Hi All.  My name is Scott and I'm new to CNC and to this site.  I'm a mechanical engineer and I've always wanted my own shop to make whatever I want.  Over the past 2 years I've been building a shop in Ohio and getting up to speed using my manual knee mill, a gap bed lathe and a converted knee mill with an old Anilam Crusader II controller.  I want to upgrade my controller to something newer that I can utilize my 3D CAD models and CAM software to download g-code to the controller.  I'm thinking about using MACH3 and a computer as the controller but I have a number of questions that I will post in the general discussion.  I hope this site can help me understand what I need to do to make my mill a more productive CNC machine.  Thanks.

Hi everyone, my name is Dave in Seattle. I have my Zen Toolworks connected and the software up and running. Looking forward to getting it all setup properly. Hope all the Zen Toolworks folks are willing to help out the newbie! I don't suppose there is a wiki for the Zen folks? Thanks!

Hi all, My name is Mike.  My screen name SimplyDifferent for Simply Different Woodworking LLC. I have been woodworking for longer than I care to mention. I got interested in CNC after I purchased a Legacy Ornamental Mill and discovered the came our with a CNC version a couple of years later.

I can't afford one of theirs so I researched CNC routers and decided to build my own. I purchased most of the components from CNC Router Parts. I have become addicted to this new (to me) enhancement to my woodworking. My other interests are God, my family, my country, competitive pistol shooting, martial arts (many ears ago earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do but do not practice regularly due to two knee replacements) and zip lining.

Hello all, I`m Steve (artezz)  a totally and permanently disabled Vietnam Vet.  I reside in Norwich NY. I was blessed to be an artist all my life. At one point, I was invited to the White House to paint a Portrait of The First Lady Hilary Clinton. This was an oil painting that hung in The White House the last four years of the Clinton admin. I was proficient in all differnet mediums, including tattoos. Then agent orange raised its ugly head and took over my nervous system. Now I find I can not draw a straight line with a ruler. I was devastated to say the least.  It took several years for me to get over this and move forward. I found the wonderful world of CNC. I have two machines now, one a shark 2 ft by 2ft, and the one that's driving me crazy. A flat bed 4ft by 8ft & 7in on zed from China. The smaller one I have had for 3 years and have learned to do a lot of art with. I  bought the larger machine to do bigger more expressive pieces. If I can get it going.

Greetings from Seattle

I'm new to CNC, just got a Tormach 770 and also want to convert a manual mill, (Jet 1024) to CNC.

Build kit cars in my spare time and recently have become interested in FPV multi rotor copters, both of which can benefit from CNC.

I've had a Rong-Fu mill drill and a Craftsman/Atlas 12x36 for several years and really looking forward to computer control.

Want to thank everyone behind Mach for building an affordable product.

cheers
Chris

Hey Chris, I fly FPV also. I have a quad and a hex, that I am learning to fly. Best of luck. I finally started making sawdust with my newer cnc machine last night. I`m a happy camper.

Hello. I am rebuilding a cnc masters cnc jr vertical milling machine. I was not able to get anywhere with the existing electronics so I decided to just start from scratch, well almost, the stepper motors and power supply were good.
I purchased a KL-CNCUSB-3x-breakout board, 3  KL-9082 Bipolar Stepper Motor Drivers, and a Wireless MPG Handwheel for Mach3 Controller.
After a few days of trial and error everything seems to be working well. I really like the Mach 3 software. I took about 6 tries and 1 re-install to get it set up (mostly due to my ignorance) but now it is working smoothly. The forum was a real big source of help. Thank you.

Hi My name is Carl.  I am new to this hobby.  Civil Engineer by trade--now retired.  Haven't programed in years--then it was fortran with punch cards.  WOW, that really makes me old!.   

Started a hobby with cad run laser about 4 years ago.  Carving wood and acrylic items and etching glass.  Last year wanted to augment that work with a cad router in wood or   Hopefully combine the work for some unique products to sell at craft shows.  Purchased a small 16x24 Zenbot with Mach 3 license and Lazy CAM.   Ran this on an old Windows XP machine.  As you may see in another post of mine, i've had difficulty getting a smooth action out of this set-up.  Bit the bullet (so to speak) and bought a newer XP Pro machine this week-end.  Had a lot of trouble loadiing Mach3 again and getting the drivers to work.  Just downloaded latest Mach3 from the web and re-loaded onto that computer.   WaLa!  It seems to work like it is suppose to.   To all of you that helped me-  a very big thank you!  I'll work on this more tomorrow.

RE:me--I live in Carson City NV most of the time.  Have spent the last month in Sun City AZ.  Would enjoy sitting with anyone familiar with the Zenbot machine, so if you are close by, I'll buy the coffee and dougnuts*~*

My current challenge is writing a G-code to drill a cribbage board.  I'll let you know how that goes.     Thanks again for all of the help--you are the reason I purchased the newer computer.

 

Sad day here, Ijust said good by to my son for the last time. The cnc machine I have I bought to start a bussiness to help him out. He was 38. He past away yesterday am, unexpectedly, cause asthma died in his sleep. OMG what am I going to do. This is so not right, no father should have to burry his son, but he was more than that he was my friend. I am so lost...

Our thoughts are with you and yours Artezz.  So sorry to hear this.

Brett