Modelling with the WM3020

[IanTParticipant @iant]

I thought I’d better stop intruding on Russ’es 3018 CNC thread and start my own.

In brief, there was a time when I thought that all this ‘new’ technology wasn’t really going to be for me. Purchasing a 3D Printer on a bit of a whim, I was surprised at how useful it was in my workshop, as well as making my Granddaugher very happy with a 3D printed ‘Elsa’ she requested. Did you know that Granddads can fix anything?

The biggest hurdle to 3D printing is of course, being able to design your own 3D models – basically making the determined effort to learn a 3D CAD. Three years or so later, whilst I’m certainly not a CAD expert, I can produce most things I need without too much trouble. It’s been well worth the effort.

So the thought of using a (small) CNC router slowly started to creep into my day dreaming (which being long retired, happens quite a lot these days. Bingeing on YouTubes, I quickly realised that these machines were not going to compete with my Victoria Mill in terms metal removal and most likely wouldn’t even manage mild steel but I decided one might be more than capable of doing some of my lighter, modelling work. A quick check of ‘proper’ CNC Mills quckly confirmed that I wasn’t going to shell out for one of those and that I couldn’t house it inside either.

Then I spotted the WM3020 from Fox Alien, a small 3018 type machine but with linear rails and ballscrews on all axis. This looked like a potential candidate but unsurprisingly it cost a lot more than the simple 3018 machines. Patience (and allowing Fox Alien to ‘notify’ me) eventually paid off and a ‘Black Friday’ deal was announced. Fox Alien would allow a good discount to the first 200 customers placing orders on ‘Black Friday’. So last Thursday I sat up unusually late (for me – well after midnight) until I finally convinced myself that ‘Black Friday’ was probably going to start first in the US!  Good News! They are at least five hours behind us. So I got up early Friday morning and got my deal done whilst the US was still fast asleep.

Fox Alien said it would be 7-10 working days UK delivery, so I was surprised when it turned up just after lunch today. Even better, it was delivered by Royal Mail. The Postman rang the bell and actually waited for me to get there, not like another delivery company I can think of – let’s call them ‘Dump & Run’.

Anyway, I’ve just finished assembling it and I’m quite impressed. It’s a very solid machine and pretty heavy too, just about on the limit of what I can comfortably lift in fact). I’ve not powered it up as yet, that will wait till tomorrow now, it’s already way past my bedtime.

And so my latest adventure begins and there’s a whole load of new things to learn – CAM, G-Code Senders, something called “Adaptive Toolpaths”. Jason has already been giving me advice but I suspect I shall need quite a lot more. I’ll let you know how I get on – small steps to start with though.

Regards,

 

IanT

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

it’ll be interesting to see what it can do – the advantages & opportunities that CNC can offer for modelmaking are becoming increasingly clear to me too, and I look forward to seeing how it goes..

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