Hi all, the millwork company I work for is going to get its first CNC machine and I need to get it humming and cranking out a couple dozen cabinets per month. I already know how to build cabinets and got some basic CAD skills. This machine we're gonna get apparently has some decent features and can cut up to 5x10. At first I'm gonna be both programmer and operator but eventually just want to be the programmer with a counterpart on site who can run my programs. In fact, I volunteered to be the programmer of this machine because I'm hoping for more remote work. I'm not super qualified but I am hungry.

The way I see it, I got one month before the machine is delivered, so that's how long I have to get good. I'm gonna read up on everything I can about it but would love some starting points and tips and pitfalls to avoid. Would also love some recs for programs, particularly for cabinets or millwork. Price of any software or hardware I need to get doesn't matter, this is a professional operation. Thank you!

I’m trying to learn 5-axis programming currently. I’m running a umc-500 at my college. I started a part and it did the 3 axis roughing fine, but the second it tried using 5 axis the tool tried cutting about 6 inches away from the part in x and y. To my knowledge this is the first time a program using 5 axis has been ran on this machine. What really confused me is that when I run it through graphics it looks perfectly fine, no jumping around like that. Any info would help. The only thing I can think is that the MRZP needs calibration but I really want that to be a last resort. Thank you in advance!

What are some must-to-know metric tool speed and feed calculation formulas?

Hi all! New here. Got a Shapeoko 5 Pro with an 80mm spindle. Trying to dial in some speeds and feeds for a whiteside 1/2 in 2 Flute straight endmill and a standard ball nose endmill. (Another Feed question at the bottom)

Per the manufacturer a good starting point is a chipload of .007, 18000 rpm, and 252 IPM. I don't really know how many ipm my machine is capable of... but I was going to start at 150 IPM as it seems like other people have had good success there with my machine; then work my way up from there.

Per this speeds and feeds calculator https://zero-divide.net/fswizard. To get a chipload of .007 at 150 ipm its going to be 10,500 RPM. I'll be milling walnut with this, and most of the posts I've read online will just leave 18000 rpm and some ipm while not worrying about chipload. Just trying to do things right and would like another set of eyes!

Another example: Recommended chipload for hardwood is .009-.011. With a 1/4 ball nose endmill: 10000rpm at 100in/min gives a chipload of .003. My spindle's minimum speed is 8000 rpm so theres not much left to go. What should I do here?

Hey everyone, I'm looking to cut small plastic enclosures/boxes and do some basic laser engraving—nothing too crazy or complicated, just pretty simple tasks.

I stumbled upon this kit and it seems like one of the best options for the price. Would love to hear your thoughts or get some advice before pulling the trigger!

Thanks!

Looking to invest in a desktop CNC. I've not owned one before.

There is a lot of talk about a particular not-yet-released desktop model which looks amazing.. . Then again... I don't know anything about them.

Am I being cynical?

Is there established models that are comparible?

Hello. The school that I work at bought a Baileigh PT-22 (before I started working here) with a Thermal Dynamics A60i and I am just getting around to getting it going.

I am having an issue with what I assume is the code. I hand wrote a simple 4x1.25 rectangle code, but the system refuses to do two things:

G04 P0.6 (Pause)
M05 (Turn off Torch)

Neither of these codes seem to work with the Baileigh controller.

I have tried both M03/M05 and M07/08/09 combos as well.

Hey everyone, I have a genmitsu 4040 Pro, and the wifi card. I have really enjoyed it through the mobile app as a way to quickly kick off a machine run against a gcode file that I loaded to it's internal sd card, but I hate the interface and the way macros work.

So I built a plugin for UGS that handles all of the file management bits (upload and delete files, load file into memory to be run, start, pause, stop a run) and let's UGS handle all of the remaining tasks.

Why, when I could just use the router through a tcp connection? My workshop is in a corner of my house where the wifi is OK but not great, and if I lose connection midway through a run, I just scrapped my workpiece. This let's me run the file from the machine, without needing to keep the wifi connection up.

Hope you find it useful, https://github.com/waldnzwrld/ugs-genmitsu-wireless-file-manager

TLDR what is the cheapest arm on the market that could handle the vibrations of a dremel or other light weight cutting tool to be able to carve efficiently through dense-ish foams?

--

Sooo for my graduation project in architecture I made a biodegradable prototpying foam out of chitin and cellulose and adjusted the pH of the adhesive to be 6 so that when it rehydrates - the chemistry is adjusted so everyting is relatively bioavailable to critters living in soils - and its cellulose and chitin so its just building blocks for plants, fungi, and insects.

