I finished building my CNC "Engraving" machine based on ARCO system. The stepping motors came from a 3D printer that broke down and the engraving motor/Z-Axis assembly came from a too-small CNC engraving machine.
I cut my first sign on plywood tonight. I had to reduce the feed speed to 30in/min and pass depth to 1/16th due to the belt drive instead of screw drive. Cut2D V1.5 doesn't have the correct post processor for GRBL machines. Any suggestions?
Complete noob here and just finishing my first build of an Ox. Debated about going with belts vs screws. Ended up with belts on both X and Y. I made some trial cuts on plywood last night at about 60 in/min and 1/4" depth of cut with 1/4" end mill. Had little problem making a clean cut. My question is to your comment about having to slow down due to belt vs screws. That doesn't seem right to me. Is this feed rate and depth limitation related more to your stepper motors than the transmission system?
From what I know about CNC routers, cutting too fast and/or too deep will ruin both bits and materials. You can break small bits. Depth of cut should be half the diameter of bit. In your case, 1/8" deep.
It's not about breaking the end mills. It's about chip evacuation. Too deep of a cut will not clear material which will lead to rubbing (which causes burning or melting) and eventually breakage do to clogging. Also cutting too slow is what ruins end mills and material as it only contributes to the heat. If you are making a full width cut, then half depth has been a rough starting point, but it really depends on the end mill profile and the material. If you are machining in a cavity that already exists, you can go as deep as the tool can cut without issues. On something light like MDF or foam, you can easily exceed the tool diameter in depth if your machine can physically push the end mill through.
Peter at OpenBuilds told me that the ACRO system isn't designed for CNC engraving/milling/routing and suggested that I get C-Beam Linear Actuators. I found models of a piece of C-Beam and a NEMA 17 Adapter plate for C-Beam at Thingiverse so I'm printing them and see if they will work.
The ACRO isn't meant for it at all, but considering that you have a small frame and a tiny motor, I don't think the frame will be your limitations at this stage.
Are there 3D models of stuff sold at the Part Store that I can "assemble" in software before buying the stuff? I found a few things on the Thingiverse website. I looked at the C-Beam Machine but I don't like the moving bed/platform design. I want to build a machine similar to Workbee machine.
I want to build the machine similar to the one shown in the image: I think I'll need three 500mm C-Beam Linear Actuators and 12 Black Angle Corner Connectors or 6 Double L Brackets. I already have the Z-Axis Linear Actuator, V-Slot 20x40 Linear Rails, and NEMA 17 motors. I found the end plates that accept either NEMA 17 or NEMA 23 motors at Thingiverse. I should rotate the V-Slot 20x40 Linear Rails.
