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Author Topic: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!  (Read 5012010 times)

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Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!
« Reply #1360 on: January 01, 2012, 06:18:36 PM »
Thanks for a great forum.  I've been learning CNC as a hobby for about two years and speedy and useful replies to my post have been invaluable.

Starting CNC with a good electronics knowledge but very little mechanical design and construction experience I would pass on the lessons I've learned after building two machines:

1.  General construction - a combination of MDF and aluminium is quite easy and cheap.  As your skills improve use more aluminium and less wood/MDF.
2.  Splash out and purchase some stainless steel socket head screws - they look smart and make construction easier.
3.  Tools you must have: pillar drill and sliding mitre saw - buy a proper aluminium cutting blade (use cutting wax).
4.  Safety - although the aluminium cutting blade is magic, clamp your metal down before cutting it - I'm lucky to have avoided injury and have learned my lesson.
5.  Go metric or imperial.  Don't mix them, it will cause you difficulties.
6.  Purchasing from the web - all my deals have gone OK, a lengthy delay with a big purchase ($500) from China but it turned up in the end.  The Chinese 'low quality/cheap' seems OK for hobby use.
7.  Ballscrews and shafts - my first machine used homemade linear bearings (bearings and lots of brackets), my second uses Chinese ballscrews and proper shafts - well worth the cost.
8.  Spindle motor - worth the cost ($300) as the noise from a router/laminate trimmer will drive you and your neighbours mad.
9.  Getting started - if, like me an absolute beginner - build a 'test axis' just one set of rails and one sliding platfrom, add limits and home.  Interface to MACH3.  It will hone you skills overall shorten the time it takes to get a useable CNC machine.
Thanks to ARTsoft and this site
Regards Bill Legge in West Australia


Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!
« Reply #1361 on: January 03, 2012, 07:23:13 PM »
Hello,
My name is Dave I am new to the site, I live in the Hershey Pa. area, I am new to CNC. I have just finished converting a Grizzly G0704 to ballscrews and added stepper motors and started checking I/O. I do have manual machines to work with, hopefully the small mill running with MACH software will be a new direction in my shop. My Primary occupation is production machine automation and controls. My hobbies are riding motorcycle, mountain bike riding and building whatever I need from scratch. The CNC and MACH software is quite interesting to me and I am ready to dive in and get familiar with the software.
Looks like there are a lot of great and knowledgeable  people here on the site!

Offline IBBruin

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Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!
« Reply #1362 on: January 03, 2012, 10:07:54 PM »
I feel like this post is going to get lost in 137 pages but........ I'm a relative novice at the whole CNC scene. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on some high dollar slides from a manufacturing company I used to work for. I did some mods, cut, drilled and fabricated until I had a 3 axis machine with a limit of 10x12x3. (inches) Z is stationary, x-y moves.
I'm familiar with KCAM, Mach3, and AutoCad. I was paid to learn R14 but that was many years ago and probably have forgotten most of it. Familiar meaning I have a working knowledge but am a long ways from being any kind of authority on any of the subjects.
Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!
« Reply #1363 on: January 04, 2012, 06:23:22 PM »
Ken here (aka woodguy). Woodworking hobbyist for many years, I took up metalworking a year ago and recently joined a makerspace to learn CNC.  I've found it addictive and will be converting my manual mill (SX3) soon so I can stop climbing stairs (3 flights no elevator) carrying a heavy toolbox and whatever metal I want to carve.

There's also a shopbit and am arclight plasma cutter all of which use Mach3. The tormach is a bit annoying in that it uses an old version, but I am plodding along.
Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!
« Reply #1364 on: January 07, 2012, 04:11:16 PM »
Hello
I'm Jim from Colorado (Jim_colo)
I've been operating cnc's for over 22yrs with very little programing.  As a hobby I turn  wood on a jet wood lathe and started to need small parts for making pens.  I found a small Unimat lathe at a yard sale and added a eBay cnc kit to it. Now the fun begins!
Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!
« Reply #1365 on: January 07, 2012, 07:27:54 PM »
Hello, Im Mike from Wisconsin(70hearse) Ive been in the manufacturing feild for just over 20years. I currently am machine shop manager for a electric motor repair facility. My year end left me with some extra cash in my budget so we purchased an older cnc mill. You are mostly manaul maching for we do mainly on off parts. I am going to be designing some parts for the automotive side of my hobbies. I have found the forum full of alot of usefull info and alot of you have come up with some great post. Hope we can chat sometime.
Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!
« Reply #1366 on: January 09, 2012, 03:49:17 PM »
Hola from Ecuador   8)

I am Volkhard and just recently relocated from the US to Ecuador for early retirement.

Originally from Germany I migrated to the US in 1994 and started a woodworking business. Over the years I aquired machining centers (starting with an used Biesse 13S, upgraded to a Rover 20 and lastly and Rover A. Operating and programming (under Biesse Works with the newer machines) was always fun and successful.

Ecuoador ist mostly still in a pre-cnc stage, at least for I found so far. For hobby reasons (and matching my very limited budget) I am contemplating to get one of these Chinese machines (jcut 6090A) that could be delievered to my local seaport for about $3k incl. shipping with a 2.2kw spindle. I am aware this can't be compared to anything I had before, but it will be fun to do some things with it and to dig into more technical details. Software wise I lean towards Vcarve pro from vectric.

As far as I know, these machines are coming pre-installed with Mach3, hence my interest in this forum. If I finaly decide to go through with my purchase, for sure I will have quite a lot of newbie questions and I hope this forum can be of any help and get me up and running, so I can pay it forward in the future to other newbies.

hasta luego

Volkhard
Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!
« Reply #1367 on: January 10, 2012, 04:09:14 PM »
Hello everybody

I'm new Mach3 user, I just finished my first CNC (450x450x300mm) with stepper motors (upgrade with AC servo coming soon..., I hope) I've done my 1/32 (6A/phase) microstepping drivers using Texas Instrument chip.

my hobbies are: RC Models making, (cars, boats, planes Heli...) electronics and for a few month ago the CNC!


Korben
Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!
« Reply #1368 on: January 13, 2012, 04:24:11 PM »
You asked for new....You got it. 

Until 2 months ago I never heard of Mach 3 or G code. Today I have a 4x4 table w/z axis, a bunch of programing I am having a hard time understanding and I have not cut anything yet.

I will be cutting with plasma and a router.  My background is in carpentry.  I want to start producing items that incorporate my wood background and metal art.  I will be offering items fore sale on my web site (not produced yet) and as a wholesaler.

Well how is that for NEW?
Only one way to Get-er-Done......Do-er-Right!
Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!
« Reply #1369 on: January 15, 2012, 04:05:42 AM »
Hi All,

By background is electronics and factory automation. We have the vendors actually doing the repairs, in other words, all the interesting stuff. I do this for a job and it has got to the point it is boring. Clearing errors is not the reason I got into this field. I want to get my hands dirty again and I think this is a good hobby for me.

I have put together a computer, Intel Atom D525 in a mini ITX case with windows 7 with 4GB. It will be dedicated for this, but I may have to downgrade (use and older stronger system - I have a spare Q6700 Quad Core system on standby)... My next acquisition is the controller and steppers, and my last will be the machine itself. I want precision but may end up with a Modular T-Slotted Aluminum frame. I may have to also get the USB to parallel interface. I will also be getting the Mach3 software and learning with it and then buy the license later. I have AutoCAD R14 software and License and will have to learn it better as well. I have this loaded on a Intel Q9450 Extreme Quad Core on Vista 64bit.

I have been planning this for a while but two months ago started. I have been reading the Forums and will continue to do so. I am aware of the Mach3 incompatibility issue with vista and windows 7, x32 and 64bit and hope the USB I/O can do what I plan for it. I will be watching closely.

Thanks
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