[RCaffin]

CF and G10 - not hard.
6061 & 7075: much harder. Possible, but slower. You would need to experiment a fair bit.
Cheers
Roger

[7c4Lvin5]

CF and G10 - not hard.
6061 & 7075: much harder. Possible, but slower. You would need to experiment a fair bit.
Cheers
Roger

Thank you RCaffin. Perhaps I should just stick with a bench top mill like a sherline or taig?

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk

[RCaffin]

It's an old argument: router or mill?
A router is larger and does 2D or 2.5D (limited Z axis travel) machining on wood and plastics. Often the spindle will be doing over 20,000 RPM.
A mill is smaller, full 3D (longer and better Z axis control), and is designed to handle the forces in machining metal. The spindle might get up to 3,000 RPM.
There are exceptions of course, starting around $100,000 ...
Horses for courses.

Cheers
Roger

[Stigoe]

The Omio X6 can easily mill aluminium as long as you get the feeds and speeds correct, which goes for both mills and routers, and don't try to hog out too much at once.

[dharmic]

Guys how do these omioCNC machines compared to the upcoming X-Carve machines? I'm looking into a CNC router that can work on CF, G10, and 6061-7075 aluminum plates, etc. I am currently learning on my MAXNC 10 on CamBam which isn't really user friendly I think. I would like to learn on complete 2D-2.5D flat plates witch just lines, holes, and countersunk screws. Basic stuff for RC helicopters and other vehicles of course.

Yeah, I know the OmioCNC machine plays nicely with aluminium and G10 (dunno about CF). As stigoe says, comes down to correct feeds, speeds and tooling. I'm finding I can get 1200mm/min full slot cuts with a 6mm twin flute HSS endmill into 6061 at about 2mm depth per pass if that's any help to you. Haven't seen skipping, that was about the recommended max from FSWizard.

Sorry, don't know about the X-Carves.

[aarggh]

Yeah, I know the OmioCNC machine plays nicely with aluminium and G10 (dunno about CF). As stigoe says, comes down to correct feeds, speeds and tooling. I'm finding I can get 1200mm/min full slot cuts with a 6mm twin flute HSS endmill into 6061 at about 2mm depth per pass if that's any help to you. Haven't seen skipping, that was about the recommended max from FSWizard.

Sorry, don't know about the X-Carves.

That's a helluva DOC, is that a straight fluted or spiral cutter?

cheers, Ian

[dharmic]

I beg your pardon, folks, I tricked myself. Just went back and had another look. I only remembered the "twice" of the 0.5mm I'd been doing up until then.

Correction: 1mm depth of cut. Thanks for picking me up, Iain.

[aarggh]

I beg your pardon, folks, I tricked myself. Just went back and had another look. I only remembered the "twice" of the 0.5mm I'd been doing up until then.

Correction: 1mm depth of cut. Thanks for picking me up, Iain.

No problem, you had me thinking what was I doing wrong all this time with my miserly DOC's!

cheers, Ian

[ProperWood]

Here is what my box is looking like now,

I'm left with spare parts including the drivers which OMIO is asking $70 + $30 shipping for, the box itself, the breakout board, the little computer, etc. All available if anyone is interested.


I don't know why the photo is upside down

[Rambolin]

I'm still a dirty southy, just not as south: up near Jandakot. But word gets around - at least you're not out near Gosnells or up near Balga <shudder>

Yeah, welcome to come and have a bo peep but bear in mind it's not even a black box machine any more - I gutted the controller and replaced it with an ethernet controller plus driver for a little laser module a few weeks ago.

Yes, I would be really interested to have a look at your setup; also in the laser module. Is the laser already working for you?

[dharmic]

Yes, I would be really interested to have a look at your setup; also in the laser module. Is the laser already working for you?

Looks like it is, haven't had a chance to use it in anger yet.

[Mmpie]

My machine arrived Friday before last (far quicker than expected) but due to being away all last week hadn't even had time to take it out the boxes until today. It's now all built up and I've spent the evening reading back from the start of the thread through a fair amount of pages before firing it up tomorrow when I'll remember to take my laptop and a bucket to work where it lives.

Now then, earthing the spindle seems essential to me. I have zero real knowledge of electrics/wiring/circuitry and how electricity behaves. From reading the posts on this thread what I think I need to do is replace the spindle cable with a four wire cable, replace the three pin plug at the VFD end and the socket in the VFD for four pins, then run a wire from the earth pin of the socket in the VFD to the outer casing of the box? I'd guess attached by drilling a hole and using a nut and bolt? May sound stupid asking but it's a matter of safety and I don't want to be getting it wrong and ending up brown bread. Does anything else need proper grounding as a matter of safety or functionality or just the spindle?

Also, shielded cables. Are these really needed? Whats to benefit by having them shielded? I also saw a post mention using metal connectors with shielded cables rather than the plastic ones the wires and box are supplied with. Is that good practice or just a matter of preference?

[RCaffin]

Grounding and screening are two very different things. Both are needed.

Grounding: this is a safety issue. Usually the case of the motor is metal, and if that is clamped with a metal bracket to the chassis that should be fine. Of course, the chassis must be grounded! If there is any paint on the clamping bracket or on the motor case (or if the clamp is plastic), you might need to actually add a short link wire from motor to frame.

Screening: this is to limit the spread of noise from the VFD. Screened cables are highly recommended for this, and should be earthed ONLY at the VFD, not at the motor. Metal connectors are not much different from plastic ones, as long as the screen is continuous through them. In fact, plastic connectors are sometimes better than metal ones, because they allow you to control what is earthed and where. A lot of this noise reduction process is trial-and-error stuff, even for experts.

Cheers
Roger

[dharmic]

In a perfect world you'd use shielded cable for your steppers, spindle and probably endstops etc as well. You'd leave the stepper cable shield disconnected at the steppers and end switches but have the spindle case hooked up. In the box you'd run connections from the shields and each bit of kit (power supply, VFD and logic board etc) all together into a single point screwed into the case, and run your power cord's earth to that point too.

Apart from electrical safety this prevents electrical noise from generating unwanted signals in the limit switches and control cable to the PC.

In practice? I've found that simply unscrewing one of the frame bolts and re-screwing it in with a decent thickness wire (earth wire from some mains house cable) behind it, and connecting the other end of that wire into a mains plug's earth pin, was sufficient to drain any potential build-up in the spindle to keep noise to a point where it doesn't cause problems and also so any winding failure in the spindle has a path other than me to ground. It was an interim, diagnostic, fix I did ages ago whilst contemplating all the grounding and it worked well enough that I've saved myself a hundred bucks or more in cable and connectors

[Mmpie]

Grounding and screening are two very different things. Both are needed.

Grounding: this is a safety issue. Usually the case of the motor is metal, and if that is clamped with a metal bracket to the chassis that should be fine. Of course, the chassis must be grounded! If there is any paint on the clamping bracket or on the motor case (or if the clamp is plastic), you might need to actually add a short link wire from motor to frame.

Screening: this is to limit the spread of noise from the VFD. Screened cables are highly recommended for this, and should be earthed ONLY at the VFD, not at the motor. Metal connectors are not much different from plastic ones, as long as the screen is continuous through them. In fact, plastic connectors are sometimes better than metal ones, because they allow you to control what is earthed and where. A lot of this noise reduction process is trial-and-error stuff, even for experts.

Cheers
Roger

Cheers. So the way I described earthing the spindle in my post was wrong? How do I ground the chassis?

I'll get the cables shielded then. I assume earthing them at the VFD will be by running a wire from the ground pin to the box casing?

As said I've no idea about electrics. I've rigged up plenty of car stereos but they're all plug and play, completely different kettle of fish. My knowledge of electricity ends after knowing there's positive, negative and getting electrocuted hurts! It's not something I've ever taken the time to learn, never had a need to.

[Mmpie]

In a perfect world you'd use shielded cable for your steppers, spindle and probably endstops etc as well. You'd leave the stepper cable shield disconnected at the steppers and end switches but have the spindle case hooked up. In the box you'd run connections from the shields and each bit of kit (power supply, VFD and logic board etc) all together into a single point screwed into the case, and run your power cord's earth to that point too.

Apart from electrical safety this prevents electrical noise from generating unwanted signals in the limit switches and control cable to the PC.

In practice? I've found that simply unscrewing one of the frame bolts and re-screwing it in with a decent thickness wire (earth wire from some mains house cable) behind it, and connecting the other end of that wire into a mains plug's earth pin, was sufficient to drain any potential build-up in the spindle to keep noise to a point where it doesn't cause problems and also so any winding failure in the spindle has a path other than me to ground. It was an interim, diagnostic, fix I did ages ago whilst contemplating all the grounding and it worked well enough that I've saved myself a hundred bucks or more in cable and connectors

Brilliant. And that's going to save me from getting chucked across the room in the event of any fault? Just to clarify, when you say the mains plugs earth pin, you mean the earth pin inside the box where the kettle lead will plug in, and not hooked up to the earth pin on the plug itself? Is this accessible from behind to hook a wire up to?

edit: and just an afterthought, the bolts are all black oxide, will this affect the grounding? I only ask because the earth point in a car is always an unpainted area with an untreated bolt.

[dharmic]

Yep. If the spindle arcs out it will ground through the frame and bearings into that lead and the earth plug instead of through you.

My ground wire runs into a separate mains plug rather than back to the control box just because it was easier that way, but what you describe works ok. On the frame side it's actually terminated in an eye crimp which the black bolt holds onto the bare frame metal so there's still a decent connection.

[RCaffin]

I don't know what country you are in, but the following should be very close.
The mains lead comes to your equipment. The earth wire from that mains lead should be taken to a good bolt on the metal chassis of the machine. If you are using an IEC socket, tie the earth pin to the chassis instead.
All power supplies should normally have the 0 V side tied to the chassis.
Making an obvious earth link between the main chassis and your electronics box (the case itself) is a good move. I am assuming a metal box - which is advised.
Tie all motor and signal screens to this metal box, but do not connect the far ends of those screens to anything. This avoids 'earth loops'. In practice, the 'earth loops' rarely will create any problems, but it is good workmanship.

Black oxide bolts and nuts: I avoid this problem by using brass nuts and bolts and washers for the earthing. Cars are a special case as the metal is often passivated under the paint.

[Mmpie]

Cheers. Simple enough to do, I'll crack on with it this afternoon.

Just had a go at running the machine, followed the Mach 3 install to the letter, nothing would move. Pea brain here was under the impression my laptop was running 32 bit windows - it's not. Had a root around and found a load of old PC hardware lying around here, just waiting for a hard drive and a case to put it all in which I've ordered off Amazon with prime, so hopefully better luck tomorrow.

And I'm in the UK, it's an IEC socket and 3 pin plug into the wall.

[Mmpie]

Reading back through the thread and troubleshooting a bit on google, having 64 bit OS shouldn't actually be a problem as it's USB despite what the instructions say.

I'm having the same problem as Mike Fry was back in October last year. Power is definitely reaching the steppers as they're no longer moveable by hand but the motors nor the spindle will turn, nothing happens when I try make commands. In Mach3 the status bar flashes with "Find No XHC NcUsbPod". I have followed the setup instructions directly twice (once with a fresh reinstall) and got the same both times. The NcUsbPod.dll is definitely getting copied over in the plugins folder and is enabled when I look in config plugins under the config menu.

The first time I started Mach3 up I did it via the Mach3mill shortcut that appears on desktop, as the instructions say to launch mach3mill.exe and that is the only one I could find, in the mach3 directory itself there is only a mach3.exe which opens with a pop up window from which you then choose mill, turn or plasma profile. The second install I tried starting this way (choosing mill) to no avail. The mach3mill.xml file you copy over into the directory I assume replaces the original profile with all the correct set up, so no matter which way Mach is launched I believe it should work just fine?

Any ideas anyone?