Process is first to make an aqueous adhesive, mix with different cellulose grades, huck it into a 3d printed mold, and put it in my hydraulic press and dehydrate slowly in the mold to evap the remaining water content. its... not the most elegant process, but it makes me a foam that is -aldehyde free and can be carved with a knife or cutting tools similar to bluefoam/extruded PU that is famous in architecture modeling. I still wear a dust mask but thats just for dust now not for 'omg potential of covalently crosslinking cells in my lungs in the woodshop.'

I want to pick this project back up and see how it would be useful for milling prototypes of furniture etc... and have for the longest time wanted to make a company around prototyping foams that like.. you can literally throw the dust in the garden and not worry about it. I took an interview at a prosthetics company and walked their factory floor. They literally mill down pe foam blocks to vacuum cast carbon fiber parts… the amount of gnarly micro plastics and waste would be a tremendous innovation.

For a proof of concept/principle/mvp, I have thought about printing an arm but that sounds really dumb to me because of vibration/compensation. I've built a couple OpenBuilds/RatRig CNC mills, ratrig vcore 3.1 500 printers, and am very familiar with hardware/gantries etc... but multi axis milling beyond a set work piece or set in a lathe on a cartesian system is beyond me...

figured ya'll are the right crowd to make me feel insecure about my lack of characterized/average foam density as relates to this question and will give me the right amount of shit for being like WHAT DO YOU MEAN IS THE ARM STRONG ENOUGH YOU DONT KNOW YOUR MATERIAL DENSITYYYYYYY

but I ask anyway. thank you for your service ohh great keepers of the knowledge of feeds and speeds

Hello. I'm new to this subforum and I'm looking for information about a machine I want to buy (I'm from Chile and the machine is in the UK).
The machine is a 2008 Colchester/Harrison XS1800 lathe and it has a Fanuc Alpha controller. Does this model have a PCMCIA or RS-232 interface for using .NC programs?
There are photos of the controller. I've read that there are two versions of this controller; is this the correct one?

Regards

Play it here - Https//Keepitrunning.fyi

Reddit doesn’t recognise the url, sorry.

Feedback welcome!

Is anyone here running a Pade machine? I have a couple of questions regarding their e-Lab software and programming of the machine in general?

I took the plunge and bought a rebuilt 1313 router. It has been delivered to my shop and now I’m just stuck.

How do you level (or at least get the travel consistent) on it?

I bought a machinist’s level (cool) but now I’m not sure if my level is level and I feel like I’m trying to escape a zen thought experiment. What surface can I even use to calibrate the thing. I have a slab of marble left over from a bathroom remodel, is that flat enough?

Once I get that done, how to I approach the leveling? The machine has four screw feet in the four corners but as I try to level the X the Y gets totally out of whack and then I find I’ve pulled another foot off the floor and the whole thing feels messed up now.

Is there an order like tightening lugs on a tire? This machine cost me a lot and I really don’t want to screw it up.

I’ve been across YouTube and Google and the advice suggests: a 48” level, a machinists level, a Bluetooth digital level, a 360 degree laser level, a one dial tramming tool, a two dial tramming tool, various wooden jigs, simple straight edges… i get people have their methods, but it makes it so hard to know where to start. Please help!

Trying to figure out the lowest possible clearance a VF1 needs

Maybe I’m picky, but when I send over a part drawing, I want a bit more back than a price and a delivery date.

If there’s a tight tolerance, tell me how you’re going to hold it. If a finish could affect the fit, bring it up. And if part of the job is going to another shop, I’d much rather know before placing the order.

I actually feel better about a supplier who pushes back on something specific. Even a “we can do this, but this feature will cost you” gives me something useful to work with. I can take that back to engineering and figure out whether we really need it.

What makes me uneasy is getting a yes to absolutely everything. Material? Yes. Tolerance? Yes. Shorter lead time? Also yes. At some point I start wondering whether we’re even talking about the same part.

I don’t expect a full engineering review on every small RFQ. But I do want some sign that someone has looked beyond the quantity column.

My preference is to clear up the awkward stuff before comparing prices. Otherwise I’m comparing a detailed quote with someone else’s best-case assumption, and the cheaper number doesn’t mean much.

Curious where other buyers land on this. What’s the difference between a supplier being thorough and one who’s just making the RFQ harder than it needs to be?

I'm looking at purchasing an Altmill 4x4 and noticed at check out there's an option to enter discount codes. Does anyone know if there are any current ones or where they could be found? Every little bit counts! Thanks!