Tag Archives: CNC

CNC Build, day #4 – a stopping point

I had another productive night on the CNC build. I measured and drilled 4 decently complicated parts. Luckily, they came as two sets of pairs, so I only had to drill one set of holes on each. I have a … Continue reading

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CNC build, day 3 – on a serious roll now

I had a couple more holes to punch with the drill press on the X-table before I could really move on. The 7/16″ holes for the cross dowels for the rails needed to be measured out and punched in. I … Continue reading

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CNC build, day 2 – Righting the ship

Progress, thy name is “Drill Press”. After several frustratingly inaccurate drill holes from last night, I knew that my hand drill accuracy was not going to be sufficient to complete this job. Seeing my frustration, my ever-accomodating wife (may the … Continue reading

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CNC Build Day #1 – making sawdust

Now that I have all the wood onsite and more or less marked, and a jig to help me drill straight, I decided to start in on the build. In the videos, PH-D (the author of the book and owner … Continue reading

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CNC – It’s on

After a weekend of hard labor in the garage, I’ve cleared enough space to get started on the CNC project. Today, I ordered the electronics package from KelingInc: Gecko G540 3x 425oz-in stepper motors 48v/7.3A power supply E-stop switch and … Continue reading

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CNC software – designing Cerberus

CNC software is a three-headed beast (hence “Cerberus”). To go from “idea” to “cut piece”, you need: – CAD software, to build the 3D model of the object (or the “2.5D” layout, or the 2D circuit diagram or whatever); – … Continue reading

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CNC plans on hold

I will continue researching CNC software and firmware, maybe build out my CNC Etch-a-Sketch like I’d been wanting to. I don’t know if the Ladyada Motor shield can juice the motors up enough to drive the EaS, but I can … Continue reading

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CNC – Electronics

The electronics for a CNC machine are reasonably complicated, and consist of: – 3 motors, one per axis, which drive the leadscrews that position the axes, driven by – 3 “motor drivers”, one per motor; the boards convert TTL-level “step” … Continue reading

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CNC – design ideas

After much research, I have decided that I should aim to build a moving-gantry, 3-axis mill, with a 2′ x 4′ bed (sized for a 1/4 sheet of plywood, although I will only be able to use about 20″x40″ of … Continue reading

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DIY CNC – A Mathematically Constrained Robot

Ah, CNC. The promise of turning idea into creation. The idea of owning a CNC machine appeals to me on many levels. I often have project ideas that I can’t figure out how to construct because of my limited toolset … Continue reading

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