I looking for a light weight build to do some foam cutting and some carbon fiber plate cutting. For the foam I know the Acro will be fine.... but I was wondering if I can do a small z axis and a Dewalt 660 mini router to cut carbon fiber plate. About 5mm and down. Like quadcopter frames and such. I would rather do an ox build, but at the price of a acro is insane.
The limited strength and rigidity of the Acro system makes it unsuitable for any reasonable level of CNC routing. You might get away with etching PCBs but nothing more.
Ummmm ya. That thing is a beast.. I wish.... i was thinking doing light cutting of carbon. Like a 250 quad frame a month or something like that..... very light hobby stuff. . You could run a good biz with that machine....
Actually it's just a full size Ox. You can always build it smaller if you wish. If you're looking for something simpler you might scan through some of the following: C-Beam™ Machine - Plate Maker ROUTY CNC Router (V-Slot Belt & Pinion) Routy GT2 290 BSX CNC Router, Low Cost and Good! Stinger V Micro Mill
HI, a word of caution here. If you really think about milling carbon fiber or glass fiber you should be looking for a system that allows you under water/ submerged milling. Simple rason(s) First and most important: carbon fiber dust is carcinogenic and not to be laughed at. Now thinking . yeah just one a month won`t save you. The milled particles being actually so small that they will "float" in your workshop virtually forever. Meaning they are so light that even if they might have settled for you to get swiped up any movement/stirring of air in your shop will get them airborne again and thus inhaled by you!!! Get yourself a infrared cam/screen to check yourself if you do not feel inclined to believe me. Last good reason: carbon is conducting - not good for any electronic (your cnc ) around.... Milling under water isn`t hard as it sounds: build a simple basin and submerge your sheet say 1mm . So a conventional c- beam like machine would be a sensible choice. greets flo
Good tips. Thank you. Off topic... Can u suggest a good series of youtube vids to learn the mechanical side of 2.5 axis milling? I have the cad side of it down pretty good. Just not so much the actual cutting part. I come years of cad and a couple years of 3d printing. I have never touched a cnc machine before. I can get from cad to toolpaths, but from there..... nada.. thank you.
I machine a lot of carbon. It doesn't require nearly as much machine as aluminum, but it still requires it's own "just right" settings as well as proper end mills. I don't think the Acro will even handle a 400W spindle.
