[jconaway]

I am recently retired engineer living in north Mississippi. Been lurking and learning for some time. Great site..Thanks. Currently building a small mill to cnc. Plan to use EMC2 (love Linux) and the price is right. Had the oportunity to attend the CNC workshop this past may. Another great learning experience and met a lot of nice people.
James

[Aklz]

I`m a luthier in Brazil and i´m just reading the post to be familiar with cnc terms.I´m a litle bit afraid about my english writing to.

[nicco]

Hi all, name is nic live in australia and will be starting my first build as we speak (4 foot by 4 foot plasma table), will need some help with motors and electronics.

[railfancwb]

I'm one of the newbies and (until now) non-posters. So, a bit about myself:

Close to retirement from a career as CFO for a public television station in Nashville, TN. Developing absorbing and challenging hobbies to keep myself out of mischief once I do retire. Have done manual woodworking for years, and want to broaden those skills to include metalworking and CNC. Learning CNC and CAD will stretch my present computer skills into new areas, which will be good. Have acquired a Boxford Duet CNC educational setup as the basis for learning these new things.

So now you know... Charles (wrong) ???

[RBrandes]

Hey! I need a little help with a MasterCam post for a Haas. I have to go into the G-Code every time and fix things.
I have looked at the post and it seems to be a simple txt file, but I cannot figure out how to alter things.
Please point me in the right direction.
Regards, Ray

Hi Rekd

I followed Jay and yourself over from the Mastercam forum.
I am a Mastercam programmer,,,just chiming in.

Scott Bond

[Beer_Guy]

Hi Rekd,
I'm a hobbyist CNC builder/programmer. I got interested in CNC after working for a year at Lexington Furniture Industries in North Carolina. I have a tendency to learn more than I need to when I "get into" my job. After a year my boss was realizing that I was beginning to surpass her in CNC knowledge and she didn't like that very much. Maybe she thought I would replace her? LOL
I built my first machine in my basement out of 2 x 6's and roller skate bearings. It was able to handle a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood but it was really really slow.
I'm currently in the middle of rebuilding that machine to make it a little smaller and I have a better power supply to make it go a little faster.
I only work with wood, so having an accuracy in the thousandths is overkill for me.
One time I cut a sign that had some intricate designs and a curvy font, after the sign was cut "just for kicks" I reran the program. It never touched wood, that's accurate enough for me. LOL
I learn alot reading here, I just want to thank each and every one of you, even the newbies!
Thanks

[pantognoni]

Since you brought it up.... I'm one of the guilty ones- join a BB and then "fugetaboudit" . Anyway, Since I'm 52 and have been working all my life here's the quick rundown: 10 years as a marine technician(boat systems repair and installation)20 years as a R&D machinist,Switched over to a desk 2 years ago in the engineering dept as a mechanical designer running autodesk inventor r.11 . Just aquired a mid 80's supermax knee mill with a dynapath10 controller that has some control issues for the house so I can keep my hands going. Haven't even finished getting power to the machine yet as I'm in the process of converting the garage.Will definitely appreciate advice on the dynapath as all I've only programmed and run are prototrak 2 axis knee mills at a job shop. Regards to all. Peter A.

[mermaid1015]

I'm a 42 yr. old house wife who just bought a drill press. My son just started working in a machine shop for 2 men who are training him to become a machinist. Guess that makes him an apprentist? Anyway, he is the one who told me about your site. He thought I might be able to find some good advice here. I want to drill holes in various wine bottles that I've been collecting over the years as part of a craft project for gifts and possibly for money on the side if it goes well. My son feels that I should be using some type of lubricant to protect both the glass and my bits. I'm concerned with using a lubricant as this is not one of the big machines that was built with lubricants in mind. I have a Clarke BT1029 - 16 Speed Press with a laser centering device. A well meaning friend says I should put masking tape on the bottle at the drill site. Don't really think she has any experience with a press, though.:withstupi Any ideas anyone? Thanks ~ e

[dicks4qi]

I don't exactly know how to post a question on your forum.

[awright]

This is fascinating! What a wonderful array of creative individuals.

I may be incurably sexist and full of stereotypes, but I think the statement, "I'm a 42 yr. old house wife who just bought a drill press" is wonderful.

And who'd have guessed that we'd be in communication with a luthier in Brazil this morning? (Your english is fine, Aklz. This is not a grammer test. However (my bias), I'd suggest trying to use proper capitalization and punctuation instead of falling into the habit of using common, sloppy internet writing techniques that only make communication more obscure and difficult.)

I imagine that once the discussion gets into specifics about technique instead of greetings, the conversation should be relocated to some other specific forum, but I don't know where. Perhaps the moderator will move this.

mermaid1015, tell us a little more about how you are or intend to drill holes in your bottles. Have you drilled holes successfully? What drilling technique have you used and what are the results? What size holes and what finish do you want?

