMojo wrote:

I have not commissioned my printer yet. It's slow going because I don't have all the tools required and my time is limited. Aetius is helping me do assembly and we're about half-way. The RepRapPro Huxley is what I have, and while it's more difficult to build, it was a good price for a foray into printing.

Is that a company printer or your own?

I wonder if you can use bonding putty as a 3d printer medium. Hmmm.

Think of all the money you will save by printing your own shivgees!

fangblackbone wrote:
I wonder if you can use bonding putty as a 3d printer medium. Hmmm.

Think of all the money you will save by printing your own shivgees!

Dare to think bigger.

I dabble in the digital precursor to the fabrication phase.

Keep that laser cutter thing in mind. Finding a way to put together some physical architectural models is an interesting idea.
I looked at 3d printing time close to me, and it puts the price of a model pretty far out there to just throw in as a perk in my contracts. That and it's hard to find someone with a greater than 8"x8"x8" build volume.

That looks like it's being built in the living room; which is awesome by itself.

You must have no kids. I'd already be missing that screwdriver with the red top, the hobby knife, and about four of the yellow pieces. The Yodas would be all, "hmmmmm? hmmmmmm! mmmm."

LiquidMantis wrote:

Here's where I made it to last night before my kids forced me to stop so we could watch Mythbusters. :D

Someone is just looking at pretty pictures! Yeah, I'm building in the family room in the basement. My workbenches don't have enough space right now and this gives me plenty of area to sprawl the copious amounts of parts out. My kids have been well-trained with precise instructions on tools and equipment. In fact, here's a shot of them working together to build a robotic arm the other day.

IMAGE(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/Liquidmantis/2012-10-30_08-37-56.jpg)

Paleocon wrote:
fangblackbone wrote:

If I only had the money...

Would I love a CNC multi-axis milling machine and/or 3d printer.

I have been toying (ha, get it?) around with starting my own toy company for years.

I can't wait to see more updates on this.

If I had the former, I would get in way too much trouble.

I've built a Black Toe. It's a 3-axis CNC Milling machine that uses a standard router for the bit head. Works really well. I'll post a picture next time I'm in my studio.

I also added the box table to give me a nice flat worktop and then put the whole thing on a movable table I built using my welder.

The key to these CNC machines seems to be the software.

I use Mach3 as my controller - very nice and easy to use.

I have a variety of different CAM software I use to generate the GCode (the language Mach3 and most controllers use) based upon what I'm trying to do:
- scribe letters - I use VCarve
- make a relief from a graphic - MeshCAM
- work from a DXF 3D model - MeshCAM again (it has a great "flip" function for cutting both sides of a model) or Cut3D

My only other cool toy relevant to the thread is my TIG welder. A Miller Dynasty 350. My goodness, it's a lot of fun. Welding a bunch of 22 gauge stainless steel sheet for a project. OK, that's not such fun

Moggy wrote:
Paleocon wrote:
fangblackbone wrote:

If I only had the money...

Would I love a CNC multi-axis milling machine and/or 3d printer.

I have been toying (ha, get it?) around with starting my own toy company for years.

I can't wait to see more updates on this.

If I had the former, I would get in way too much trouble.

I've built a Black Toe. It's a 3-axis CNC Milling machine that uses a standard router for the bit head. Works really well. I'll post a picture next time I'm in my studio.

I also added the box table to give me a nice flat worktop and then put the whole thing on a movable table I built using my welder.

The key to these CNC machines seems to be the software.

I use Mach3 as my controller - very nice and easy to use.

I have a variety of different CAM software I use to generate the GCode (the language Mach3 and most controllers use) based upon what I'm trying to do:
- scribe letters - I use VCarve
- make a relief from a graphic - MeshCAM
- work from a DXF 3D model - MeshCAM again (it has a great "flip" function for cutting both sides of a model) or Cut3D

My only other cool toy relevant to the thread is my TIG welder. A Miller Dynasty 350. My goodness, it's a lot of fun. Welding a bunch of 22 gauge stainless steel sheet for a project. OK, that's not such fun

Are the tolerances tight enough to make a (perfectly legal) .50BMG upper receiver for my AR15 lower? Or an aluminum block for a .308 benchrest gun?

If so, I could get myself in a lot of trouble.

Can someone help me with the bow down smiley?

LM are you offering courses on being an exemplary father figure and human being. Miniature gaming, CRPGs, tabletop gaming, robotics, 3d printers, multimonitor setup, minecraft server hosting, children cooperating....

Moggy wrote:

I've built a Black Toe.

Yeah, I was going to pick your brain on that. In one of the web posts about Hood-Daniel's laser cutter, one guy posted that his CNC kits have issues and that it took a couple of shipments of replacement parts for him to get his going. Supposedly he had the same experience with a BlackToe and then a WhiteAnt. I haven't heard much in general about his kits so I don't know if that's common.

My only other cool toy relevant to the thread is my TIG welder. A Miller Dynasty 350. My goodness, it's a lot of fun. Welding a bunch of 22 gauge stainless steel sheet for a project. OK, that's not such fun

Cool, I haven't done any TIG welding. I've done stick, my dad used to be a welder/pipe-fitter and has one of the big Lincoln 4-cylinder arc welders, and I have a Miller 250 MIG but I haven't ventured into the artistry of TIG.

Ghostship wrote:

LM are you offering courses on being an exemplary father figure and human being. Miniature gaming, CRPGs, tabletop gaming, robotics, 3d printers, multimonitor setup, minecraft server hosting, children cooperating....

Hey, it's easy to look good when you're doing your self-promoting and cherry picking photos. Not shown are the moments where I finish off a bottle of whisky while the kids chase each other around with the utility knives.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
BadMojo wrote:

I have not commissioned my printer yet. It's slow going because I don't have all the tools required and my time is limited. Aetius is helping me do assembly and we're about half-way. The RepRapPro Huxley is what I have, and while it's more difficult to build, it was a good price for a foray into printing.

Is that a company printer or your own?

It's my printer. Suckas.

I have to say that the Huxley is a tough build. But, it's a lot like an erector set. So far, it's not been bad to assemble, and the online instructions are the only weak point. Once I get it to print, I'll be able to better judge how poor of a decision I made in purchasing it.

Paleocon wrote:

Are the tolerances tight enough to make a (perfectly legal) .50BMG upper receiver for my AR15 lower? Or an aluminum block for a .308 benchrest gun?

If so, I could get myself in a lot of trouble.

Dunno. I've had tolerances down to less than 1/64" on smallish (less than a foot in all directions) wood pieces. Aluminium might have larger tolerances due to tool chatter or maybe smaller due to increased rigidity of the material.

LiquidMantis wrote:
Moggy wrote:

I've built a Black Toe.

Yeah, I was going to pick your brain on that. In one of the web posts about Hood-Daniel's laser cutter, one guy posted that his CNC kits have issues and that it took a couple of shipments of replacement parts for him to get his going. Supposedly he had the same experience with a BlackToe and then a WhiteAnt. I haven't heard much in general about his kits so I don't know if that's common.

I had no issues with bad parts. It all went together pretty easily. Took about three days, I seem to remember. Main issues:

- Assembly instructions are limited to videos on Youtube and don't cover some of the little twiddles he added later. Some I figured out but others I had no idea on. Ended up with a few wood pieces left over.
- Tried using a Craftsman router first but although he states that any router can be used, you really need to use the Porter and Cable he recommends. The router clamp was designed to hold one of these.
- Had an issue with the axle on the 'Y' stepper motor slipping on the cog that the chain feeds into. Ended up using thread locker and that seemed to solve the problem.

Progress is made! Basically I'm ready to start on the electronics now.

IMAGE(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/Liquidmantis/2012-11-01_11-49-46.jpg)

Very nice!

I don't have much for a home shop yet, but I work in a manufacturing facility and have access to welders and paint equipment any time I need. I do own a little 110V mig welder, but it resides at my parents acreage.

I can't wait to see what you guys do with the 3D printers! They are a fantastic technology that reminds me that we DO live in the future that I hoped for as a kid.

The cost of these have really come down a lot. I've been wanting on since around the year 2000. At that time all I had heard of was the zcorp and stratsys ones.

fangblackbone wrote:

If I only had the money...

Would I love a CNC multi-axis milling machine and/or 3d printer.

I have been toying (ha, get it?) around with starting my own toy company for years.

I can't wait to see more updates on this.

I'd love to start a game company as well. I really should scrounge around and sell some stuff to come up with the money and give it a go.

I took some down time, but here's as of a few minutes ago:

What... what's it doing?

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