Thread: Carving CNC 6040 machine - painless (so far)

So the new controllers work okay?
There ya go, another lesson I needed to learn obviously.
I'm really happy with the G540 though.

Mines a 6090.

Ian

Originally Posted by Finn562

So the new controllers work okay?
There ya go, another lesson I needed to learn obviously.

Well, it works OK so far - I've only done two cuts, but no weird jitters or jumps with the spindle running at 18,000rpm - I was all set to re-gear with Gekos and a Smoothstepper, and they probably do get better performance from the machine, but, for the moment, what arrived in the box seems to work

in Mach3
ports and pins
motor outputs
you can toggle ,. yaxis dir , low active . and that will mirror your Y axis

Switching the pin mode on the axis did the job.

Just a few notes (I've posted this on CNC Zone as well).

The casing of the CNC6040 S80 is earthed, but neither the VFD nor the spindle connection are.

The guts are really nicely laid out and look to be decent quality.

The tool-height probe was wired backwards such that it'd trigger instantly when you tried to set the tool height - could be something to do with the relative potential of the machine, I dunno - reversing the connections in the base of the puck fixed it.

Sounds good Rusty
It looks a lot like what I am doing to my Shark at the moment.
What size is the spindle?
I guess the greenish hoses are for the water pump? How long are they?
I have been wondering how to connect mine to a larger tank, my pump is not submersible and seems so puny, now I have a bit of an idea how to do it.

It worries me that the VDF and the spindle are not earthed, are you sure? Mine kept on triggering the circuit breaker until I got it worked out. I remember reading in the Hunyang (sp) thread how BobL earthed his.

Wishing you a lot more fun, be careful however, CNC is very addictive

I got one of these the other week.
eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d
Fully submersible.

Only problem is that it has a 16mm outlet and the hose to the spindle is only 8mm so needs an adapter.

Originally Posted by SAISAY

What size is the spindle?

1500W with an ER11 collet. It came with 2 x 1/8" collets - I think the second was meant to be 6mm as the kit had 2 x 6mm mills. Time to hunt down some more collets I guess...

I guess the greenish hoses are for the water pump? How long are they?
I have been wondering how to connect mine to a larger tank, my pump is not submersible and seems so puny, now I have a bit of an idea how to do it.

The hoses are plenty long, maybe 1m on both? While the supplied pump is a bit noisier than a submersible, it looks to be a nice unit - I added some caps to the terminals to cut the brush noise a bit. I can't see flow being a problem, and there's about 6 litres or so of water and a bit of antifreeze for anti-corrosion (hence the greenish tinge) so that should keep the sucker cool I think.

It worries me that the VDF and the spindle are not earthed, are you sure? Mine kept on triggering the circuit breaker until I got it worked out. I remember reading in the Hunyang (sp) thread how BobL earthed his.

Yeah, it's not earthed (checked with a multimeter) but it all works just fine out of the box - there's an RCD on the circuit and no trips so far. I'll probably get some 4 x 1mm2 shielded cable for the run to the spindle and add more earthing, but I'm in no rush as the machine basically works.

Probably more of a priority is sorting out the software side of things so I can start making useful stuff.

Loaded up the demo version of Cut2D today and had a go at a few tutorials. I have a sheet of MDF on the table which I spray-adhesived some balsa to and cut out a nice wing rib, then I did the same with some 6mm MDF and cut out their "Rocket" demo, all with the supplied flat-bottomed engraving bit.

Only problem I noticed is that the X axis must have lost a step or two during the "Rocket" cut - I'd already reduced the rate for the axis in Mach 3, but may need to drop it a little more. I guess the other thing would be to work out if there's excessive binding on the X axis, but I'm not sure how to do that.

IMG_0740.JPG

Only changes to the machine so far are:

• Adding caps to the cooling pump to reduce electrical noise (wasn't causing problems, but seemed like a good thing to do).
• Swapped wiring on tool-height setting puck
• Changing ramp-up and ramp-down time on VFD to 4s rather than 8s.

Rodney
We may have a problem with copywright here.

Originally Posted by RustyArc

I guess the other thing would be to work out if there's excessive binding on the X axis, but I'm not sure how to do that.

Toatally disconnect all the drive side of the relevant axis and just turn by hand. If it is smooth as silk then OK. Otherwise, what is binding?

Not sure what the "copyright" thing is all about?

The X axis moves fine by hand, but if twisted quickly it does bind - I expect this is what happens sometimes when repositioning - perhaps it's racking a little? That said, it only looks to have slipped a fraction of a millimetre on that "Rocket" demo file, but obviously any missed steps are too many. That said, I've got no idea what scope there is for adjustment on this machine.

Originally Posted by Bob Willson

Rodney
We may have a problem with copywright here.

Not with a finished product, only if the toolpath or file is posted for public view

Originally Posted by RustyArc

Not sure what the "copyright" thing is all about?

Rocket is a psuedonym of Rod's on another site

The X axis moves fine by hand, but if twisted quickly it does bind - I expect this is what happens sometimes when repositioning - perhaps it's racking a little? That said, it only looks to have slipped a fraction of a millimetre on that "Rocket" demo file, but obviously any missed steps are too many. That said, I've got no idea what scope there is for adjustment on this machine.

i would suggest that you wind the X axis all the way up to one end, Disconnect that end's bearings and shim any gaps there may be. then do the same to the other end and retest.
The speed at which you twist the shaft should not impact on the smoothness of travel.
Also, when making these adjustments try to make sure that the end bearings are all at 90 degreesto the shaft.

Yesterday I decided it would be nice to learn how to use Mach 3 so I ordered a 6040 with 4th axis as well.
Reckon I should be able to use it for knife handles etc.
Have been wanting to make my own dinnerware for a while now.
Should arrive early April.
Gonna be an interesting experience.
Just have to find somewhere to put it.