Re: [sudo-discuss] cnc mill

Hi Jake, Apologies I don't keep up with the list that frequently.. I'm out of town till the 5th but I can provide help via email for now just email me directly (off the list) so it goes right to my inbox. Other than myself, Matt and Hol know the most about using the machine at this point. My basic process: - First figure out how you're going to mount your stock material - Load up cambam on the controller machine (unless you're writing gcode some other way) and set the stock properties to be the same size (in mm) - Set the top of stock surface to 0 with a stock offset as this makes aligning the machine coordinates easier - Create or load the geometry you want to cut and create the toolpaths in cambam - Make sure to set cambam's gcode post-processor to "mach3" - Generate your toolpaths and export the gcode (nc files) - Turn on the power to the CNC machine controller - the main power supply switch it is the hardest to reach and is on the back of the grey control box that the steppers are connected to. (Don't flip the little toggle switch on the same box though, I believe I have it taped to the on position because that disconnects the USB interface) - Turn on power to the motors via the small black box on the side of the stand holding the controller computer. - Load up the CNC controller on the controller machine (Mach3) you shouldn't get any errors about not being able to talk to the machine, if you do you need to kill mach3 and check the USB connectivity including that toggle switch I mentioned previously. - Finally with the machine on and Mach3 open, click the big flashing red safety button in the interface and then click REF ALL HOME to return the machine to its home position and reset it's machine coordinates - To jog the machine the controls are the four arrow keys for the X/Y axis, and page up and page down for the Z axis. Always watch what you're doing and try not to clip any stock/mounts on the surface or you risk breaking the machine/bit etc - Load the gcode for your part into mach3 - Jog the machine to where <0,0,0> should be relative to your stock material (it should be the same origin as in cambam, I usually set this to the top, center of my part I'm cutting out, unless something else makes more sense for the work to be done) - Once you align the origin for the part, zero out each axis in mach 3 and then click REGENERATE TOOLPATHS (if you don't do this the paths will exist in the coordinate system that was set up when you loaded the gcode) you need to do this any time you change the machines coordinates. - If you need to change cutting bits you always need to re-zero the Z axis to the top surface, and then REGENERATE TOOLPATHS again. - Finally carefully jog around the boundaries of the part in mach 3 with plenty of height above the z axis to make sure you're not going to clip any mounting hardware while milling. - Now you're ready to start milling.. I typically start at about 50-70% of the default feed rate. - Jog the CNC to roughly the origin again (slight higher than the part) - Put on some goggles if you want to get all up in there - Start the spindle motor - Start the shop vac - Click run! - Hope everything doesn't explode Good luck! I will try to set up some tutorial sessions in the new year. Jack On Fri, Dec 13, 2013 at 6:15 PM, Matthew Senate &lt;mattsenate(a)gmail.com&gt;wrote;wrote: