Making CNC Machine

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Hely
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:32 am

Making CNC Machine

Post by Hely »

Hello
I am very new to feeCAD, but with some study and youtube I have improved.
Now I am designing a CNC machine. Obviously in freeCAD. Some parts will be made in a creative 3D printer. Other parts are metal, the electronics made in China (obviously)
The workbench size of the CNC machine is 90 x 90 cm.
I use 3 engines nema 23.

Image
jmaustpc
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Posts: 11207
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 6:28 am
Location: Australia

Re: Making CNC Machine

Post by jmaustpc »

Welcome to FreeCAD! Great first post, you look like you are making great progress.

Could you please, especially for future reference for this topic, include your FreeCAD version data for the FreeCAD version that you used for this project? How to do so is explained in the link above the Help forum "Forum Rules" or something like that. You get this summary from a FreeCAD tool in accessed from the Help menu. Also please tell us what if any FreeCAD "add ons" or third party workbenches etc. that you might have used.

Your CNC looks interesting. Are you going to mount a router head or laser or something else to it?
Hely
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:32 am

Another day of work

Post by Hely »

Hello World

I have decided not to use the Chinese 5 axis board.
Instead I will use Arduino + GRBL.
Now I am developing a program in Visual Basic 6, which will be in charge of sending the commands to the Arduino. I hope to connect a Joystik (video game) and a small Android App for manual control of the CNC machine.
I wish that an interface can be made from Corel Draw, for the cutting of flat figures, I have already done some for a small laser cutting machine.

Image

I am looking forward to trying FreeCad Path workbench. But all in time.
Some parts, brackets, joints, etc. need to be designed in FreeCad.

Image

I will be showing and telling you the progress of the project.
jmaustpc
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 6:28 am
Location: Australia

Re: Making CNC Machine

Post by jmaustpc »

Hely wrote: Sun Aug 04, 2019 1:07 amArduino + GRBL
that sound interesting. I read somewhere that its best to go for the Arduino mega or whatever they call that more powerful version. The standard Uno etc. are a bit weak.
Hely wrote: Sun Aug 04, 2019 1:07 am Now I am developing a program in Visual Basic 6,
That is not so good, why bother with closed source proprietary software when you could use Python or something else, free open and cross platform?
Hely wrote: Sun Aug 04, 2019 1:07 am I wish that an interface can be made from Corel Draw,
disappointing, again why use closed proprietary software? There are heaps of free opensource cross platform alternatives.
joha2
Posts: 303
Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2016 9:48 pm

Re: Making CNC Machine

Post by joha2 »

Hely wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:47 am Now I am designing a CNC machine.
Nice one! Keep up the good work!

There is a another CNC machine project on github, with a 3 axis setup, comparable to yours:

https://github.com/bcndynamics/MaduixaCNC

If you don't know it already, it is maybe a useful source of information. The intention for this design is to be cheap (i.e. affortable) and easy to manufacture from wood and 3d printed parts. It is designed to be an option in particular in developing countries where resources are insufficient as well as money. The repo itself is not maintained anymore, but as I said, maybe it is useful for you.

Best wishes
Johannes
Hely
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:32 am

Work and Work

Post by Hely »

Hello World !
The work continues, now I am finishing the plans in FreeCad 0.17.
Image

The parts to build the CNC machine are almost complete. Only missing the toothed belt.
Now comes the manual work of making holes, and fixing the pieces to the metal structure. (And expect the result to be the same as the paper design).
Image

The program that controls the machine, made in visual basic, is stopped. I hope to have the machine finished to finish the exe.
Image

OS: Windows 10
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.17.13541 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-17
Hash: 9948ee4f1570df9216862a79705afb367b2c6ffb
Python version: 2.7.14
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.2.0
Locale: Spanish/Colombia (es_CO)
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Kunda1
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Re: Making CNC Machine

Post by Kunda1 »

nice work!
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triplus
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Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 4:45 pm

Re: Making CNC Machine

Post by triplus »

Nice project.

P.S. Keep us posted!
m0n5t3r
Posts: 137
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2017 2:55 pm

Re: Making CNC Machine

Post by m0n5t3r »

looks nice and sturdy, but... how well do those rails and bearings take side loads? because both x and y axes seem to be designed to load rails sideways (heavy gantry pushing down on the table rails, cutting forces translating to side loads on the gantry rails and some racking loads on the table rails)

also, you may or may not feel the need to fill the tubes (either some sort of concrete - epoxy or regular, or sand and weld caps on the tubes to keep it in) so the whole machine doesn't ring like a bell when cutting :)

edit: also, unless you really want to make a gcode sender application for its own sake / learning, check out cncjs.org for a gcode sending interface, it works pretty well and you can put it on something like a raspberry pi; there are also GUI apps like universal gcode sender and bcnc that are already done, free software and with plenty of features
Hely
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:32 am

And the work continues.

Post by Hely »

And the work continues.

Image

Most 3D parts are already printed and installed.
The Nema 24 engines are mounted on (yellow) bases printed on PLA.
At first I thought that using PLA was not a good idea, that it would not support the engine torque, that it would break, etc.
But no!. It works better, much better than expected. I use a 3D Ender printer.

Image

All aluminum guides are in place.
Today, I do the first electronic circuit connection test. It's just an Arduino UNO + GRBL.

Image

All that remains is to design the Z axis support in Freecad, where the cutting tool is held.
I just wait for the arrival of my Spindler 600W.
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