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Well, hopefully we would look at what we need and look at what offerings are in the market (or homebrew) to meet those needs.

If I need a cnc capable of cutting full sheets of plywood with...

Everybody has covered this already, but definitely not.

The only programming I've done for my cnc machine is some simple scripts to spit out gcode for basic tasks that I can't be stuffed CADing....

Fantastic Rod, I'm looking forward to seeing the build as it progresses

At that price range you'll definitely need to pay some import duties on it.

The custom's staff are generally very helpful, and provide excellent general advice, but unfortunately the team that can...

or check out youtube. plenty of tutorials on how to do similar stuff with vectric products (you mentioned vcarve).

there are a number of tools available online to generate airfoil shapes - i'd be really surprised if there were not ones for boats as well.
This one will spit out a svg of the 2d shape:
Airfoil...

If your still using the stock cables to the stepper motors replace them - The stock ones are poorly shielded (if at all) and have a tendency to intermittent breaking. Also replace the cable going...

One advantage of using the chillipeppr software is that it automatically adjusts your g-code file to compensate for the height differences.

If you can swing the space I think the dedicated cnc...

Its worth noting that for many projects you don't actually need to skim or flatten the entire top surface. For example, if your machine has a work area of 600x900 but your workpiece is only 180x300...

Depending on how thick your wood is, you can use a really small bit and ignore the radius. a 0.8mm bit works nicely for a lot of woods. The only downside is most 0.8mm bits are not very long or...

Very nice David, did you do the drive gear wheels as well?

I did with my machine, and haven't had any issues

I'd regard that as a bug. UGS is open source, so I guess you could let the devs know and hope they fix it, or fix it yourself and send them the fix to incorporate.

There are a number of other...

nice solution epineh. Any reason for the beaglebone as opposed to a pi3?

whups, never mind - I actually went to look at the Xylotex site, which answered my question

I believe its possible to set macros up in UGS, but I don't use it.

found this thread after seeing the post in the CNC section.

You can do it, but there are a couple of issues.

With most cnc machines and 3d printers a lot of effort is put into reducing or...

sorry for the double post.
this may be vaguely useful:
https://discuss.inventables.com/t/return-to-zero-issues-possible-ugs-issue/20083/2

basically it looks like you need to set G28.1 before you...

weird behaviour for the Z axis John. Does UGS have a console that lets you view the gcode commands being sent? might be interesting to see what is sent when return to zero is set. Normal behaviour...

wow, some of those holes look really close to the edge....

I've been picking up small end mill, ball nose and v bits from China via aliexpress, normally in sets of either 5 or 10 cutters, very cheaply. Lots of sellers, and so far I've only had issues with...

Hi All,

I came across this on hackaday (Hackaday Prize Entry: DIY Automatic Tool Changer | Hackaday)

looks like a cool homebrew automatic tool changer. Explanatory video on youtube:

...

mine is going strong. definately ditch the electronics. There are a number of options available these days, if your struggling to find hardware with a parallel port to talk to the geckos.

yeah, a hard reset button somewhere (kills power to the spindle or router and the stepper motors) is a must. It shouldn't just be a software feature. One of those big red emergency stop buttons is...

I thought UGS had a single line step function - maybe try double clicking on it.

You may also want to check out chilipeppr. There is an offline version available, but I think you need to be...

If your machine can take it you could also move up to a 25mm bit, which could speed the surfacing process up.

I suspect a lot of people would be driven nuts by the hand coding - it can promote a much greater understanding of what the machine is doing and how its working, but as you move on to more complex...

There are a bunch of x-carve / shapeoko videos on youtube where people show their workflow process - they might give you some ideas of software others use.

Inkscape seems popular on the free side...

one piece of software worth checking out for the transfering g-code to the machine step is chilipeppr. Its browser based (I don't get why people would even think about doing this), but there is an...

meshcam is pretty cheap too, and I believe they do a free trial.

MeshCAM - CNC Software - CAD/CAM Software

I've seen them called lattice hinges - searching on that might help maybe.

this guy seems to be using adobe illustrator to generate the patterns: Curved laser bent wood

just taking a guess - from the look of it that is designed to work as a siphon. the clear tube goes into your container of cutting lube/cooling oil, you hook a compressor up where the valve is (i'd...

Steve is the little black box behind the transformer winder another winder, possibly homebrew?

yeah, i was thinking it would work really well for panel art.

I've been using an electronic probe to set the height, but I've been doing it on the edge of the board. Might change over to the...

Thanks Rusel. Interesting technique, I'll have to try it next time I want to make something with really small components. I've found a lot of variance in the various toner brands when used for heat...

Yup, I know. Its pretty cheap to get one offs these days, and if you don't mind waiting a couple to a few weeks its fine.

I'm pretty clueless at electronics, so when I'm designing and prototyping...

yeah, the 6040 does a pretty good job at the moment - I've run into some issues trying to cut tracks around small parts (in this case TSSOP). I can do it, but I have to be pretty careful about the...

yup, 0.001mm would be very nice.

I've been using de-mineralised water + anti-freeze for a while now without issues. The mill doesn't do many long runs and it doesn't get used a great deal, so my choices may not have been the best.

I'd interpreted Rod's list as threaded rod (worst) to R&P as the best of the second choices.

Thanks again for the info guys, your helping me clarify my requirements very nicely.

Greolt would...

Thanks for the info guys. Very helpful

Hi Guys and Gals,

I'm in the thinking it through stage on a new mill, and I'm looking to design and build a small mill (about 300x300 cut area) which would be dedicated to cutting prototype...

Try aliexpress
http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&SearchText=3d+printer
first cab off the rank on the search is $358, free shipping, 2 rolls of filament, with cheaper (and more expensive)...

If your not sure what you want to do with it $1350 is a lot to spend. I'd be more inclined to go with a chinese supplied Prusa i3, which you can for around $350 including shipping at the moment.
...

I'd go through the set up process for each axis one by one to make sure you have everything working right. You'll end up chasing your tail otherwise.

I'm not sure about the shield your using, but...

What trouble are you having, exactly?

If your not sure where things connect on the board, its probably a good idea to get in touch with the shield manufacturer for some better documentation than...

btw if you want to save a bit of money: I made my spoil board from mdf, with hex shaped holes sized to fit a 1/4" hex nut in the top (plus a through-hole large enough to take the 1/4" bolt). I...

you can get a RepRap Prusa for far cheaper than that from fleabay or aliexpress.. proven design, will actually complete unlike most of those magazine series.

no parallel port for the gecko. You'll need usb stepper drivers. there are a few mach3 compatible ones available these days.

Just a suggestion for next time you make a spoil board - I found routing hex shaped pockets about the same size as a 1/4" nut (very slightly oversize so you have a tight fit) and then press fitting...

Yep, Rusty's implementation is clean and elegant, but getting the speed and distance pots to trigger an update is going to be messy. that gets back into the land of what I was doing, and its harder...