[JonHoltze]

Hi Guys

Heres my take on the dust issue.
Its built from 22mm MDF pieces and contains 2x O rings of 80mm/3mm.
Its slides up and down the spindle so that one can remove it easily or change tool or set it on the correct height.

Im aware that im essentially insulating the spindle, but i have an aluminium radiator connected and never run any hotter with this funny contraption.

Feel free to ask for drawings or other info.




/ Jon

[cincron]

I'm more interested in the plexiglass sides. Is there any interference issues?


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[Mmpie]

What made you decide to make it so tall? I 3D printed my dust shoe, one bolt to clamp the top half onto the spindle and the bottom half is held on by magnets, very quick and easy to remove for a tool change and just as easy to remove the whole lot with one bolt.



That was, at least, until I put it on at a slight angle and it snagged on the bottom of the z carriage on a retract and got chopped to pieces




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[NFC]

Hello everyone!

I want to thank all of you for posting here and sharing your CNC journey, especially dharmic.

I am looking at picking up the X8-2200 but with the black box as I am learning Fusion and want it to be plug and play...some users have had success with the Orange Box and fusion with certain post processors I see, and I would love to learn more if anyone wants to chime in.

I have a couple specific questions, and I know I am a newbie and my questions might be scary or indicate I shouldn't even be considering a CNC. Bear with me...

I live in the USA. I have 220v in my shop, and of course 110v too. What I don't know is if I should order the machine for 220v or for 110v.

Does 220 work differently here in the US (combined 110v in opposite polarity) than elsewhere?

If it is the same, would the spindle work better on 220v than 110? Would the electronics run cooler?

I also want to convert to ethernet smoothstepping and was wondering if anyone has more up to date information than what was in this thread.

THANK YOU

[dharmic]

NFC getting a bit rusty (it's a while since I was looking through their options now!) but I believe the 220V version had an ER-20 collet and the 110V had an ER-16. That may have changed, but I do use endmills occasionally that want the larger collet.

It's all 240V here so it was the easier choice for us anyway. But if you have option of 110 or 220 supply where your machine will live, I'd go 220 for sure.

:edit: Oooh, as far as ethernet control is concerned, I changed over to a UC400-ETH with a couple of cheap eBay ($7 or so?) 4 axis breakout boards. Works like a charm and gives me the option of kicking over to UCCNC instead of Mach3.

[zeeflyboy]

Another option is pokeys57CNC, that gives you the choice of using either direct USB, direct Ethernet or even network Ethernet and works with mach4. Cheaper than a smoothstepper+BOB and easier to fit in the existing box size wise.

If it is suitable then higher voltage always wins imo - less amps for same wattage.

[lewisrex]

Thanks a lots for share the CNC machine reports .

[lewisrex]

Thanks a lots to provide the report of cnc machine .

[cincron]

Hello everyone!

I want to thank all of you for posting here and sharing your CNC journey, especially dharmic.

I am looking at picking up the X8-2200 but with the black box as I am learning Fusion and want it to be plug and play...some users have had success with the Orange Box and fusion with certain post processors I see, and I would love to learn more if anyone wants to chime in.

I have a couple specific questions, and I know I am a newbie and my questions might be scary or indicate I shouldn't even be considering a CNC. Bear with me...

I live in the USA. I have 220v in my shop, and of course 110v too. What I don't know is if I should order the machine for 220v or for 110v.

Does 220 work differently here in the US (combined 110v in opposite polarity) than elsewhere?

If it is the same, would the spindle work better on 220v than 110? Would the electronics run cooler?

I also want to convert to ethernet smoothstepping and was wondering if anyone has more up to date information than what was in this thread.

THANK YOU

I live in Ohio, have the X6-2200L. I didn't have or want to put 220v in my basement. I went with the 110v version. It's still spec' out as 2.2kw and the ER20 collet.

I've done some pretty long surfacing programs, about a 1/2hr-ish run time, multiple times. The spindle hasn't got hot yet.

The spindle fluid I went with is what I had laying around. A 5 gallon bucket containing: 3/4 a gallon Zerex for Asian spec 50/50 (used 1/4 gallon in my Subaru) and about a gallon of tap water. It's pink but it works good.

As for software, I haven't used fusion. Ive use a different brand and edited/made a post specifically for the OmioCNC and metric.

One thing I will say, the OmioCNC machines come set as metric. I've played around to make it into the inch system but haven't had luck. It's not a simple toggle. You can program in inch, but you can't send it home in inch. You need to flip back to metric before doing that. I was going to contact OmioCNC to see if they had instructions on how to change to inch, I just haven't yet.


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[Lomax1]

Having drooled over the YooCNC/OmioCNC routers, the Sieg mills and various other bits of "maker" kit (3D printers, laser cutters) for more years than I care to count (my reg. date on CNCZone should give you some idea...), I have finally made the decision to jump in - and I ended up jumping in the router direction; today I placed an order for the OmioCNC X4-800L, and a selection of "practice" bits! I only have room for one machine, of limited size (otherwise I would have gone for a bigger model), and wanted something that would tick as many boxes as possible. With the addition of the guide rails, and upgraded water cooled 800W spindle (with four bearings), I hope it will be able to mill soft metals (aluminium and brass), as well as acrylic and wood. I also want to use it to produce PCBs (by isolation milling), and with a drag knife, perhaps paper and vinyl cutting. The possibilities offered by a (somewhat) precise X/Y/Z stage are inspiring, and I already fantasise about what else could be mounted to the spindle carriage, maybe a laser, maybe a 3D extrusion nozzle, maybe a pick-n-place tool... But first things first - beyond getting the machine set up and trimmed in, its first job will be cutting some 3mm acrylic for a Raspberry Pi camera housing I've designed.

I've read through the last 20-odd pages of this thread, am I right in thinking that other than a bucket and a spoil board I won't be needing any additional equipment to start cutting? I know I will be keen to try it out when it arrives, so want to make sure I'm ready for it!

:wee:

[dharmic]

@cincron good to know that they do both the 110 and 220 in ER-20 now.

Bluubekt:
1. Yes for aluminium and brass, finding the right tooling, feeds and speeds will be your main issue. From bitter experience might I suggest that you suck it up and pay for carbide tooling for cutting Aluminium? It's going to save you a lot of time, tears and broken cutters. These spindles like going fast, they're pretty gutless slow. And carbide lets you hammer aluminium at high spindle speeds and fast feed rates.

2. Yes for acrylic and wood. No problems.

Caveat: don't expect 0.001" accuracy off these machines. They can get there but, especially on larger parts, there's enough bend in the machine that it can wander from one end of the job to the other.

3. PCBs will cut fine but, again, there's that bed flex which will translate into inconsistent depth of cut through the copper. Give it a try but be prepared to upgrade the electronics and fork out for UCCNC so you can do a surface profile before the milling sequence which will ensure consistent depth of the isolation cuts.

4. Haven't tried with a drag knife, just be aware that the travel speeds will be frustrating compared to a vinyl cutter or 3d printer which expect a lightweight carriage to go pretty quick.

5. Haha, you're in for a ride. You're right in that a spoilboard (and I just clamp work onto scraps of floating floorboards as a sacrificial backing) and bucket are enough to get you started. Then the fun really begins. Tooling, an enclosure, dust shoe, compressed air, vice, clamp sets... the list never ends!

[RaptorFuel]

I want to mount the control box on a shelf under the machine. Could someone point me to some longer cables or the correct parts to make my own? Maybe upgraded shielded cable?
Also, do you think the coolant motor would still cycle coolant if the reservoir was on the ground?.


