This is the better video...

 

how big has anyone expanded the x axis? I'm thinking of wanting at least 2" - 3" more than stock. I think I just need a larger c beam and rod to match.

 

Beautiful machine! I like the flexibility this machine offers. The portability is a great advantage too! Good job guys! Looks like the starter machine I will get.

 

Here is my Mini set up at Las Vegas at the Glass Buils trade show. Running BCNC from a PI and sending CNC programs from our window and door CNC software.

 

Hello,

I would like to buy the MiniMill but I've doubts about its accuracy to engrave jewels.

The description mentions a accuracy of 0.05 to 0,1 mm. Is it enough to make engraving as you can see on pictures below ?

Did anyone engraved jewels with the machine ? Can you send me pictures ?

Thank you in advance.

 

The MiniMill, thanks to it's small travel, is a great machine for engraving.

Take a look at some of these examples made on the MiniMill....some of it depends on your bits, material, speed, number of passes etc. Both of these guys have great Instagram feeds worth exploring.

Nick Wiegand on Instagram: “I’m super happy with how this Brass Ace of Spades turned out. Ace of Brass perhaps? It is a Poker Card Protector. Swipe for other side.…”



Here is some heirloom engraving done with our ACRO System

FIST Blades on Instagram: “FIST Blades time lapse video of several hours of work shorted down to just a minute. Herloim quality etching/engraving that will last…”

 

Will the light ring operate on 12 volts?

 

I have been looking at building either this mini mill, the C-beam or sphinx to cut aluminum. I currently do not have any projects that need to cut any larger than what this mill does & like the small size & portability of this. The only problem I currently have with this design is the exposed 8mm lead screws to the chips of metal coming off the cutter. I get the reason they are exposed is because the nutblock is attached to the carriage and needs to be on that side. How are people dealing with these chips of metal in those cavities? Are they fairly easy to just vacuum up afterwards? I saw the sponge mod someone else mentioned. Is this the best solution for this? The MakerSL Customized OB Minimill I was wondering if a piece of sheet metal or maybe a thin 3d printed flat part screwed to the outer edges of the gantry cart & bent slightly up would deflect these chips away from the screws. After pondering this a little more, I came up with this simple 3d print model that could be screwed between the top of the xy gantry & under the MDF board. The side closest to the back might have to be adjusted to miss the vertical, maybe just leave that off & put some clear wide packing tape across it loosely.

 

For the X axis, you can flip it over so that the lead screw is on the bottom rather than the top. For the others, some have had luck making a bellows that protects the screw. (This is similar to what many large, professional CNC machines use.) I believe McMaster-Carr has bellows in various sizes available - lord knows they sell everything else under the sun - but I don't have a catalog link handy.

In retrospect, I wish I'd gone with the C-Beam Machine instead of the Mini Mill. It's less portable - the mill is very easy to move and has a very small (mini) footprint - but it's significantly more rigid. For an extra $160, it seems like a good deal. Of course, if you want to upgrade your mill to the C-Beam Machine later on, all you'd need is some longer extrusions and lead screws.

 

Wow - that's cheap.

 

Thanks for all the info. Looks like the bellows that Rick gave a link to seems the best option. I will ponder it and look at the build guides more thoroughly for another month before deciding. On a side note, is there a way to download an entire openbuild forum thread to view offline on my tablet? I could print each page to a PDF & then combine them, but that is a pain.

 

What kind of tablet? There are different apps available that’ll save the page. On a PC it’s as simple as File|Save. You’d still have to do it individually for each page in the thread, though

 

Yes, but as you said I would need to do that for every page just as I would for printing to PDF as I mentioned. This thread would not be too bad at 10 pages, but look a the C-Bot thread which is 107 pages. If there was a setting to display all messages in the thread on one page, that would work for me.

 

Rick, are you going to use it 'flat' as it is or are you going to 'fold' it into a U shape or something similar? I'm asking since it doesn't seems to me to be too useful in it current shape but I can't figure out how to fold it without it losing it's stretching ability.

 

The OpenBuilds MiniMill honored with Make: Magazine's editor's choice awards. Read more about it in the Make: Magazine - 2019 Digital Fabrication Guide.

 

Awesome! Congrats. It's a great product.

 

Can get move travel like 18 inch x and y I have project needs that travel amount

 

How did you make that enclosure? That is awesome.

 

Did you design the limit switch mounts, or did you find them posted somewhere? I like the design of the them, would you consider posting a link to them?

Kurt

 

What spindle and rpm are you running, and what tool are you using? I really like the way your setup is working!!

Kurt