[shearder]

Well guys - my payment has gone through and Jimmy has confirmed the start of my machine build!! SO hopefully in the next 6 - 8 weeks my XJ1212 with 4th axis will be here! R68,000 later

[shearder]

Wow a lot of Rands. What are you planning to do with the machine if I may ask.

Yeah a lot for sure and the machine is only around R40k of that! Our government will squeeze ABSOLUTELY EVERY cent they can get out of a person!

Anyway - i am building a 737 sim cockpit and have had a lot of the work done by someone else but will do it myself now. Also my wife is going into candle making - custom stuff - and wants to make custom candle holders out of wood, brass, aluminium, perspex etc and RC aircraft wing/fuselage moulds etc etc

Aso have a plan to promote this so that it becomes a "job" of sorts in the future

[viroy]

Let us know how things go!

[shearder]

Let us know how things go!

Hey viroy I will definitely let you guys know. I'll try take pics through the delivery and unpack process

[shearder]

Let us know how things go!

Hey viroy I will definitely let you guys know. I'll try take pics through the delivery and unpack process

[shearder]

Hey guys

by the way - i have been scouring e-Bay for mill ends etc - i want to carve wood, perspex , engrave mirror and "carve" aluminium - I am overwhelmed by the amount and types of end mills.

Is there a "one stop shop" where i can go which will give me a break down of the types and uses for end mills?

ALSO i am panning on buying a set of collets ER20 - 1mm-13mm. Good idea?? I get a 3, 6, 8 and 12mm i believe BUT that still limits me to some extent.

[viroy]

You will need smaller than 3mm for fine engraving bits.
My fine engraving bit has a 1.5mm shank diameter.
I purchased this collet set here and it has every size for all of my bits:
ER 20 COLLET SET 14 PIECE METRIC COLLETS MariTool

I use a whole variety of tools for milling and engraving.
You can probably accomplish everything you need with the following:
Square endmills: 3 Flute High Helix - 1mm, 2mm, 3mm, 5mm, 10mm
Square Mini-Endmills: 2 Flute - .015", .03"
Ball Nose: 3 Flute High Helix - 1mm, 3mm, 5mm
V-Bit: 2-Flute - 90 degree angle, 22mm diameter
Flat-Bottom Engraving bits: .2mm cut length, 20deg angle , .2mm cut length, 90deg angle. (These should be included with the SaleCNC machine)

You can find all of these here:
Maritool.com

[EBC]

a couple photos...

[shearder]

a couple photos...

Very very nice! and a nice big machine too. Did you design the chair yourself? Is there a good place on the net to find the designs etc?

My CNC Router has landed now in South Africa 22:00 last night at the port - ordered in August! XJ1212 - can't wait. Should get to me next week by road from the port in Durban.

Must keep the camera handy LOL

[victorofga]

Full ER20 Spring Collet Set 13 Pcs CNC Milling Lathe Tool Workholding New A04 | eBay

i purchased er 11 collets fromthis seller..... they works ok.. runout is ok..
i think you can buy both set... mm and inches too..

[victorofga]

ihave an 1218.. works very well.. if i were order today... migthbe i order with mach control...

migthbe the next..
the pendant, the remote control really good.. a lot simpler the setup also a help if you make series, and change parts.. you dont have to back to computer always..

[shearder]

ihave an 1218.. works very well.. if i were order today... migthbe i order with mach control...

migthbe the next..
the pendant, the remote control really good.. a lot simpler the setup also a help if you make series, and change parts.. you dont have to back to computer always..

I got a collet set from eBay so i am happy for now - though i need to see how they perform.

I ordered the 4th Axis, higher Z axis, Pendant for NStudio and Mach3 control with the Nstudio control but no pendent for Mach3 - will try NStudio first. I tried to get as much as i could first time LOL

Does NSTudio work with Windows 7? I am busy setting up mu CNC PC now. Intel quad core 3.15GHz machine with a standard type ATI graphics card. Maybe next machine will be laser - 1325 or something big.

[aarggh]

I got a collet set from eBay so i am happy for now - though i need to see how they perform.

I ordered the 4th Axis, higher Z axis, Pendant for NStudio and Mach3 control with the Nstudio control but no pendent for Mach3 - will try NStudio first. I tried to get as much as i could first time LOL

Does NSTudio work with Windows 7? I am busy setting up mu CNC PC now. Intel quad core 3.15GHz machine with a standard type ATI graphics card. Maybe next machine will be laser - 1325 or something big.

There is a specific version of NCStudio that I have heard works with Windows 7, but why on earth would you want to? I know it's better than Vista (wouldn't be hard to be better!), but I wouldn't trust that low level control to Windows 7, in my opinion your really better off with a slim, vanilla install of XP if you have a choice at all. Do you have a requirement for the CNC controller to run Windows 7? Is it going to be a dedicated controller or your planning to run other software on it?

cheers,
Ian

[shearder]

There is a specific version of NCStudio that I have heard works with Windows 7, but why on earth would you want to? I know it's better than Vista (wouldn't be hard to be better!), but I wouldn't trust that low level control to Windows 7, in my opinion your really better off with a slim, vanilla install of XP if you have a choice at all. Do you have a requirement for the CNC controller to run Windows 7? Is it going to be a dedicated controller or your planning to run other software on it?

cheers,
Ian

Hey aarggh

This will be a dedicated machine for the CNC and would not foresee any other software being run on it. I have other machines that i use for CAD and 3D printer software etc.

