[digits]

I know it's the next size up, but I'm pretty happy with my Warco WM18 - and with the service I've had from Warco. The mill was nice and clean on arrival - I didn't find any rubbish in it when I stripped it down to clean it, and the wiring seemed to be half decent.

That said, I've since bought most of my spares from Amadeal - they're cheaper and the service for parts at least seems very good.

[jdurkin]

I know it's the next size up, but I'm pretty happy with my Warco WM18 - and with the service I've had from Warco. The mill was nice and clean on arrival - I didn't find any rubbish in it when I stripped it down to clean it, and the wiring seemed to be half decent.

That said, I've since bought most of my spares from Amadeal - they're cheaper and the service for parts at least seems very good.

Whats everyones thoughts on MT3 or R8??

I was promised lots of R8 Tooling however now fell through

I will be wanting to have a power drawbar in the future so bear this in mind
for us chaps.

So to sum up Im in the UK with no tooling to start.

Cheers

[digits]

Are you thinking of just a power-drawbar, or some quick-change tooling system and/or a tool-changer too?

I have just added a power-drawbar to my MT3 WM18 - it uses a 3/4" collet to hold Tormach TTS tooling. Still need to plumb/wire up the air-cyclinder, but mechanically it looks like it'll work well.

If you have no tooling, I really would suggest you consider TTS which will work with R8 or MT3. Most CNC jobs will need half a dozen tools (a couple of drills, a roughing and finishing end-mill etc) and not having to touch off each time you change tools really removes a whole load of tedium. It's also rather tricky to touch off on a 3D part once you've roughed off all of the top of the stock

Before I got my TTS (and some of it is still on its way), I was using MT3 ER32 collet-chucks (bought from Warco at shows). They work pretty well, but I prefer my new setup.

[Rikk]

I think a lot of it is going to be down to what you want to do, I have an Optimum BF20L which is MT2, the only issue I have is finding some of the larger tooling but to be frank I'm not surfacing huge chunks of material so it's not really that much of a problem.

The drawbar is an M10 thread so not as easy to convert to powered as something like the R8, but again, it's no problem changing a tool a few times and it's not like I'm doing production runs.

Have a think about what you realistically need, not what you want

Where abouts in the UK are you? I'm in east london, if your anywhere near your more than welcome to pop over for a looksee and a chat.

[Rikk]

If you have no tooling, I really would suggest you consider TTS which will work with R8 or MT3. Most CNC jobs will need half a dozen tools (a couple of drills, a roughing and finishing end-mill etc) and not having to touch off each time you change tools really removes a whole load of tedium. It's also rather tricky to touch off on a 3D part once you've roughed off all of the top of the stock

Have you thought about using a different screen set for mach3 so you can use master tool mode for you tooling. Then with two touch plates(one fixed), or one fixed touch plate and a probe you can use different length tools quite happily.
Both of these support it and are FAR FAR better than the normal screen, they also both have a lot of probing routines which make things much easier as well.
The CNC Woodworker - Mach3 2010
Calypso Ventures, Inc.

I'm using 2010 at the moment but may swap to machstd, but we'll see

[jdurkin]

Are you thinking of just a power-drawbar, or some quick-change tooling system and/or a tool-changer too?

If you have no tooling, I really would suggest you consider TTS which will work with R8 or MT3. Most CNC jobs will need half a dozen tools (a couple of drills, a roughing and finishing end-mill etc) and not having to touch off each time you change tools really removes a whole load of tedium. It's also rather tricky to touch off on a 3D part once you've roughed off all of the top of the stock

Before I got my TTS (and some of it is still on its way), I was using MT3 ER32 collet-chucks (bought from Warco at shows). They work pretty well, but I prefer my new setup.

Well yes TTS will be the way I want to go 100%, thats good info regarding R8 and MT3 needed

[jdurkin]

I think a lot of it is going to be down to what you want to do, I have an Optimum BF20L which is MT2, the only issue I have is finding some of the larger tooling but to be frank I'm not surfacing huge chunks of material so it's not really that much of a problem.

The drawbar is an M10 thread so not as easy to convert to powered as something like the R8, but again, it's no problem changing a tool a few times and it's not like I'm doing production runs.

Have a think about what you realistically need, not what you want

Where abouts in the UK are you? I'm in east london, if your anywhere near your more than welcome to pop over for a looksee and a chat.

Good info for me thanks - power drawbar will be the way i want to go and realy will need as the projects I have in mind will need lots of tool changing.

Im in liverpool so too far, but thank you for the offer thats realy refreshing to know you guys are here to push the boat out and help.

[fragger6662000]

if you just want to quickly change tools do what i did.

fragger6662000's Channel - YouTube

they are mt2 and with a setting probe chip to chip is 30s.

[digits]

Have you thought about using a different screen set for mach3 so you can use master tool mode for you tooling. Then with two touch plates(one fixed), or one fixed touch plate and a probe you can use different length tools quite happily.
Both of these support it and are FAR FAR better than the normal screen, they also both have a lot of probing routines which make things much easier as well.
The CNC Woodworker - Mach3 2010
Calypso Ventures, Inc.

I'm using 2010 at the moment but may swap to machstd, but we'll see

Cheers for the info - I'm not running Mach 3 though, I'm running EMC2.

[Mad Welder]

Have you thought about using a different screen set for mach3 so you can use master tool mode for you tooling. Then with two touch plates(one fixed), or one fixed touch plate and a probe you can use different length tools quite happily.
Both of these support it and are FAR FAR better than the normal screen, they also both have a lot of probing routines which make things much easier as well.
The CNC Woodworker - Mach3 2010
Calypso Ventures, Inc.

