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Hi folks!

I just ordered a 5 x 10 Pro kit from Avid. This will be my second machine. My first one was a 6 x 12 DIY using Avid (CNC Routerparts) parts. I have attached a pic of my old 6 x 10....

Hi folks,
I make parts out of baltic birch and some areas of those parts can be relatively thin (like 1/4"). In those areas, a common problem I have is that the upper or lower layer chips away. I've...

Hello Gerry,

Been using your 2010 screensets for a while now (lovin' it). I cant figure out how to enter gcode commands manually when using it. Is there a way?

Hello there Gerry, I,ve been using the screenset for a while now (lonin' it!) -
I cant seem to find out how I can enter Gcode commands manually. I know how to do it with the standard Mach3 screen,...

Hello,
Can anyone tell me an easier way to create a tool path for a pocket that shares edges with the part profile?

I mean when the part has a recess that ends at one or more edges of the part....

Hi Jason,
Ditto on all that Ger21 said..
But to answer on "Where to start"..

Here's what I recommend..
1. Decide on the size of cuttable area that you want.
2. From there, weigh the pros/cons...

Hi Folks,
I built this machine about a year ago: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc_wood_router_project_log/132180-all_parts_off--shelf-2.html

It's structure is all 8020 extrusions. Its nominally...

Well..
It's been a couple of days and we haven't had one person come out and say "yes, I make cabinets without vacuum", So I guess it's safe to say that the concensus is that Vacuum is a must? Or am...

Hey.. I think a picture of the mechanicals on the machine could go a long way. what's happened is that, for some reason your X axis (or whatever you call your axis that runs from top to bottom of...

With regards to the shop bot vacuum hold down - I'm looking at the "plenum" design on the shop bot website. As Gerry mentioned they use 4 ~ 1 Hp vacuum pumps to provide suction in 4 seperate zones on...

Thats great info on the spindles - Thanks a lot. Ekstrom Carlson has been helpful to me so far. It's nice to know they will be helpful after I buy from them. lol.

I'm deciding between the C78 and...

Well, Thanks alot, Gerry and ssutton for your advice so far. I appreciate it. I think I'll start another build log for this when it gets closer to build time...

And, for most cabinet work, I imagine the material is almost always pretty flat.. Melamine, MDF, even 1/2" baltic birch is usually pretty flat. I'm going to start thinking about vacuum for this. So 4...

Hello...
I'm looking for a good spindle choice for cutting cabinet and (some)countertop material.
I'm thinking 3-5 HP should work well. Do you think I'm in the right ballpark?

Has anyone had...

Hi again Gerry,
I checked out the vacuum pumps on that link, and some of the threads on the shopbot forum. It looks like those pumps are max ~650W, which is just shy of 1 Hp if I'm interpretting the...

Hi Gerry,
Thanks a lot for putting in..
The arguement for a 16' machine is as follows..
1. countertop millwork, certainly not always, but often entails slabs over 12' long. If we decide to make...

Hello!
I would love to hear from anyone who is using their machines for regular nested cabinet work or similar. I'm a Mechanical Engineer and I work in marine and factory automation. One of my side...

Thanks a lot for the replies.
I'm guessing that with the spring attachment, you can probably get no more than a foot or two of offset between the two ends of the cutter wire? I think you would need...

Hi! Thanks for the reply.
I guess to select the right springs, I need to find out what wire gauge and tension is needed. Are there any rules of thumb about that that I can use for a starting point?...

Hello there,
I've built a couple router machines, and now I'm about to move on to a foam cutter. I have what is probably a 'stupid' question, but that's not unusual for me...

searching on line...

Darn! I should have checked the version number. It's the latest lockdown. I had read about this error but I ASS-U-ME-d that it was an older version than the latest lock down.

Is there any way to...

Hi Gerry,
So I have the probing down now. Thanks!
When I'm doing a tool change Mach is crashing when I hit cycle start to resume. I just get the hour glass. Any idea?

I'll put my "engineering cap" on for a sec here just for the fun of it...

It's just a particularized application of a rack/pinion. In my opinion it is a combined shock & vibration machine! The...

All of my rails are 1/4" thick cold rolled steel flat bar with linear carriages from CNC Router parts. They work great, are quite accurate and a lot cheaper than the other typical options.

Ya it's a 4 axis breakout board using 4 Gecko G201's. You slave one of the gantry motors in software (mach). The slaving is just a matter of selecting a few mach settings but the second gantry motor...

Hi Gerry,
Sorry to bother you here - but another question:

I checked out erniebro's thread and I think I understand the basics. He uses a macro that takes advantage of the mach3 probing g code...

Something really scary happened to me the other day. I have a Porter Cable 7518 router on my machine. I was running a table surfacing program. The best (I thought) bit that I had for this on hand was...

I just finished building my 6'x12' machine a few months ago. I used CNC Routerparts for my R/P drives (I have R/P dual drives on the gantry, R/P for Y, and lead screw for Z). I got the R/P sets,...

Thanks for the help on this everyone. I should have posted the outcome that Gerry mentioned. Sorry about that. I made the tool paths from a DXF generated from a Pro/E drawing. I always have to use...

Hi

I set up the z probing/auto zero and it works great. I would like to auto zero x and y as well. I see the x/y probing interface but it's not totally self explanatory to me! Is there an...