Hi all, I'm new here and new to CNC. I'm building a flight simulator cockpit in my shed and have come to the stage where I'm making the panels. I can buy these indivually at £30 a pop, but there are over 50 in the cockpit (it's a 747-400). For the cost of 6 panels I can buy a cheap Chinese 3018 CNC machine and cut/engrave my own. My question is - will a cheap Chinese machine have the accuracy to cut them? The panels will be from 3mm (1/8") acrylic/perspex and will usually be around 150mm x 50 mm (6" x 2") I've attached an example. The square holes would of course have radiused corners, I know. The writing is around 3 - 5mm high (1/8" - 3/16"). I would cut and paint the panels first, then engrave the letters though the paint. So - would a cheap 3018 from China do the job? I am prepared to accept some innacuracies, as cutting by hand is not an option. My attemps remind me of the old saw "measure with a stick, mark with a crayon, cut with an axe"... and in any case with over 50 panels to make I'd be somewhat older by the time I'd finished. Any advice would be appreciated. Just to be clear - I'm not looking for ultimate accurqacy here. An example of what I can buy for £30 is also attached. My gut feeling is that a cheap Chinese 3018 would produce reasonably good quality, but before laying out for it (I'm on a very small income and it's a big expense) I need some reassurance as to whether I can expect to be reasonably successful. The machine I'm looking at is this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Upgrade-Ve...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= Many thanks, Roger.
I have no idea how accurate that machine is. Have you tried looking for a 3018 forum, or Facebook group? There are lots of youtube videos regarding it. You may get more information from those locations since they are specific to it. Do you have CAD files for the panels you want to cut? Or are you going to design them to obtain the g-code the CNC requires? If I was looking in that price range and only planned to cut acrylic for a project I would buy a CO2 K40 laser. Cuts faster and cleaner, plus you can cut square holes. However, do not confuse polycarbonate with acrylic. I did once and it the laser will not cut it. If you do not know what you are doing with acrylic and using a CNC router you can melt it and ruin the project and the endmill.
Thanks for the input. Would the laser engrave through paint, though? Facebook is a good idea. I Googled “3018 forum” and had slim pickings but FB might give more.
Facebook did the trick - there are several 3018-type groups there - getting the advice I need now. Thanks for the tip
