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Type: Posts; User: blinkenlight

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  1. Replies
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    Re: Notepad++ gcode plugin

    Neat, I haven't noticed that. I had nothing fancy in mind just maybe adding the plotted file's name and/or path to the plot window title bar, that currently only says "NCnetic". Possibly marking the...
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    Re: Notepad++ gcode plugin

    Thank you, this is a very nice to have tool in N++. If anything, I'd note that it's a bit awkward to tell which file you're looking at plotted if you have multiple ones open in N++. The plotted file...
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    Re: Candle grbl control

    I do intend to, when I finally manage to get probing working on my mill - Candle's built-in leveling map is something I long had my eyes on. I didn't know it's unmaintained now - well, the existing...
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    Re: CopperCAM Questions

    I don't use this software but margins seem pretty self-explanatory to me - it adds extra space around your traces. Normally, a tool with a 0.1mm tip radius will pass 0.1mm away around your copper...
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    Re: Can FlatCAM engrave a simple path

    Funnily enough, others seem to have asked the same question and apparently the answer is "yes, but only the stupid way - by using the command line". See this:...
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    Re: Low price simple 2D cad program

    What you're asking for is called a "parametric CAD", which means you're looking for SolveSpace. Free, open source, small single exe file, easy to use. Draw shape, apply constraints, when degrees of...
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    Re: Advice for buildinf cnc for pcb

    I'm not sure the frame change will make as much of a difference as you might think. Sure, the more rigidity the better, but PCB work cutting forces are really small. Backlash matters a lot, but I...
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    Re: Want to understand engraving geometry

    Your enthusiasm concerning Candle is truly a sight to behold; one cannot help but marvel in awe at its shining flame.


    Yes.

    Have you considered attempting to find out if there are any guides...
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    Re: Want to understand engraving geometry

    @jlawton have you considered using Candle instead of UGS? It doesn't need Java, it does run under Linux, and it has a built-in "autoleveler" (heightmap) function.
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    Re: Sable 2015 Electronics?

    There's no end to how much one can spend on "better" drivers and spindles, but I'd prefer to just list the most budget-friendly option I do not consider to be a waste of money. To be very clear, this...
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    Re: Determine Vee Bit diamtre

    I reckon it's probably a 0.2, but frankly that's irrelevant. While DIY PCB milling IS a precision process, it's not actually possible to engineer that precision into it by design - you just pick...
  12. Re: Help needed for pcb milling. Can't get my machine work!

    Stupid question: is your tool certainly intact? Because the thing 0.1mm v-tips love to do is snap a bit of the tip off and instantly become, say, 0.25-0.30mm v-tips, without this ever becoming...
  13. Re: Initial moves on CNC job varies from time to time

    As I try only using open source software I'm not familiar with how Fusion 360 does things, but the "traverse height" (the minimum Z height to which the tool must rise before doing any non-milling...
  14. Re: Best material for spoilboard beneath PCB etching? Best hold-downs?

    I tend to use HDF as a base. Usually levelled. Most of the time PCBs have mounting holes anyway, I just bolt them down through them, trying to warp them as little as possible.
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    Re: Cutting of PCB tracks

    I tend to use KiCAD for designing the PBC then (my own) GCAM SE to convert the Gerber files to G-code I can mill. One of these days I really ought to figure out auto-leveling too but I'm not quite...
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    Re: How to avoid premature tool failure

    Yes, it looks like whatever is reading the Gerber file is doing it wrong - it's "painting" region fills with the current aperture thickness (as one would do for tracks) instead of considering the...
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    Re: How to avoid premature tool failure

    Oh, you can definitely do that. I do similar things with alu enclosure end-plates with no issues whatsoever. It's more about finding the right tool/speed/feed/depth combination that avoids chips...
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    Re: How to avoid premature tool failure

    Concerning aluminium - well, there's cutting aluminium and cutting aluminium; I don't think one can do with this kind of machine anything close to what one tends to see in videoclips where aluminium...
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    Re: How to avoid premature tool failure

    Yup, that looks pretty good... :) Results look quite nice for the TSSOP chip - I don't even go below SOIC typically (which I know for sure I can mill without issues) or preferably even use DIP - size...
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    Re: How to avoid premature tool failure

    There's... something wrong with those conversions. Which numbers are the real ones?
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    Re: How to avoid premature tool failure

    The traces are 16mil (0.4mm) and the tightest inter-track clearance is 8mil (0.2mm) which means that at ideal cutting width my 0.2mm v-bit can just about pass once between tracks (can't be less, or...
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    Re: How to avoid premature tool failure

    Oh, nothing special - some sort of generic, quite thin and runny "light machinery oil" or whatever it's called. The label fell off long ago...

    I'm a bit puzzled by your pics though - I seem to be...
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    Re: How to avoid premature tool failure

    Oh, I expect there might be trouble like that, but I'd still like a test. The V-bits I'm using are already 0.2mm at the tip after all and they don't break all _that_ often - and these cylindrical...
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    Re: How to avoid premature tool failure

    I have a 3020 with the standard spindle (I understand it goes up to not-quite-10K RPM, I have never measured) and I usually cut at 100mm/min just fine, at 0.06mm depth (without auto-leveling but on a...
  25. Re: Would the Mechmate work for milling PCBs?

    There's any number of ways to quantify different aspects of what we colloquially just call "precision", but in this case the thing that gets you is the machine's ability to return to the exact same...
  26. Re: Would the Mechmate work for milling PCBs?

    I Agree.



    Because (much like many other machines of similar size not meant for precision work) it seems to be rolling around on roller wheels as far as one can tell without having access to any...
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    Re: Advice wanted (mil for PCB)

    "Cheap" is relative concept - where I live $50 is a serious amount of money, especially for a single small PCB (and the nine other ones I have absolutely zero use for: I never needed more than one of...
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    Re: 3d Printer Slicer -> CNC; limitations?

    I wish you luck, because you'll really need it. The typical hobby / small shop CNC simply isn't used for Z-arcs in my experience - or in any 3D fashion to be honest; mainly because 3-axis CNCs by...
  29. Re: Reset zero location Planet CNC Controller

    What happens is exactly what one might expect - you keep applying a larger and larger offset to your work coordinate system with G92 after each part, and as per the reference NIST document that...
  30. Re: [Math]Calculating offset for v-groove, using bit ° and cutting depth.

    We did learn enough trigonometry way back in school to leave (after all that I've forgotten) just enough in my head to do fairly simple stuff like this... :) Glad if it helped.
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