One more thing, my feeds and speeds seem off. I keep having to slow the feed and raise the speed from when I thought it should be to get good chips. My feed/speed guestimations based off charts I found on the bit makers website are probably way off. Where do you get your feed/speed numbers from?

[dharmic]

My coolant runs fine sitting in a bucket on the ground, or close enough to it. The pump grabs it from the reservoir and pushes it uphill to the spindle no problems.

Longer cables - I spliced in extra length using four core cable I picked up from our local electronics hobby shop. So long as the conductor area is about the same (or larger) than the original cables it goes fine.

I use FSWizard to calculate speeds and they are a little aggressive in the feed sometimes but generally pretty good.

[Lomax1]

1. Yes for aluminium and brass, finding the right tooling, feeds and speeds will be your main issue. From bitter experience might I suggest that you suck it up and pay for carbide tooling for cutting Aluminium? It's going to save you a lot of time, tears and broken cutters. These spindles like going fast, they're pretty gutless slow. And carbide lets you hammer aluminium at high spindle speeds and fast feed rates.

Noted. Once I've learned how to use the machine without snapping bits, I will invest in better quality. For now, I have a few trial bits I ordered along with the machine (see below).

Caveat: don't expect 0.001" accuracy off these machines. They can get there but, especially on larger parts, there's enough bend in the machine that it can wander from one end of the job to the other.

Nah, never did. If I can get half that (0.05mm) I'd be over the moon. For most jobs 0.1mm would be awesome. Certainly a hell of a lot better than I can achieve with a saw.

3. PCBs will cut fine but, again, there's that bed flex which will translate into inconsistent depth of cut through the copper. Give it a try but be prepared to upgrade the electronics and fork out for UCCNC so you can do a surface profile before the milling sequence which will ensure consistent depth of the isolation cuts.

I was planning to mill PCBs in a pre-cut pocket in a thick piece of MDF - should ensure end/end & side/side flatness, and limit flexing?

4. Haven't tried with a drag knife, just be aware that the travel speeds will be frustrating compared to a vinyl cutter or 3d printer which expect a lightweight carriage to go pretty quick.

Speed is not important, you should see how long it takes to cut a stencil with a scalpel...

5. Haha, you're in for a ride. You're right in that a spoilboard (and I just clamp work onto scraps of floating floorboards as a sacrificial backing) and bucket are enough to get you started. Then the fun really begins. Tooling, an enclosure, dust shoe, compressed air, vice, clamp sets... the list never ends!

Looking forward to it! I'm trying hard to limit my expectations and prepare for a steep learning curve! And I totally expect this to end up being yet another hole to stuff money into... I already have shop air, but will need to get some kind of nozzle to mount on the spindle (Loc-Line?) - and these are the bits I ordered with the mill:

YKL Single blade end mill for Acrylic 3.175-2.5-17
YKL Single blade end mill for Acrylic 4.0-4.0-22
YKL Single blade end mill for Acrylic 6.0-6.0-22

A-PJ3 30deg 0.01mm Flat V Shape tool for Copper and aluminum A-PJ3-3001 (10pcs)
A-PJ3 60deg 0.02mm Flat V Shape tool for Copper and aluminum A-PJ3-6002 (10pcs)

LDR Single blade end mill for aluminum alloy 3.175-2.0-6
LDR Single blade end mill for aluminum alloy 4.0-4.0-17
LDR Single blade end mill for aluminum alloy 6.0-6.0-22

DRM Single blade spiral tool DRM-4-22
DRM Single blade spiral tool DRM-6-22

SRX Double blade spiral tool SRX-4-22
SRX Double blade spiral tool SRX-6-22

Any good?

Edit: bit dimensions are given as shank-diameter-depth, or shank/diameter-depth for the spiral bits, all in mm.

[Mmpie]

I want to mount the control box on a shelf under the machine. Could someone point me to some longer cables or the correct parts to make my own? Maybe upgraded shielded cable?
Also, do you think the coolant motor would still cycle coolant if the reservoir was on the ground?.