I'm using 2010 at the moment but may swap to machstd, but we'll see

Sorry jdurkin to side track your thread in this sentence but cheers too Rikk for the info and the videos are extremely helpful, it sure is nice to see all the friendly help we get when looking for advice.

And jdurkin this thread is turning into a very interesting thread and I can't wait to see your build... sounds like your really doing your home work and you know exactly what you want.



:cheers:

[jdurkin]

And jdurkin this thread is turning into a very interesting thread and I can't wait to see your build... sounds like your really doing your home work and you know exactly what you want.
:cheers:

Cheers Mad welder, ye Ive had to do my homework as this is very new to me,

As you have mentioned the build to be on here, yes I think Ill continue this thread and show you guys how it goes, bear with us though as not even got the mill yet and when I do it may take a bit of time to juggle making the parts as dont have access to another mill.

interesting yes i think it will be and hopefully will be of help to others starting out from scratch and when i say scratch thats what its going to be.

So heres my next question - Software?

Ive been learning Alibre Design and just made some nice models for learning purposes.

What do you recommend for creating the "magic" u know the gcode!


Whats a good balance or good sofware, ease of use, price?

[Rikk]

I use alibre for the CAD for work, find it very easy to use and most importantly being parametric to make changes.
For CAM I use Cambam, I tried out LOADS and for me this does pretty much everything even a little 3D work. You can download it and get 30 uses from the software with no restrictions which actually goes a LONG way if your sensible.

I bought a package of mach3, cambam and cutviewer for a cheaper price and haven't been disappointed. Cutviewer is very good to test out the gcode before going to machine, I've caught a lot of little hickups that way, it's also nice to see the aprt actually looks like what you expect as well

mach3 - ArtSoft USA - Home of Mach3 and LazyCam
cambam - CamBam CNC Software
cutviwer - CutViewer

If you do go for mach3, treat yourself to the 2010 screenset I already linked, for the small price of $20 it's got a LOT of fab stuff in it to help and also is much cleared than the standard screenset.

This is also something else to maybe pick up at some point, it's a wizard for mach3.
Newfangled Solutions LLC - Mach3 Addons for Mill

Almost forgot, for feeds and speed you can't really get any better than this, it's really rather good
http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCGWizardHH2011.html

[jdurkin]

I use alibre for the CAD for work, find it very easy to use and most importantly being parametric to make changes.
For CAM I use Cambam, I tried out LOADS and for me this does pretty much everything even a little 3D work. You can download it and get 30 uses from the software with no restrictions which actually goes a LONG way if your sensible.

I bought a package of mach3, cambam and cutviewer for a cheaper price and haven't been disappointed. Cutviewer is very good to test out the gcode before going to machine, I've caught a lot of little hickups that way, it's also nice to see the aprt actually looks like what you expect as well

mach3 - ArtSoft USA - Home of Mach3 and LazyCam
cambam - CamBam CNC Software
cutviwer - CutViewer

If you do go for mach3, treat yourself to the 2010 screenset I already linked, for the small price of $20 it's got a LOT of fab stuff in it to help and also is much cleared than the standard screenset.

This is also something else to maybe pick up at some point, it's a wizard for mach3.
Newfangled Solutions LLC - Mach3 Addons for Mill

Almost forgot, for feeds and speed you can't really get any better than this, it's really rather good
GWizard: A CNC Machinist's Calculator for Feeds and Speeds

Great info Rikk

The 3 software bundle looks very good indeed.
If i went for the package:

CamBam Shop - CamBam+Mach3+CutViewer

would this be the 2010 mach3 that you mentioned - you lost me saying
"for the small price of $20"

[Rikk]

The 2010 mach3 screenset is available here(The CNC Woodworker - Mach3 2010), it's an addon to mach3.

[jdurkin]

The 2010 mach3 screenset is available here(The CNC Woodworker - Mach3 2010), it's an addon to mach3.

Rikk - Spot on mate, cheers for your time

[Rikk]

No worries, I know how much of a pain it was trawling through so much software trying to work out what I needed when at the time I didn't really know I needed or indeed how it worked 8)
By the way, feel free to email me [email protected] I'm still very new to this myself but have made most of the mistakes I'm sure

[jdurkin]

Thanks Rikk appreciate it

[Robin Hewitt]

Cutting meshes is a foreign country to me and I don't speak the lingo yet

The usual method is to move over the mesh in a series of parallel passes moving the tool in the Z axis to follow the mesh. You do horizontal passes then vertical to get in all the nooks and crannies. Maybe 45 degrees after that to improve the finish.

Than nice chap 10bulls at CamBam added a waterline following mesh cutter when I asked him to, but I haven't tried it yet because my ancient brain doesn't quite stretch to his learning curve. It is about the only affordable waterline mesh cutter I've seen to date.

I usually stick to 2.5D outlines and pockets, it is much easier, unless you are me because I eventually got fed up trying to learn CNC packages and wrote my own which goes straight from AutoCAD dxf to driving the mill under Windows 7.

OTOH I am probably insane :banana:

[Rikk]

Oh and something else to add to the list of things you really need
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/mach_s...nt_russia.html

Very inexpensive for what it is/does compared to anything else I could find.

BTW, I hope you have very deep pockets as I've not stopped spending with mine, always finding something else to get, latest is a probe when/if it ever arrives.

For purely3D CAM stuff, this is meant to be good and not a bad price http://www.grzsoftware.com/

[Mad Welder]

Hi again jdurkin I came across this supplier in November's issue No 183 of Model Engineers Workshop magazine, the Mills are another clone of the G0704/BF20-30/PM......

Toolco - Buy lathes, Milling Machines, Accessories, Tools, Hobby & Industrial - Milling Machines the VM20 seem to be sold out with them at present Toolco - Buy lathes, Milling Machines, Accessories, Tools, Hobby & Industrial - Milling Machines


:cheers: