Genius! Using the CNC itself to improve its original feature, is simply put, pretty smart! Thank you for all the details we've been given. Once again, this channel deserves more than a bunch of subscribers. Thank you very much Minh for sharing your experience and knowledge.
I’ve been looking at getting into CNC, never done anything like this before. In my research I came across your channel and started watch to see the upgrades that you have done. Having just taken delivery of a 3018 Pro today, I’ve already assembled it and am starting to make a list of projects. Your channel has been very helpful and I’m going to do some of the upgrades you have done as it looks like it will make the machine much much better. Thank you for sharing this
I was in the same boat as you a year ago but I had to do a lot of research and made a lot mistakes while learning since most of other videos about this machine is just a review of the machine. So I just reported what I learnt and find out to help other people get to using this machine faster. I'm glad that a lot of hobbyists found my videos helpful. Thank you for your support my friend
Hi Minh, been following your upgrades with great enthusiasm as I'm also in the process of greatly improving and constructing a 3018 from the ground up using your series of upgrade examples as a guideline. I am going to deviate from your recommendations of the table build and will be using a 10mm thick aluminium plate for the table base and a 20mm thick MDF spoil board but no screws in either to hold the spoil board down. Instead I'll be gluing a series of square 2mm thick NDm magnets to to the bottom of the spoil board to hold it down onto a 1mm thick steel plate glued on the ally base to stick the magnets to. Cutting forces will not be too great to move the spoil board which will also have edge plates to ensure it does not slide around under cutting forces. Doing it this way means I can face the top of the spoil board many times, almost down to the magnets then fit a new one.
I had only the initial idea and of course there are rooms for improvement. Using magnet sound like a convenient way. Milling wood I think will be fine. Milling aluminum is whole another story. The piece will really need to be bolted down.
@@minhsmancave9448 In reality all the forces will be sideways and not a lot doing the lifting and as Ndm magnets have such a huge holding downwards force, removing the spoil board and reusing the magnets is not a big job. I don't intend to make it into a super mill, it's mainly a fun build thing in the making things forum......I already have a CNC mill for serious work...... but doing the mods from day one will be much cheaper than pulling an existing one apart and wasting 3/4 of the components. In my opinion this is a big boys Meccano set build as its practically 90% off the shelf bolt together items. I've just scored a 1.5Kw ER11 air cooled spindle on EBAY for A$135 with mounting bracket, it'll probably be overkill but I'll try it for size etc........ my main plan is for a 500 watt brushless motor..... so the materials bill will be more than the original outlay for the complete GRBL model and on top of that it's going to go to Mach3.
@@minhsmancave9448 It's cutting in the air, i'm using Candle to cut, just realised i did not define the tool in candle :( If i press Abort will it go back to the proper starting position or do i have to wait until the job is finished ?
You should definitely abort it. Not sure I understand the problem. Candle is only to send the Gcode and you can't define the tool in candle. You can only set the reference position in candle x y and Z to zero. The tool is defined in fusion 360 or any other CAM software that you use.
@@GaryMcKinnonUFO Oh man, I so wanted to see someone actually make it. You are the first one reporting making some thing from my channel. I'm so glad!!!
@@minhsmancave9448 I can't believe 'm the first one, your channel is great! My first attempt failed because the clamps i used weren't strong enough so i'm finding a different method to hold it down tight. I will report back :)
I use thermal glue or glue gun (I don't know how people call it). Just few drop around the edges and you can peel it off very easily after milling. Mounting tape (double sided hard foam tape) also works
The board is not 2020 or standard aluminum extrusion series, I think it's like 45mm space or something like that. I don't have that type of T nuts. Thanks for the comment 👍
@@minhsmancave9448 mine came with bolts that could come up through the T-slots. I'm considering using a Forstner bit and shorter bolts so I can bolt something like a piece of 3/4 plywood down to the aluminum table at the corners without any steel showing.
Great channel with a lot of good information, thanks for your hard work. I recently purchased a 3018 Pro with the extension, it's like a 3036 size now, is there any chance you can create a version of the spoil board for the bigger size?
If you want to make bigger waste board, you will have to sacrify a bit on the working range on the Y axis. This is to make the to ends of the waste board more stable since it will be longer (larger spacing of the linear bearing blocks). If you think that's something you would do. I'll make a time quick changes to the old design and give you the link to download it.