One more thing, my feeds and speeds seem off. I keep having to slow the feed and raise the speed from when I thought it should be to get good chips. My feed/speed guestimations based off charts I found on the bit makers website are probably way off. Where do you get your feed/speed numbers from?

For the cables, cy is what you want if you want shielded. Here in the U.K., at least at local suppliers, the difference between shielded and unshielded for cut lengths was peanuts (from memory think it was 3p per meter difference) so it was a no brainier to go with shielded.

I used 4 core 0.75mm for the motors, 3 core 1.5mm for the spindle, I used 7 core 0.5mm for the home switches as it was the smallest they had in stock and willing to cut lengths off... 0.2mm would be fine for the switches.

The connectors on the control box and spindle I believe are called GX16 plugs. I bought new ones but managed to desolder and reuse the plastic ones on the original wiring. The plugs on the motors and the home switches once the 6 core branches off to the switches are JST-SM switches. 0.75mm is slightly overkill for the motors but I found it was really easy to crimp the pins onto the bigger wires and make a really strong connection, a hard tug pulls the pin out of the housing before the wire slips out the pin.

If you have an enclosure, one thing I never thought of (wish I had) until it was too late was just keeping the original wiring as is and adding in a panel with the connectors into the side of the enclosure, then new wires from the enclosure to the black box.


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[cincron]

On X and Y I can hold .003". The Z axis from what part to the next wanders up to .015". I bumped Z off an indicator for an hour and there's some good thermal growth that's .007". Not sure why my 360 brass wandered so much. The stuff I'm doing, I can live with it. I just have to check every part. I'm doing a max of 15 of the same part at once (operation). I need to pick up another vice so I can run an "A" and a "B".

For mills, I picked up some off Amazon. The brand is TUP. They say they're "Germany Metal Alloy Knife" so I assume they're made in china. They seem to be decent carbide for brass and Aluminum.


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[dharmic]

Good idea on the MDF pocket, that should solve most of the problems.

The loc-line? I have fitted a couple of cheapo misters ( you can now get one with a Y in it like this: Bidirection Mist Coolant Spray System for 8mm Air Pipe CNC Lathe Milling Drill | eBay ) from eBay. Cheap, run it as just air or run it with a 20% methylated spirits / 80% water mix mist for cutting aluminium. Works really well and cheap as chips.

No idea about the specific cutters sorry.

[Mmpie]

On X and Y I can hold .003". The Z axis from what part to the next wanders up to .015". I bumped Z off an indicator for an hour and there's some good thermal growth that's .007". Not sure why my 360 brass wandered so much. The stuff I'm doing, I can live with it. I just have to check every part. I'm doing a max of 15 of the same part at once (operation). I need to pick up another vice so I can run an "A" and a "B".

For mills, I picked up some off Amazon. The brand is TUP. They say they're "Germany Metal Alloy Knife" so I assume they're made in china. They seem to be decent carbide for brass and Aluminum.


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I did some tests with the indicator the other day, the result was odd. Jogging using the keys or G0 Z command in the mdi threw up inconsistent errors like you mentioned, but go to zero and running a toolpath over a flat (ish) surface, the movement was precise and only ever out by 0.01mm.


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[cincron]

I have this Coolant mister, does what it's supposed to do;

Yosoo Mist Coolant Mist Lubrication System Used for CNC Lathe Milling Drill Machine (save-energy type) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZOQ6X10..._yLqOybMY14VJN


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[Lomax1]

No idea about the specific cutters sorry.

Me neither I just ordered a few different things I updated the post with links, for anyone who's interested. All the bits are listed as "Carbide", with the LDR (aluminium) ones being "Solid Carbide", and the YKL (acrylic) "Micro Grain Tungsten Steel Solid Carbide". Sounds like a load of b******s to me - isn't "carbide" short for "tungsten carbide" anyway?