Ordered the smaller CNC shark. For the type of stuff I do the small one is going to work fine, and will actually fit in the shop. I was going to put a planer in that spot but this is going to be way more fun :) I don't even want to think about how much more I'm going to have to spend (time & money) to get full use out of it though...
Now I have to go build a cabinet for it...
-Kevin
Congrats, those things are a blast!
Can you say: "Slippery slope?"
Hey MORRIS!! We got another one!! Bwuahahahaha *diabolical laughter*
Way cool! It'll add a lot to your enjoyment of woodworking.
On Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:57:48 -0800 (PST), the infamous Robatoy scrawled the following:
Now that he's hooked, it won't be long before he's here:
-- Q: How many climate scientists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. There's a consensus that it's going to change, so they've decided to keep us in the dark.
N, or even here:
In all seriousness... what else are going to buy for $60K that does as much as that does? (Aside from the fact that a $ 30K machine will almost do it all.) Football, Ballet...
How good can they be? Neither of those machines can spin a rubber chicken!
Not to piss on anyone's Wheaties....
I've seen these sub-$5k cnc machines at woodcraft and woodworking shows and the results always look pretty lousy. I can only describe it as woodworking's equivalent to the dot-matrix printer.
To those who know, those who've used them.... I ask, are they doing something wrong that makes the "carving" look so cheap? Are there some sort of resolution settings on the machine or are they using too soft of wood or what?
Like I said, I'm not trying to be a jerk, I honestly want to know. I've considered the possibility of using one to carve a logo in drum shells. But if they would end up looking like the samples I've seen at their displays, no thanks.
The cause of crummy results /may/ be the machine, but it can also be the software used to produce the part program, or it could be poor set up on the part of the operator - or it could be any combination of the above.
My ShopBot is good for about +/- 0.0015" accuracy. For the guys making signs or turning sheets of plywood into kitchen cabinets, that seems to be adequate, but when I started in on CNC joinery I wasn't happy (I was sufficiently unsatisfied that I built a wooden CNC machine just for joinery with a step size of 1/4800" which seems to be about right for my purposes.)
My suggestion is to ask to see the machine produce some work of the quality you're after. If their machine can't do it, then walk away but don't stop looking.
If you're adventurous and enjoy a challenge, design and build your own machine (it's not as difficult as you might imagine, and it's a lot less expensive than an off-the-shelf product).
Oh geez, you had to go there.
I answer "yes" to both of those, but I'm on too many adventures, right now. :-)
Yabbut just imagine - you could turn out precision router base plates whenever you wanted. :-))
Oh, can you fit an adjustable hole cutter in a cnc chuck? :-)
Do they have a chainsaw attachment for mortising fence posts?
You betcha! A bit buzzy at 22,000 revs, but that smooths right out when it plunges into 3" worth of oak.
May as well pick your brains while I'm at it. I need to order some end mills and I'm wondering what size range I ought to have. I'm limited to the 1/4" collet of the Colt so nothing bigger than that.
1/4" and 1/8" ought to cover most everything for a straight cutter but how small do I need to have for ball end for detail 3D work?I found one source that said using a split 1/8 to 1/4 adapter increases runout and they offer a pressed on bushing that they say is better. Any merit to that?
I haven't googled this one yet, but is there a table somewhere for feedrate vs diameter and cutting depth?
I'm at a bit of a loss as far as how to price cnc work. There's design time and that's straightforward enough, but what about running time on the cnc?
-Kevin
For 60k it better come with Kate Hudson ;)
-Kevin
That depends on the fineness of the detail. Most of the end mills I've seen smaller than 1/8" still have 1/8" shanks, so once you have your collet adapter, you can go about as fine as you like. My KBC Tools catalog list ball end mills with diameters down to 1/64", and I'd guess that you should be able to find 1/128 with a bit of looking.
Perhaps. I think I'd have to wonder if the increase is significant in the work you do - after all, there isn't any /perfect/ tooling.
There's also RPM and number of flutes that need to be considered along with diameter.
Most of the guys I know doing custom CNC routing bill somewhere between $50 and $75/hour for machine time.
On Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:22:49 -0800 (PST), the infamous Robatoy scrawled the following:
I'd sure rather have one of those nice Laguna CNCs than a stupid Beemer.
-- Q: How many climate scientists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. There's a consensus that it's going to change, so they've decided to keep us in the dark.
On Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:43:47 -0500, the infamous Kevin scrawled the following:
I've love^H^H^Husted after that woman since "Almost Famous"!
-- Q: How many climate scientists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. There's a consensus that it's going to change, so they've decided to keep us in the dark.
Rockler states: Resolution: Full step of 0.0005 inch; at 1/8 step
0.0000625 inch. I don't know what that translates into for real world results. I'm thinking in a woodworking show scenario if they are generating parts in real time then there are compromises as far as quality vs machining time and they aren't going to have you stand there for 4 hours waiting for it to do its thing. You'd think they'd have some full quality results on hand though too.The software it comes with seems very capable as far as 2D work but you have to get additional parts to do 3D carving, or go to a different software package altogether.
I'll find out soon enough!
-Kevin
All kidding aside, I'm thinking seriously about chucking mine up in the 'Bot to cut check valve flapper disks from aluminum pop cans (at probably ~100 RPM). Should be an interesting experiment...
Exactly.
I sincerely hope you are pleased with it and it suits your needs.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.