If you wanted the nuts underneath the waste board to fix the stock clamps with M6 bolt, i will just modify the existing design and you will have to remove the aluminum plate. If you don't want that, I just make a board that you can fix on top of the aluminum plate with some bolts and nuts. But you will have to figure out yourself how to clamp the stock to the waste board.
@@minhsmancave9448 I don’t want to use the aluminum one to save some space on the Z axis, so just the nuts underneath the board to fix the stock clamps
I wasn't designing it for 3018 pro, the spacing of the bearing blocs on the pro is fixed. Other I can make a quick change later when I get home in a few days so it will be compatible with the pro version. The extension kit sounds good but it actually make the machine less sturdy. Larger waste board with same spacing of the bearing blocs will make the waste board more wobbly and more prone to vibration. If you don't know how to go from STEP files to Gcode, please take a look at my video about 3018 cnc/pro beginner step by step guide.
I love this channel! The stock 15180 plate is 15mm high. 12mm plywood for the replacement top- and bottom-plate is at least 24mm. What do you think of either using slimmer plywood for both, alternatively or a spoilboard of say 3mm ply or MDF? I haven't build the increased Z-axis mod, so I don't have a lot of Z-axis to give away.
3mm might be a bit flimsy, maybe try with 6mm. If the spoil board setup is too thick, you can always move the spindle up few mm and also the whole x axis. That way, you still have the same working range on the Z axis.
Thank you for the excellent walk through! Can you link the router bits that you used? I have been unable to find any larger than 3.175 mm, although it's entirely possible that I just used the wrong terms in my search. Thanks in advance.
I used 4mm diameter bit just for convenience. You can use any bit that is smaller than 4mm. 3.175mm will be just fine. But instead of doing a drill path, you just do one 3D pocket clearing path. The drill path only to make the whole faster and need the bit to be at the size of the holes. Making the holes with 3D pocket clearing path and smaller bit just take a bit longer. I don't recommend to buy a new bit just for cutting one thing because you will need to buy also the new 4mm spring for the ER11 holder or another bit holder size if you don't have the ER11 chuck installed.
I must ask about the spindle speeds you quote please, how do I get 8000 rpm from the included spindle? as candle has it locked down at 1000 rpm. I’ve checked the package & the included sd card but both were empty. How do I discover my spindle wattage & change the maximum speed in the candle gcode sender please?
If you are using the original spindle, it's the 775 motor type and it's about 75w and max speed is 10k rpm. The original settings of grbl for spindle speed is 1000, which doesn't really affect much the use of the machine because the spindle will run at the maximum speed all the time. It only doesn't allow you to control the speed of the spindle accurately. To control the spindle speed more accurately type "$$" in the command line areas of candle, you will see the list of the settings you have right now. $30 is spindle speed, change it to 10000 by typing "$30=10000". In candle, you can change the maximum speed in the settings of the software to 10000. Once both are changed to 10000,you will be able to control the speed better
Great project and video. Could you share the file in something other then a Fusion 360 file?? My old PC I'm using to control the 3018 won't run Fusion.
Genius! Using the CNC itself to improve its original feature, is simply put, pretty smart! Thank you for all the details we've been given. Once again, this channel deserves more than a bunch of subscribers. Thank you very much Minh for sharing your experience and knowledge.
I’ve been looking at getting into CNC, never done anything like this before. In my research I came across your channel and started watch to see the upgrades that you have done. Having just taken delivery of a 3018 Pro today, I’ve already assembled it and am starting to make a list of projects. Your channel has been very helpful and I’m going to do some of the upgrades you have done as it looks like it will make the machine much much better. Thank you for sharing this
I was in the same boat as you a year ago but I had to do a lot of research and made a lot mistakes while learning since most of other videos about this machine is just a review of the machine. So I just reported what I learnt and find out to help other people get to using this machine faster. I'm glad that a lot of hobbyists found my videos helpful. Thank you for your support my friend
excellent Video Minh and excellent upgrades
Thank you, hope that it will help you make your own waste board
Hi Minh, been following your upgrades with great enthusiasm as I'm also in the process of greatly improving and constructing a 3018 from the ground up using your series of upgrade examples as a guideline.
I am going to deviate from your recommendations of the table build and will be using a 10mm thick aluminium plate for the table base and a 20mm thick MDF spoil board but no screws in either to hold the spoil board down.
Instead I'll be gluing a series of square 2mm thick NDm magnets to to the bottom of the spoil board to hold it down onto a 1mm thick steel plate glued on the ally base to stick the magnets to.
Cutting forces will not be too great to move the spoil board which will also have edge plates to ensure it does not slide around under cutting forces.
Doing it this way means I can face the top of the spoil board many times, almost down to the magnets then fit a new one.
I had only the initial idea and of course there are rooms for improvement. Using magnet sound like a convenient way. Milling wood I think will be fine. Milling aluminum is whole another story. The piece will really need to be bolted down.
@@minhsmancave9448 In reality all the forces will be sideways and not a lot doing the lifting and as Ndm magnets have such a huge holding downwards force, removing the spoil board and reusing the magnets is not a big job.
I don't intend to make it into a super mill, it's mainly a fun build thing in the making things forum......I already have a CNC mill for serious work...... but doing the mods from day one will be much cheaper than pulling an existing one apart and wasting 3/4 of the components.
In my opinion this is a big boys Meccano set build as its practically 90% off the shelf bolt together items.
I've just scored a 1.5Kw ER11 air cooled spindle on EBAY for A$135 with mounting bracket, it'll probably be overkill but I'll try it for size etc........ my main plan is for a 500 watt brushless motor..... so the materials bill will be more than the original outlay for the complete GRBL model and on top of that it's going to go to Mach3.
Awesome work, looking to get one to play with and your videos are great
It's a good machine for learning. Once you get the hang of the machining process, you can always you this machine to build better machines.
Thank You for all your presentations they have all been most helpful
My pleasure!!!
Thank you Minh that is the next upgrade for my machine, Beautiful video
Congratulations. Great video.
Thank you, hope that it is helpful for you!
I bought some MDF to try this now, i had 3 sheets of 4mm plywood before and it caused trouble sticking them all together! I will make a video!
Surely will have a look once you're done. Keep me posted
@@minhsmancave9448 It's cutting in the air, i'm using Candle to cut, just realised i did not define the tool in candle :( If i press Abort will it go back to the proper starting position or do i have to wait until the job is finished ?
You should definitely abort it. Not sure I understand the problem. Candle is only to send the Gcode and you can't define the tool in candle. You can only set the reference position in candle x y and Z to zero. The tool is defined in fusion 360 or any other CAM software that you use.
Great video as usual 😍💪
Looking forward to build these for my machine
Absolutely genius
I'm glad i found your channel Minh, it's very helpful! Thanks for taking the time, liked and subbed :)
My pleasure my friend!!! I still have a few projects in mind to be done with this little machine and surely will share in the next videos
@@minhsmancave9448 I'm making the spoilboard just now :)
@@GaryMcKinnonUFO Oh man, I so wanted to see someone actually make it. You are the first one reporting making some thing from my channel. I'm so glad!!!
@@minhsmancave9448 I can't believe 'm the first one, your channel is great! My first attempt failed because the clamps i used weren't strong enough so i'm finding a different method to hold it down tight. I will report back :)
I use thermal glue or glue gun (I don't know how people call it). Just few drop around the edges and you can peel it off very easily after milling. Mounting tape (double sided hard foam tape) also works
Love the video! Why not install limit switched? I would love to see a video about designing and machining holders for the switches
That would be easy, but the holder might need to vary depending on which type of limit switches you got. But surely will make one
@@minhsmancave9448 looking forward to it!
Why couldn't you just use T nuts and attach the half inch waste board to the existing aluminum base? (Love the videos!)
The board is not 2020 or standard aluminum extrusion series, I think it's like 45mm space or something like that. I don't have that type of T nuts. Thanks for the comment 👍
@@minhsmancave9448 mine came with bolts that could come up through the T-slots. I'm considering using a Forstner bit and shorter bolts so I can bolt something like a piece of 3/4 plywood down to the aluminum table at the corners without any steel showing.
Very helpful. Thanks
Great channel with a lot of good information, thanks for your hard work. I recently purchased a 3018 Pro with the extension, it's like a 3036 size now, is there any chance you can create a version of the spoil board for the bigger size?
If you want to make bigger waste board, you will have to sacrify a bit on the working range on the Y axis. This is to make the to ends of the waste board more stable since it will be longer (larger spacing of the linear bearing blocks). If you think that's something you would do. I'll make a time quick changes to the old design and give you the link to download it.