The few times I have drilled glass or ceramic tiles I used an abrasive/water slurry held in place with a clay dam around the hole site. The "bit" should be a soft metal into which the abrasive grains will become imbedded and carried into the cutting area. I have used brass tubing and soft iron. You need a very light touch - force will simply cause excessive heat and cracking, especially at the point of breaking through. Constantly lift and lower the bit to allow grinding waste to escape and to allow fresh abrasive to get under the bit, into the cutting zone. If the bit is large enough, a series of small slits in the cutting edge promotes circulation of coolant and abrasive into the cutting zone and escape of grinding waste.

You can hear the change in sound as the fresh abrasive grains break up and become dull and ineffective. It happens in a few seconds, at which time the bit should be raised just enough to allow fresh abrasive to get to the cutting zone.

I think you definitely need coolant (water is fine) to avoid thermal cracking and to carry the waste and abrasive. I have never used the tungsten spade tipped "glass drills," and can't comment on their effectiveness. Try them out. I'd guess that they would leave a rougher hole and lead to more cracking of bottles compared to the abrasive drill. I also have not had much luck with the chinese diamond burrs that are popping up very cheaply everywhere. They got dull or lost their abrasive very quickly no matter how light my touch was or how much water I used.

You will find more information than you can absorb by googling, "drilling glass." If you have a jeweller's supply in your area, they may be able to suggest the appropriate abrasive and give some advice. I just used fine carborundum that I had on hand from a rock tumbler.

awright

[gravitar]

First I must say, what a great website this looks to be! I can't believe I hadn't thought of seeking this out sooner.

A little about me.. I've been a electrician/PLC programmer for several years working in the Detroit area. I've often suspected that I'd be better off if I had some machining skills, and getting laid off in march gave me the opportunity to go back to school. I'm lucky enough to be a mile away from the local community college, which also happens to be a Haas training center. I'm just getting my feet wet, but am really excited to be learning this stuff. It seems like I can immediately apply everything I'm learning!

[splat06]

Hi to all,
I"m a apprentice in oz and just starting out in cnc and have found more info in the zone than I will ever find a use for.

[RafaCNC]

This is my *second* post, a little about me: I'm an electrical engineer. I work designing electronic equipment for communications. I have been involved in shop and tools since I have memory. My dad used to have a farm equipment factory and I would "play" all around them any spare time I had. I'm in the process of CNC'ing a ENCO mill. I have the contollers (Gecko 201), 600+ oz/in Nema 34 motors, a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 SBC to run Mach 2 to control the motors. I plan to use a home network to produce the G-code in my studio and then send it to the CNC and start cutting. So far I have the x and Y motors installed (but not working yet), in the process of designing the Z-mount and thinking about a quick tool change system. I like the tormach (what do you guys think about it?), and plan on doing a pneumatically actuated pull bar for the R8 spindle so the part can be changed without opening the top of the machine. I don't care right now for a automatic tool changer, only a tool changer that does not involve tools and readjusting the Z-axis.
The parts I want to do are basically aluminium for camera mounts and adapters, some bases for car parts, performance parts (like carb and fuel injector adapters, filter supports, engine mounts) for cars as i have a little side business in car restoring.

I saw the website www.pmdx.com, where they have the gecko 201 board adapter that helps on not doing the wiring. I think it is great but a little too much $$ for it. I would rather do the wiring (wirs are cheap!) and capacitors are bought at the local rat-shack for almost nothing. For the power cleaning board, just a bunch of caps in paralell to clean (at least try to) the DC after thr bridge rectifier and put a 80V Zenner in antipapalell to the output. Use a high wattage (2W to 5W) zener with a heatsink to drain the EMF generated while slowing the steppers down. All that can be connected using a strip.

till later,

Rafa

[Girl]

Hi,
I would of posted sooner but it took me a while to nav my way though and figure out how to post. I've been to other forums that were alot easier . But I really like this one so it was worth the frustration.

[Girl]

Hi Rekd,
I'm a hobbyist CNC builder/programmer. I got interested in CNC after working for a year at Lexington Furniture Industries in North Carolina. I have a tendency to learn more than I need to when I "get into" my job. After a year my boss was realizing that I was beginning to surpass her in CNC knowledge and she didn't like that very much. Maybe she thought I would replace her? LOL
I built my first machine in my basement out of 2 x 6's and roller skate bearings. It was able to handle a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood but it was really really slow.
I'm currently in the middle of rebuilding that machine to make it a little smaller and I have a better power supply to make it go a little faster.
I only work with wood, so having an accuracy in the thousandths is overkill for me.
One time I cut a sign that had some intricate designs and a curvy font, after the sign was cut "just for kicks" I reran the program. It never touched wood, that's accurate enough for me. LOL
I learn alot reading here, I just want to thank each and every one of you, even the newbies!
Thanks

Looks like were neighbors. I live in mocksville. I set-up and run a cnc.Look me up on the forum under Girl. And yes I am a girl!

[ahollaway]

Started out thinking "wouldn't it be cool if I had a machine...."
then, Googled for info. WOW.

I've been reading and absorbing everything I could find since. Building a shop, and once completed, I think a CNC router would be wonderful. This is hands down the best resource ever. Designs everywhere, helpful advice, outstanding community. Thanks to one & all.

