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Long time machinist here. I know your machine is small and all but I noticed you putting your hand near the chuck while it's spinning. Don't get too comfortable doing that or something bad will eventually happen. Stay safe out there and great work!
This is very true, never mess about with powered tools like that. It only takes a moment of complacency or distraction to have a significant injury. Stay safe my guy. This video would give the health and safety guy a heart attack 😂.
Hand or fingers caught in spinning things can actually peel the skin off your arm. A surgeon slowed me a picture of a guy this happened to. The arm had to be removed at the shoulder.
cool to see this project up! I just got a break form work and started editing the machining of your part (and a few other funish parts) and will post it tomorrow.
Credits also to me for help sanding aluminum for hours and some great camera work 😂. But in the end I am proud of what you have accomplished and I can’t wait to see where you take the world.
Man you're right up against the ceiling of usefulness for RUclips projects. I'd buy one of these, and a lot of other people would as well. Someone needs to start producing them.
I’m afraid for practical tolerances you’d need way more stiffness. Project is cool for hobbyist, but as soon as you try making real part, you might be disappointed
@@hrissan Hey, I know it’s been a while so not sure whether you will see this comment, but what would you recommend to increase rigidity/stiffness. I’m currently looking to upgrade my desktop CNC and thought that this would have high rigidity.
Great video. Many feel there's an unaddressed gap between the China 3018 sub-$200 shitboxes that can barely perform etching in MDF and the lowest cost 'worthwhile' desktop mills in the $2000 range.
If i need something flat, minus hardening and cooked on metal chips, i get things waterjet cut. In many instances laser and plasma are just a no no for me! Love how nice it looks. I bought a Boxford VMC260 for 600 and i converted it to mach3, total cost 1200. Mr Shubert we appreciate your service to engineering!!
I like this guy! Last thing he does when given access to a pro metalworking shop is buildling a CNC machine which he will use to make a metalworking shop...
"I'm not going to show you that I just want you to understand my pain" believe me I do, I have tapped from 10pm till 2am several nights in a row cause it was the only part of a project I could take home
Roach: Show a piece of plate with a couple of hundred tapped holes in it and you will get two different responses: Someone who has NEVER done it: "That's simple; he just used a piece of flat metal with some holes in it". Someone who HAS done it: "You poor beggar... that must have taken you forever... how many taps did you break?".
Nice machine! Two upgrades that will improve the performance drastically. Get a "propper" spindle like a small vfd driven spindle. That will perform way better in metals. And more importantly, instead of attaching the leadscrews directly to the steppers, fix its position with a fixed bearing block. Best would be two angular contact bearings preloaded agains each other but two trust bearing would be good two. You can also fit them to the opposite site where the leadscrews are running in the normal bearings anyway. That should increase stiffness by a lot any allow for actual cuts in steel
The problem of the spindle chuck is it's length, he is using ultra long end mills also, that are extending far below the linear rails of the y axis. So it is vibrating like hell, and can not mill steel but only scratch it. The test about robustness is, to attach a rope to the end of the endmill, route it over a roller and attach 4 lbs to it, then measure how much it deflects the endmill tip in x and y axis. To cut 800N/mm2 steel 2.5mm/0.1" deep with 0.01mm/0.004" chip you get 20N or 2kg or 4lbs. If it deflects more than 0.0025mm/0.0001" it can not cut smoothly.
@LeviJanssen is the box of your machine welded or bolted together? If welded how did you minimize distortion? Are you using stepper motors or servo motors and what size are they? You said the control system was from an old cnc router you had, what brand? You said you used 3/8th steel plate for the construction, are you not worried about vibration, you have no damping mechanism? Thanks, good project, Ron.
Very cool build! Very impressive that it's rigid enough to cut steel (something typical CNC routers wouldn't dream of doing). Also: traveling across the country with a 90lb. box is totally do-able (I moved countries with my desktop CNC router!) I'd say being able to fabricate your own parts without leaving the dorm is totally worth the effort. Plus nerd cred! Nice work!
why does it need to have at least a certain amount of rigidity? couldn't you just reduce the cutting speed/depth until it works (however impractical that may be)?
@@cvspvr yup, it will cut anyway. What rigidity helps you with is surface finish, chatter, and not breaking the tool - otherwise it's completely irrelevant.
@@jakobnorrestam wouldn't the deflection also be proportional to the width of the cut? for example, say i was trying to drill a 1mm diameter hole in steel. if the frame of my mill was made of 1mm diameter wood toothpicks, obviously it'd bend long before the steel even has any scuff marks, but if it was made out of 10cm diameter wood dowels, wouldn't it be rigid enough to slowly drill a 1mm diameter hole in steel?
Good job. Two tips though. Never put your hand near the cutter when it is running and always make your first cut on steel go right through the mill scale as that is the hardest part of the plate.
I have caught my shirt a few times and it really su*ks especially because it was shirts I really liked. Takeaway; always take time to secure loose clothing while using the grinder with a wire wheel, I am lucky I only received minor injuries.
Such an awsome project! A compact and very very usefull mill. Especially with 'on a budget' parts. Im currently working on a mill myself and videos like this are great!
I think I'm going to build this but using NEMA 27s. Also going to design an acrylic hood for it with a shop vac insert for cleaning. Might also include an oiler-catch system and oiler insert system.
Great Job Levi, just up that spindle to either a palm router or a better VFD water cooled, you need 25 to 30 k speeds to really get superb face finishes.
Get some short stubby 3 flute end-mills. The largest diameter you can fit in the spindle you’re using. That will help with deflection greatly and allow deeper passes.
Great job dude! Even from just the first shot of the machine, you can tell this is a much more robust structure than literally any of the other *products* on the market of this form factor. Man... if you can figure out a production-friendly version of this, sign me up. :)
Hello. I am planning to build a similar machine. Please tell us how NEMA 17 stepper motors performed during operation? Were they productive enough for your project? Shouldn't they be replaced with more powerful ones? Perhaps I will use a more powerful 1.5 kW spindle. Do you think that in this case I will need more efficient stepper motors (let's say NEMA 23)? Sorry, I can't access your project. Have you used trapezoidal lead screws? Are they accurate enough for metal processing? You have only used a bearing arrangement on one side of the lead screws. Was that enough, or would it be better to put supports on both ends of the lead screw?
I have a new found hope for people in Levi's age range. I wish more young people would party less, learn more and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Levi, the very best to you in your college studies; I know you will do very well.
Pretty cool machine! As others have mention, it seems using ballscrews would be better if you got the money. And perhaps adding some bellows to cover those guide rails would make it even better!
If you 'sneak' too much - don't you risk the tip? I think the chips remove heat from the tool, so skimming can be dangerous, if there is no chips.🤔 Super cool project though! 👍💪🤓 Why did you opt for the round rails vs. the flat style ones?
Good job and cool machine, it is more rigid than expected, but the structure is better for cutting soft material, it is difficult to control the tolerance for hard material.
It is possible to reduce at the very least 25% of the weight without any noticeable loss in rigidity if you skeletonize the outer frame. But if the problem is size, then you would have to redesign the whole thing and replace some core elements.
You're a very smart kid. Making something you can use and take with you. You could leave it in your room Making stuff while you learn. Stick with programming and automated maching. Still have much to learn, should have cut some holes for weight reduction. You're so lucky to have access to a shop like that, we only had a couple manual mills and lathes that we never used.
I know this is an older video, and your knowledge has probably increased in the machining world. But im going to comment this anyway:] As far as your speeds and feeds are concerned, it doesnt really matter about what material you are cutting (it does) but it is more about what tool you are using. Cutting metal, High Speed Steel wants to go slow. Around 100 sfpm. Anything carbide wants to go fast. It is designed for industry "time is money" standards. 700-900 close to 1000 sfpm. If your travel speed is limited, your spindle RPMs need to be way higher for it to cut and make chips how it wants to. That being said, i would personally run HSS tools if i had your CNC machine. Perfectly capable of cutting any steel, more forgiving especially during intermittent cutting, and doesnt require insane speeds. It will need some sort of cooling as if it gets too hot it will lose its HSS qualities, where as the carbide dont care. Run it dry all day, just dont get it hot then cool it. Rapid temp changes on carbide is no good. Flood coolant, or run dry with carbide. Certain materials can work harden if your tool hesitates during travel. I think certain tool steel alloys do this, as does titanium. Those metals would impact speeds and feeds of your process, but mainly focus on the tooling you are using. There is a whole lot of information out there now from tool makers about what the tools speeds and feeds should be.
Surely it can fit under a desk. Can it double up as your chair? I sometimes used to sleep with 3 sets of windsurfing kit in my dorm room. Ground floor.
