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EeZeBilts From Keil Kraft

"....but would have to be a bit more powerful/stronger build even for Jelutong....." You can cut steel with a Shapeoko (slowly!) so long as you have the right spindle and cutter. It's designed for a DeWalt or a Makita - I would use a Dremel clone when cutting something like ply - and a stronger tool. But then it would be much noisier. Using a is unusual, but I have shown that it works with balsa...

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

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EeZeBilts From Keil Kraft

".... I have also been looking on utube at DIY CNC Machines using old DVD Drives and an Arduino board...." You can probably make a machine for nothing out of scrap if you know what you're doing - but I wouldn't advise a beginner to learn that way! The issue is getting the precision of movement together with enough stiffness to be able to apply adequate force when cutting and not have the structure bend. For modelling, we have an advantage in that many of our materials are thin and easy to cut, compared to typical professional requirements. A common cutting tool is a Dremel - which we often have, and you can see that a can easily cut balsa - and probably light ply...

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

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CNC boat kits...?

You seem to be doing pretty much the same thing as I am! I picked an eShapeoko whose mechanical kits are a fair bit cheaper, which meant I could afford the longer rails initially, but apart from that we are pretty much identical! Oh, and I'm using a different breakout board... You will be adding limit switches? I find them essential for decent control, but also found it a bit tricky to get data on the best way to connect them to an Arduino. Does Ox provide an advised circuit and pinouts? I see you are using DesignSpark. I don't think this accepts .DXF files, which are the standard 2-D interchange format. It will output them, but not import, which seems crazy to me! Which is a shame, because I could send you any of the model boat plans on the EeZeBilt or Marinecraft sites as a .DXF... Most of the EeZebilts can be made on the cutting area you have, and all the Marinecraft. You don't need a powerful router to cut balsa - a is sufficient, with a cheap Chinese cutter for a couple of quid. The great thing about that is that there is essentially no cutting noise, just the quiet hum of the motor. A 4" wide plank with balsa edges will hold a sheet nice and firmly. What materials are you thinking of cutting? I am experimenting with cutting ply, and find that old dental burrs (which I got free from my dentist!) will go through 1/8" deal like butter powered by a Graupner Speed 400.

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

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CNC boat kits...?

Having successfully used the machine to make the workholding support for the wood sheets, I started on the final leg - getting the machine to actually produce parts for a model boat. It's just going to be used for EeZeBilt balsa parts initially, until I understand a bit more about cutting tools and feed rates. I'm not using a 'professional' spindle motor (which can cost well north of £100), but just an old with a cheap Chinese chuck and milling head. You can see a couple of examples in the pictures below. The first material I tried to cut was cardboard. I wanted something really weak, because the cutting tools are very narrow, and I did not know how much sideways force they would take. Turned out fine, though. Further pictures show the first attempt at cutting balsa sheet, a whole sheet of 1/8 balsa being cut, and a couple of parts which have just been cut. Points to make: 1 - you need a high RPM from the cutting motor if you want a fast feed speed. Boat motors work, but a high speed brushless would be better. As it is the edges of the balsa are a bit ragged... 2 - Probably the best way to keep all the parts in the balsa sheet is not to use tabs, but just to cut 90% of the way through. I left about 5 thou on the balsa part, which meant it stayed in place but could easily be pushed out... 3 - you need a soft surface under the balsa sheet in case you do cut deeper by mistake. I thought of felt but that gets caught up in the blade too easily. You could use another balsa sheet, but I used a bit of Correx. Depron would be fine... So there we are. I have now cut a complete kit out of balsa and will start to make it up. I can recommend this machine if you want to just sit and have a beer while all the hard work of cutting parts is done for you...!

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer