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Hi all; I'm working with a group of people to make a series of identical CNC routers. Our last project was a series of 3d printers that are coming out great so we are going to do the routers next. We...

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone. Back to the drawing board for me. I was hoping to get away with the shafts are they are dirt cheap for the precision they offer. Even small rails are...

Do you have more details on this? 16mm shafts tripled up like that (for the Y axis) have a deflection of .00093 with a 15 lb gantry over that length. I'm certainly not disagreeing with you, but I'd...

Hi all; I've got a good sized CNC mill that I love but I find it's a bit of a pain to use for small and thin stuff. It's low-ish RPM range is really limiting on what I can get away with when it comes...

That's a beauty of a machine and I think it's convinced me to go all aluminum for my new desktop build. I'll be watching this thread with interest. Thanks!

-Mike

Hi all; I'm making a new machine that I want to be a combination of laser cutter, 3d printer, and router. I had plans to build three separate machines but I realized the overlap for the laser cutter...

You and I are actually in complete agreement on this - it is a tool and I expect it to work consistently every time. The difference is I'm quite a bit more skeptical about the quality of any given...

Wood and acrylic mostly. The tube I'm planning on using is a Reci as it fits the machine better.
Yeah, this stuff is real aluminum though I'm sure the wall is a bit thicker than honeycomb.
I'm sure...

Looks like the biggest I can easily fit is a RECI 100w. Hopefully that's a good compromise on cutting power and flexibility.
Heh, that's big on my list too. I'm using linear rails which are major...

So that brings up a question I've never quite had answered. Can't I just reduce the power level to get intricate cuts with a higher power laser? I'm already using a long focal length lens to get a...

Hi all; I'm in the process of designing and building my own laser cutter. It's inspired by the BuildLog.net laser cutter but has some key differences. The laser will have a cutting area of 4' x 2'...

I like Vactra a lot - it's just tacky enough to stick while not so sticky as to glue on swarf. Pretty nice all around.

I'm not positive you are referencing my design Joe but it sounds like a better implementation of my system. It's been working great for me for the better part of a year now.

This winter, IF I get...

Thanks for the review and comments. This forum post along with others here on CNCZone have been enough for me to decide against FSE. I was on the fence with building my own system or buying their...

I love my NM-200 and have put it though hundreds of hours of milling thus far. It works great and is clearly limited by my poor machining skills. With that said, it has a few quirks I wanted to ask...

Hi all; this is a stupid question but it's really giving me fits. I've created a fixture with a small pocket 1" square and 1" from the home (0,0) point of the fixture. I've also added three dowel...

I just wanted to post that this was resolved. It was the PC itself. Novakon let me buy the motherboard from Amazon and they are reimbursing me the cost. All in all, it was pretty painless.

Hey Klaus; I owe ya one, that worked PERFECTLY - I was able to save some files from a corrupted version of Mach and not start over again. Thanks!

BTW: Mach Screen works great too - I added a new...

How do I copy my tool library from one installation of Mach to another? I thought it was tools.dat but that didn't do it. What's the trick? Also, does anyone have the 1024.set file from the previous...

Sadly, I plugged my machine in this afternoon and turned it on as I always do before I get to work and it made a quiet "pop" sound that I thought might have been my imagination. I pressed the green...

Hi all; sorry for the horribly late update. I reached the Novakon support guys and it took them all of 20 seconds to diagnose the problem by hearing it over the phone. The front block that holds the...

Just posting in here to let people know this project is far from dead. I've been out of town a bit and not had time to work on side milling projects - compounded with the mechanical trouble I'm...

Ugh, my enclosure was ghetto before - now I'm embarrassed to show my face around here. Beautiful work and a nice design!

-Mike

Thanks for the info! After letting the oil sit for a bit and slightly moving the X axis to take pressure off the gib I was able to slide it right out. I was hoping for it to show some reason for the...

Hi Joe - your post is incredibly helpful, I appreciate it! Sadly, I'm desperately trying to avoid removing the table as I simply don't have either the room or any way to lift it. Just getting the...

Ugh; seems my good luck has run out. Right when I get an order for 50 sets of parts my machine starts giving me fits.

This last weekend I used to machine to make some parts - all went great. I...

Hi all; try and try again, I've been unable to remove the spoilboard from my jig designs and I'm OK with this. But I do believe I can improve on the spoilboard itself. I just wanted to know what...

While 4 at a time isn't ideal, that's the largest part I do. Most of my parts are the little ones already described or some 3.5 x 3.5 x .09" stuff. It still sounds like that machine is adequate. One...

Hi all; I need to tumble a lot of 2" x 3" x .125" up to 8" x 8" x .125" aluminum parts to a nice matte finish. I've heard two recommendations:

C & M Topline's 3 cubic foot machine:
Vibratory...

If you have the dimensions of the bolt holes used to attach the base plate than I can mock it up in CAD and make sure it all comes together. Thanks!

-Mike