@@minhsmancave9448 thanks a lot, yes this will be fine the final size is 36x30 cm. Thanks again
@@minhsmancave9448 will it be mounted on top of the aluminum one or no need for the aluminum anymore?
If you wanted the nuts underneath the waste board to fix the stock clamps with M6 bolt, i will just modify the existing design and you will have to remove the aluminum plate. If you don't want that, I just make a board that you can fix on top of the aluminum plate with some bolts and nuts. But you will have to figure out yourself how to clamp the stock to the waste board.
@@minhsmancave9448 I don’t want to use the aluminum one to save some space on the Z axis, so just the nuts underneath the board to fix the stock clamps
Could this be used on a 3018 Pro with extension kit? I am not sure how to go from a STEP to something I could put in the CNC?
I wasn't designing it for 3018 pro, the spacing of the bearing blocs on the pro is fixed. Other I can make a quick change later when I get home in a few days so it will be compatible with the pro version. The extension kit sounds good but it actually make the machine less sturdy. Larger waste board with same spacing of the bearing blocs will make the waste board more wobbly and more prone to vibration. If you don't know how to go from STEP files to Gcode, please take a look at my video about 3018 cnc/pro beginner step by step guide.
@@minhsmancave9448 thank you. I just watched your video on Getting Started video and it was amazing. Thank you very much for such a great video.
I love this channel! The stock 15180 plate is 15mm high. 12mm plywood for the replacement top- and bottom-plate is at least 24mm. What do you think of either using slimmer plywood for both, alternatively or a spoilboard of say 3mm ply or MDF? I haven't build the increased Z-axis mod, so I don't have a lot of Z-axis to give away.
3mm might be a bit flimsy, maybe try with 6mm. If the spoil board setup is too thick, you can always move the spindle up few mm and also the whole x axis. That way, you still have the same working range on the Z axis.
Thank you for the excellent walk through! Can you link the router bits that you used? I have been unable to find any larger than 3.175 mm, although it's entirely possible that I just used the wrong terms in my search. Thanks in advance.
I used 4mm diameter bit just for convenience. You can use any bit that is smaller than 4mm. 3.175mm will be just fine. But instead of doing a drill path, you just do one 3D pocket clearing path. The drill path only to make the whole faster and need the bit to be at the size of the holes. Making the holes with 3D pocket clearing path and smaller bit just take a bit longer. I don't recommend to buy a new bit just for cutting one thing because you will need to buy also the new 4mm spring for the ER11 holder or another bit holder size if you don't have the ER11 chuck installed.
Thank you for sharing this information with us, please could you make the file available.
I shared the link to the files in the descriptions of the video
Sorry I didn't see the link,thank you again for all your hard work.
I must ask about the spindle speeds you quote please, how do I get 8000 rpm from the included spindle? as candle has it locked down at 1000 rpm. I’ve checked the package & the included sd card but both were empty. How do I discover my spindle wattage & change the maximum speed in the candle gcode sender please?
If you are using the original spindle, it's the 775 motor type and it's about 75w and max speed is 10k rpm. The original settings of grbl for spindle speed is 1000, which doesn't really affect much the use of the machine because the spindle will run at the maximum speed all the time. It only doesn't allow you to control the speed of the spindle accurately. To control the spindle speed more accurately type "$$" in the command line areas of candle, you will see the list of the settings you have right now. $30 is spindle speed, change it to 10000 by typing "$30=10000". In candle, you can change the maximum speed in the settings of the software to 10000. Once both are changed to 10000,you will be able to control the speed better
Minh's man cave that’s the perfect info I needed thanks. I wish more youtubers would be this helpful. All the best with your projects.
Great project and video. Could you share the file in something other then a Fusion 360 file?? My old PC I'm using to control the 3018 won't run Fusion.
The STEP format files are very universal and can be used in any CAM software
Congratulations. Great video
do you have the manufacture and tools fusion 360 file
For the tool library, I just entered it manually all the parameters of the bits that I actually have (I have to measure with my caliper on some).
What software are you using to cut , thanks
Fusion 360 for CAM and candle for Gcode sender
Minh's man cave thanks
how thick is the plywood?
Half inch thick, about 12-13mm
Is file available for use?
Check link in the description
Do you share the file?
Yes, the link is in the description of the video