3018 CNC Router/digitizer/laser cutter modifications and upgrades

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3018 CNC Router/digitizer/laser cutter modifications and upgrades

This topic has 32 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 10 September 2024 at 15:55 by Andy_G.

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28 July 2024 at 07:53 #743980
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
Paul I used the full outline like you show not single line and just set the CAM to machine the remaining area.

Size of letters along with the tool you are using does come into it as you need a small enough cutter to enter letters like your “S” and also do the fully enclosed ones like your “4” and things Like ABDetc. There are several things that can be done to help with this situation such as the obvious use of a very small diameter cutter, setting the minimum cutting radius very small and in the case of the fully enclosed letters I went slightly shallower, as I wa susing a tapered engraving cutter it gets wider the deeper you go so less depth = smaller diameter cutter. Not always possible with multi layer material but there are other ways to get roun dthe problem with that

What size are your actual letters? and what cutter (dia type) are you using? And what is the thickness of the top layer. Lastly you want the letters in the top colour and the background in the core colour which is the opposite to how the multilayer material is used.

I use Fusion 360 (free) for the CAM and that nameplate as done with two 2D pockets, the one above and a deeper one for all the rest. This does leave internal corners rounded to the radius of the cutter as it does not lift to get the “mitred” look which cutting internally does but in this case with such a fine cutter it does not really show. Most noticable on the M and N below
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4 September 2024 at 14:43 #751176
Paul L
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@paull58212
I can recommend steering clear of this style of spindle motor (ubiquitous on Amazon, Aliexpress, etc.) on grounds of both electrical safety and mechanical shortcomings.

Hello Andy,

Ive decided to make my own mill aprox 500 x 600x 250. can you recommend a spindle you think would be appropriate considering the tests you have carried out?

I’ve seen some recommendation about using a woodworking router. any thoughts on this?

Paul
4 September 2024 at 16:16 #751208
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
If you are going down that route then take a look at the Kress now AMB spindles/routers
4 September 2024 at 18:05 #751232
John Haine
Participant
@johnhaine32865
I have used F Engrave which is free for engraving and I’d recommend it though the learning curve is a bit steep.

https://www.scorchworks.com/Fengrave/fengrave.html

However I use CamBam for general CAM work and its engraving also works well, but it is a paid-for package.
5 September 2024 at 23:24 #751497
Andy_G
Participant
@andy_g
On 4 September 2024 at 14:43 Paul L Said:

I can recommend steering clear of this style of spindle motor (ubiquitous on Amazon, Aliexpress, etc.) on grounds of both electrical safety and mechanical shortcomings.

Hello Andy,

Ive decided to make my own mill aprox 500 x 600x 250. can you recommend a spindle you think would be appropriate considering the tests you have carried out?

I’ve seen some recommendation about using a woodworking router. any thoughts on this?

Paul

What do you want to machine?

I wouldn’t use a router for machining metal (other than maybe aluminium – even then, they aren’t well sealed against metal chips).

The Chinese VFD driven spindles are tempting, but have high minimum speeds so aren’t good for the sort of speeds that would be needed for machining steel (say).

I ended up making my own in the end, using a matched pair of angular contact bearings sold as spare parts for the Chinese water-cooled spindles. I would probably look harder at the VFD ones if starting from scratch.

Some more info here:

Making a Stiffer ER11 Spindle

A quick test:

Making something useful:
10 September 2024 at 10:57 #752433
Paul L
Participant
@paull58212
Sorry for the delay in replying, I was overseas for a few days.

Jason, those spindles are a tad pricey for my budget but I appreciate they are a professional solution.

Andy, I like your solution. I was also considering something similar but with the motor mounted in-line and a coupling between, utilising something like this..

I did consider using a belt but I have no experience of belts and thought it may slip. Your ‘multi v” belt obviously works well.

Did you make the hole deeper in the spindle so the tool can be slid deeper into the collet?

I have a £25 spindle on my existing 3018 unit but I dont think it will be up to the job on the new machine. which spindle are you using? or can you point me towards a suitable unit.

Regards

Paul
10 September 2024 at 11:22 #752449
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
The KX-3 also has a Poly-V belt and not noticed any slipping on that. Belt does give you the option of high and low speed ranges which Gray’s looks to have, handy for engraving or very small dia cutters.

With an Er11 collet you are only going to be looking at 6mm shank tooling so 30mm depth of hole should be enough as most seem to be 50mm overall size at that diameter.
10 September 2024 at 15:55 #752502
Andy_G
Participant
@andy_g
On 10 September 2024 at 10:57 Paul L Said:

I was also considering something similar but with the motor mounted in-line and a coupling between, utilising something like this..

I did consider using a belt but I have no experience of belts and thought it may slip. Your ‘multi v” belt obviously works well.

Did you make the hole deeper in the spindle so the tool can be slid deeper into the collet?

I have a £25 spindle on my existing 3018 unit but I dont think it will be up to the job on the new machine. which spindle are you using? or can you point me towards a suitable unit.

I made a toolpost milling spindle using one of those ER Collet extensions.

I found the quality to be variable – the first one I bought had about 0.2mm runout in the taper. Second one was OK, but not great. It’s a bit of a lottery.

No problems with the belt drive – the pulleys were easy to machine. I gave myself a choice of drive ratios with the intention of reducing the spindle speed to ~3000RPM for machining steel, but haven’t really had cause to use it. I can see how a direct drive would appeal. I couldn’t accommodate it on my machine because of where I’d placed the Z axis motor.

Yes, the deeper hole is so that the tool stick-out can be minimised. The intent of the design is to get the distance between the tool tip and the front spindle bearings as short as possible in order to maximise stiffness.

I’m afraid I don’t really have a suggestion for a spindle (I’m still using my home made one) – There seem to be some Chinese brushless spindles with a 10k RPM top speed which is probably where I’d start looking. (Pay attention to the bearing arrangement – some “spindles” only have a single, deep-groove ball bearing at the nose.)

Don’t get hung up on power ratings – I think 500 “real” watts is enough for these little machines – but be aware that the power rating of brushless spindles drops quickly as the RPM is reduced.
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