Great community in the zone. Soooo much to learn.
So I get this crazy idea - build a CNC Machine in my basement! I don't know where to start asking for help, but I'll tell you where I am.
I purchased parts piecemail on e-bay, (read enough but not enough to stop with plans "in my head".)
Here's what I have:
A welded steel frame and gantry of 2" square tube.
Supported 16 mm rails in x and y, unsupported 16mm z
3 - 5mm pitch ballscrews and antibacklash nuts
260 oz steppers, TB6560 controller/driver Mach 3 Demo.
motors are tuned correctly at 1/16th and I'm getting about 180 ipm
Setup is very solid. Z slide is 1/4 plate aluminum.
Mounted a cheapo harbor freight panel router for testing only.
I can cut basic stuff in Mach 3 (circles and squares using the wizards or direct g-code.)
This is where it ends.............now the hard work and questions. All help comments and referrals for counseling accepted!
Given the above, is my 180 ipm a decent speed?
I assume I have a rugged CNC for any wood or plastic. I'm hoping aluminum too? yes/no? (I am aware much becomes spindle and tool dependent and before I ever move to a serious spindle, I'll be mounting a porter cable 690)
Current major heartaches - I have Rhino 4.0 CAD/CAM/ART - can't get the post processing files to open in the Demo version of Mach. I can export simple dxf stuff to Lazycam and load from there but thats not the long term solution.
I havent installed my limit or home switches yet. Do these have to be installed and set for soft limits to work? Can't get those working
I would really value your comments. THIS has been a great learning experience but I know I have .004 of the knowledge base I really need and want.