A couple of questions about a 3018.

I now have a 3018 cnc, have tried cutting with the brass chuck, now installed the ER11 chuck and collet. I am looking to get into engraving glass, flat sheets of glass, can anyone point me in the right direction regarding bits/endmills for doing this?

Also I would like to buy a laser head for the machine, but I am confused. Will the Woodpecker Grbl (0.9) controller board control a laser and the stepper motors even though they need different voltages. The laser section on the controller board says 12v max, but the power to the stepper motors is 24v. Will the stepper motors run on 12v if I get a 12v power supply.

I have seen laser on amazon/ebay, with separate boards, do these connect to the Woodpecker to allow it to control the laser and stepper motors?

I really am a newbie at this, so apologies if the questions seem stupid or have obvious answers.

no need to apologise we all have to start somewhere, i too have the 3018 and may or may not have a different control board to yours so what i would first suggest is put a couple of decent pictures on here of your control board first and lets have a look at it.

whilst waiting for your pics to appear i will go ahead and give you some solid advise regarding your machine's reliability.

1) make sure your machine is perfectly level in all directions use a laser if you have one or alternatively a Vernier or last resort the good old tape measure.

2) check your spindle mount for movement even though it's a new machine i can assure you there will be some movement already and will get worse over time and my recent post has step by step instructions on how to make it zero movement and solid.

3) lubricate the lead screw rods every 3 months depending on use with either food grade silicone (the white stuff) or good old fashion 3 in 1 oil but don't saturate them.

4) I recommend making a Z zero probe (again i can help you with that very easy to make and only takes a few minutes to do)


with regards to engraving glass it is possible but in order to gain good results you will need the probe and as for the bits i would suggest using diamond coated 3.175mm or 1/8" shank (plenty in hardware stores and on ebay) and make absolutely sure you are wearing eye protection even when setting up. also once you have the probe working and have found the sweet spot so that it doesn't break the glass sheet you will then know the right amount of pressure required to engrave it without causing damage to the glass (again i can instruct you on how to go about this if you need the help)

if you have anymore questions please just ask and in the meantime i'll wait for the pics of your control board as mine has the facility for both 12v and 24v as pictured but yours might not be the same

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Originally Posted by cncbeard

I now have a 3018 cnc, have tried cutting with the brass chuck, now installed the ER11 chuck and collet. I am looking to get into engraving glass, flat sheets of glass, can anyone point me in the right direction regarding bits/endmills for doing this?

Also I would like to buy a laser head for the machine, but I am confused. Will the Woodpecker Grbl (0.9) controller board control a laser and the stepper motors even though they need different voltages. The laser section on the controller board says 12v max, but the power to the stepper motors is 24v. Will the stepper motors run on 12v if I get a 12v power supply.

I have seen laser on amazon/ebay, with separate boards, do these connect to the Woodpecker to allow it to control the laser and stepper motors?

I really am a newbie at this, so apologies if the questions seem stupid or have obvious answers.

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here is the link to my post about sorting the movement out in your z axis spindle motor housing..

https://www.cnczone.com/forums/chine...ml#post2162742