So, I'm lurking, & reading, & hopefully when I post questions they won't be too obvious. :-)
My secondary objective would be to apply these technologies to my wife's quilting machine. (future project)

[mermaid1015]

Ok, here goes. I initially had great success just using a diamond bit and a hand drill. I'm disabled (whatever) with a condition that makes me and my muscles very weak. Woke up the next day feeling like one of the bottles I'd just put a hole in. By the way, the hole size, finished is at about 25/64". I start off drilling a pilot hole to about 1/8". Didn't use any lubricant due to low speed of a hand drill. (The more I think about it, the more I think I felt like the drill.)

Awright, just the way that you put things makes me think of the things my son told me. He must have found his spot in the world. Just had to interject that. ; ) Also, I don't see anything too wrong with a man being a man and a woman being a woman. It's just that occassionally I see a member of one gender who exceeds or just enjoys something that is normally associated with the other gender. You're alright, Awright.

Now, tell me more about this abrasive/water slurry you speak of. Wish there was a way to scan a picture on this site. I'd love to see it. I'm trying to visualize it but am having trouble.

Do you mean that you have used copper tubing as the bit or as a means of removing the water and waste from the slurry?

Again, thank you so much for the great advice and for making me smile.

mermaid1015

[awright]

No, I meant that I used BRASS tubing - the fairly hard, thin-wall tubing sold in hardware and hobby stores in 1 foot lengths - as the cutting tool. I think copper would be too soft and would have too thick a wall, but what the heck - try it out.

By slurry I merely mean that the abrasive is mixed with the water. Actually, I created a dam of modelling clay or rope-type caulking around the point of cutting, filled it about halfway with water, dumped a charge of abrasive into the water, and started cutting. Sorry I can't give you any ratios or recipies, but I think you will figure it out quickly as you observe what is happening. Basically, you want enough water to provide cooling to the glass and the "bit," and enough abrasive to be able to keep feeding fresh grit under the cutting edge. As a wild guess, I'd say for a 25/64 hole you would create about a 3/4" reservoir around the drilling site with clay or rope caulk or whatever, fill it about halfway with water, put in about 1/4 teaspoon of fairly fine abrasive, and start cutting. The abrasive breaks down as you progress and, along with the ground glass particles, thickens the slurry slightly. You will sense and hear when you are no longer getting much cutting action, at which time you should add fresh abrasive or clean up, inspect progress, and start with fresh water and abrasive.

Do not throw the used abrasive down your drain! It is very dense and will settle and pack in the trap and give you plumbing nightmares. Read the literature on rock tumbling for info on disposal. I would put it in a waste container until the solids settled out, pour off the clean water, and throw the used abrasive into the trash. You won't have much of it, but don't be tempted to put it down your drain. You'll only have one or two teaspoonfulls or so of waste after you finish a hole.

If you are using a drill press and have a way to hold the bottles firmly in place while starting the cut, you might get away without a cutter guide. If you don't have a rigid bottle holder you might want to tape a template to the bottle to hold the drill in position until enough of a groove has formed to keep the bit from wandering. At that point you can hold the bottle against the rotating bit freehand and the groove will keep the bit from wandering. If you are working on all the same size bottles you might be able to make a cradle out of Plaster of Paris to hold the bottles in position under the drill.

I keep a small container of water and an eye dropper on hand, along with a little fresh abrasive to toss in as needed.

The hole will be oversize relative to the diameter of the bit, so experiment with slightly undersized bits. Be very gentle and gradual as you near breaking through, as that is when you will get fracturing and chipping on the backside of the workpiece. Perhaps changing to a finer abrasive as you near breakthrough will help minimize chipping.

I don't have anything to show you, as I have only done this on a few random occasions over the years.

awright

[mecano68]

i'm a truck driver, so i don't have alot of time,,,,excuse me

[mermaid1015]

Hey, Awright!

Good to hear from you again. By the way, my son got a good laugh when I told him I had gone to see if my motor was a sparky or a TEFC. Wait, I think that was ViperTX who asked me that. Anyway, what does TEFC stand for, tough enough for crazies? ha ha I'm such a girl some times! (No offense to Girl ; ).)

Also, thanks for explaining the slurry and dam. Between you and my son, by George, I think I've got it.

I like the idea of a plaster of Paris cradle. We've been thinking about using wood and just basically building a cradle that would be held in place by the vise. I think we could get our thinking caps on and figure out a way to make the sides slide, thereby fitting all the different bottle sizes I have.

We went to Harbor Freight today and I got some different bits to try as well. So far I've only broken one bottle, but have chipped a few. Probably not that big of a deal to anyone but me. You know how that goes. Haven't found a good abrasive yet. Guess I'll look into the jeweler industry as suggested.

Also, thanks for the pointer regarding sound and other senses. I'm very auditorily oriented. (Yes, I think I just made up a new word for our friends trying to learn to speak this crazy language!) I've always been one to jump in head first and figure things out as I go along. It sure is nice to have someone to help me along the way, though.

Thanks again,
mermaid1015