WWA Info Exchange

Finally have the machine up and running. There was a mistake in the very meager setup instructions which caused the spindle to not run, though there is no apparent damage from the wrong setup.

Very simple test program - just a circular pocket. But it works!



Still have a couple of more setup items to deal with - additional e-stops (you can't have enough), a tool setting probe, and limit switches at the end of the axes that are not the home end. Then it will be time to load some design/programming software and start having fun.

Congrats on the new CNC Router! How is the quality of the machine?

The documentation sucks - ie, it doesn't exist.
The machine itself looks pretty good. The non-machined surfaces of the castings are quite rough, but the machining is good. Operation is smooth, wiring is neat and clean. I haven't taken too many measurements, but my 3" test pocket was off by less than .01", and that was probably the cutter itself, which is old and worn. (I wasn't about to risk breaking a good cutter on my first pass.) The table is flat (no twist visible to the eye), which means the frame is square and stiff, since my floor isn't perfectly flat - in fact one leg is shimmed to level the machine. The spindle is remarkably quiet, somewhat to my surprise. When I was testing it I didn't even notice any sound when I fired it up at 1000 rpm.

A few quirks - the power cord, 240V, has an Australian plug; I had to cut it off and replace it. The pump for the cooling water (spindle is water cooled) is 220V and has some oddball plug that at first glance looks like an American 120V plug.
The total documentation is 8 screen captures of the Mach3 setup screens, and two turned out to be wrong.
The included copy of Mach3 is bootleg. (Well, it's the license that's bootleg if you want to be precise. You could legitimately run it in demo mode.) The ArtCam software wouldn't even load, and almost certainly was also bootleg if I could get it to load.

Overall I'm pretty happy so far with the purchase. A machine of similar capabilities would cost double or more domestically. And I learned about importing, which could be useful in the future, though I doubt I'll be doing this again, if for no other reason than I don't have room for another large machine.

Is that a metal bed? Are you considering putting down an MDF sheet just in case?
Nice machine, drooling on my keyboard.

the bed is metal with t-slots. They've glued some semi-rigid sacrificial layer, which is what you're seeing in the photo. Once I've got everything settled down, I'll probably get some 1/2" mdf and cut a regular grid of 1/4" or 1/2" grooves that I can use to help with setups. Stick a board in a pair of slots to form a corner and the part is aligned repeatably to the machine axes.

How is your new CNC machine, getting along with it okay?

The machine and I are getting along reasonably well. I've still got a lot to learn, but I've managed to get a couple of projects done while only destroying two router bits due to some unexpected behavior in one case, bad clamping in the other. I posted a picture of a gear toy in TMS's thread on xmas presents, and just posted a picture of a box I made, so there's visible progress.