I have been following a couple of people who are using NCStudio exclusively. The deal i got is i bought the NCStudio with the pendant and got the mach3 card for free. I have the Mach3 software. So i'll check out the NCSTudio and if it doesn't do it for me i'll go to Mach3 and order the Pendant for it later. But seems NCStudio is working fine for one of the inventors on Yourtube who has a 6090. So maybe go for an XP install...?

[shearder]

Let us know how things go!

Will certainly do so.

[aarggh]

Hey aarggh

This will be a dedicated machine for the CNC and would not foresee any other software being run on it. I have other machines that i use for CAD and 3D printer software etc.

I have been following a couple of people who are using NCStudio exclusively. The deal i got is i bought the NCStudio with the pendant and got the mach3 card for free. I have the Mach3 software. So i'll check out the NCSTudio and if it doesn't do it for me i'll go to Mach3 and order the Pendant for it later. But seems NCStudio is working fine for one of the inventors on Yourtube who has a 6090. So maybe go for an XP install...?

If it's a choice between Mach3 and NCStudio, Mach3 wins hands down most definately in my opinion. It took me some time and while I have gotten used to NCStudio, I far prefer the versatility of Mach3. NCStudio is perfectly functional, and for me has been rock solid, but the degree of configurability and support for things i'm starting to really desire, like auto-zero functionality, among others, I would go Mach3. If I had've known more about NCStudio, I would have ordered the machine Mach3 ready, at some point when I have an amount of spare time, I will actually convert it to Mach3.

But having said that, If you just want to load a gcode, and hit go, NCStudio will do the job fine, it's just that for me, I woud like to achieve more, and the software is limiting.

cheers,
Ian

[shearder]

If it's a choice between Mach3 and NCStudio, Mach3 wins hands down most definately in my opinion. It took me some time and while I have gotten used to NCStudio, I far prefer the versatility of Mach3. NCStudio is perfectly functional, and for me has been rock solid, but the degree of configurability and support for things i'm starting to really desire, like auto-zero functionality, among others, I would go Mach3. If I had've known more about NCStudio, I would have ordered the machine Mach3 ready, at some point when I have an amount of spare time, I will actually convert it to Mach3.

But having said that, If you just want to load a gcode, and hit go, NCStudio will do the job fine, it's just that for me, I woud like to achieve more, and the software is limiting.

cheers,
Ian

Hey Ian

I hear you! In fact I originally ordered the Mach3 card and Pendant and then was persuaded to get NCStudio and after seeing some vids I ordered the NCStudio card and Pendant and got Mach3 card free. I was also "sold on Mach3" but got a nice deal so initially I will be loading gcode, zeroing and pressing start.

But now having read what you say what more, if i may ask, would you do? Manual machining? Excuse my ignorance - typically I would create something in Rhino or Aspire/ArtCam and then run it.

I am wanting tio engrave knives too and glass/mirror.

[viroy]

I would be a little worried about using windows7 because of the 'Driver Signature' safety.
I'm having trouble right now using other programs that use USB key's, I wonder if it would have trouble with the NCStudio PCI card.
Besides, it takes a bit of processing power just to run Win7... I found a good used PC with XP on it from craigslist for $75, works excellent.

I also purchased the Mach3 card, was originally planning to convert from ncstudio.... but since I havent run into any limitations with ncstudio... why fix something that isnt broken.

[shearder]

I would be a little worried about using windows7 because of the 'Driver Signature' safety.
I'm having trouble right now using other programs that use USB key's, I wonder if it would have trouble with the NCStudio PCI card.
Besides, it takes a bit of processing power just to run Win7... I found a good used PC with XP on it from craigslist for $75, works excellent.

I also purchased the Mach3 card, was originally planning to convert from ncstudio.... but since I havent run into any limitations with ncstudio... why fix something that isnt broken.

Hey viroy

Glad to hear you are staying on NCStudio - it is a confidence boost hahaha... yeah perhaps i will just load XP and be done with it. It's a nice powerful machine and have 4 GB ram which is fine for 32bit platform. All of the CAD work will be done on a different newer machine so that is fine on W7.

[aarggh]

Hey Ian

I hear you! In fact I originally ordered the Mach3 card and Pendant and then was persuaded to get NCStudio and after seeing some vids I ordered the NCStudio card and Pendant and got Mach3 card free. I was also "sold on Mach3" but got a nice deal so initially I will be loading gcode, zeroing and pressing start.

But now having read what you say what more, if i may ask, would you do? Manual machining? Excuse my ignorance - typically I would create something in Rhino or Aspire/ArtCam and then run it.

I am wanting tio engrave knives too and glass/mirror.

Part of my reasoning for preferring Mach3 over NCStudio, is I want is to be able to utilise some of the different screensets such as Hoss's, which offer some control methods that would be very handy, along with the custom macros, but the main reason is I'm kinda getting tired of manually setting the Z everytime I need to change cutters, so I really, really, want to use the auto-zero and auto-centre functionality. Plus, I do worry about the fact that I need a controller card in the PC to run it, and while I've found it's pretty rare that PC's and ports fail, I'm very conscious of the fact that addon cards can and do die sometimes. That's my reasoning, but i'm not in a hurry to rewire for Mach3 as NCStudio does what it does very well, so I'll just wait till I have a fair amount of spare time and the motivation.

For the OS, as you look like you've decided anyway now, a pristine XP install is the way to go! Don't even install java, or any Adobe products to be safe.

cheers,
Ian