Fantastic project! Get a spindle tht will allow variable speed, with as little over hang and tool extension. Look a mill spindles they are chunky all the way to tool holder. Will reduce chatter and tool chipping. A book to get is Machinery's Handbook. Study speeds and feeds. This is a great book. Newer editions have iso and din as well. Gongrats on a great project.
Second! Awesome video. I’ve got to get my hands on the metal working equipment next to the FRC room for my own project. I should definitely look into making my own equipment since I’m wanting to head out of state. Best of luck Levi!
Ball screws with proper bearing blocks, and a proper spindle would really wake this machine up. Personally, I would also see about going to NEMA 24 or 32, but thats just me. Better to have too much motor than not enough imho
very cool build man i found this channel from your 3d printer project and have been addicted to your videos i know maybe why you dont post is because of college or your internship but it would be super cool to have you post a few more videos because i love the content and got inspired i created my own 3d printer and i would like to see more videos from you thanks man for inspiring me i know its been 8 months but if you see this thanks man
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Great video, buddy. Like and Sub earned. 👍
Instead of peddling terrible vpn, sell your work in the form of files.
@@Stopinvadingmyhardware you pay 1.39$ and they sell your data
Long time machinist here. I know your machine is small and all but I noticed you putting your hand near the chuck while it's spinning. Don't get too comfortable doing that or something bad will eventually happen. Stay safe out there and great work!
I noticed that too. It's a good way to loose the tip of your finger in one tenth of a second.
This is very true, never mess about with powered tools like that. It only takes a moment of complacency or distraction to have a significant injury. Stay safe my guy. This video would give the health and safety guy a heart attack 😂.
I agree a classmate of mine got his arm pulled into a lathe, lost his arm up to his elbow :(
Hand or fingers caught in spinning things can actually peel the skin off your arm. A surgeon slowed me a picture of a guy this happened to. The arm had to be removed at the shoulder.
@@XIIIStefanC ouch... Sorry to hear that. Let that be a lesson for everyone here. Do not take your safety for granted.
Only thing I’d add is shorten those endmills up! The shorter you can get that axial leverage the better!
Three cheers for Mr Schubert! The kind of educator I wish for every student
Can you imagine sitting down in your dorm room to do some reading and the guy in the next room fires up his ‘portable’ CNC milling machine!
XD
Ya I have a feeling he'd quickly find out the survivability of his machine after being dropped from second story window.
cool to see this project up! I just got a break form work and started editing the machining of your part (and a few other funish parts) and will post it tomorrow.
Credits also to me for help sanding aluminum for hours and some great camera work 😂. But in the end I am proud of what you have accomplished and I can’t wait to see where you take the world.
Man you're right up against the ceiling of usefulness for RUclips projects. I'd buy one of these, and a lot of other people would as well. Someone needs to start producing them.
I’m afraid for practical tolerances you’d need way more stiffness. Project is cool for hobbyist, but as soon as you try making real part, you might be disappointed
@@hrissan Hey, I know it’s been a while so not sure whether you will see this comment, but what would you recommend to increase rigidity/stiffness. I’m currently looking to upgrade my desktop CNC and thought that this would have high rigidity.
Great video. Many feel there's an unaddressed gap between the China 3018 sub-$200 shitboxes that can barely perform etching in MDF and the lowest cost 'worthwhile' desktop mills in the $2000 range.
If i need something flat, minus hardening and cooked on metal chips, i get things waterjet cut. In many instances laser and plasma are just a no no for me! Love how nice it looks. I bought a Boxford VMC260 for 600 and i converted it to mach3, total cost 1200. Mr Shubert we appreciate your service to engineering!!
I like this guy! Last thing he does when given access to a pro metalworking shop is buildling a CNC machine which he will use to make a metalworking shop...
That's less deflection than I was expecting! Great work.
"I'm not going to show you that I just want you to understand my pain"
believe me I do, I have tapped from 10pm till 2am several nights in a row cause it was the only part of a project I could take home
Roach: Show a piece of plate with a couple of hundred tapped holes in it and you will get two different responses:
Someone who has NEVER done it: "That's simple; he just used a piece of flat metal with some holes in it".
Someone who HAS done it: "You poor beggar... that must have taken you forever... how many taps did you break?".
Mr Schubert, Jesse, Levi. all hero’s. Superb job!!! I’d love something like this.
Nice machine! Two upgrades that will improve the performance drastically. Get a "propper" spindle like a small vfd driven spindle. That will perform way better in metals. And more importantly, instead of attaching the leadscrews directly to the steppers, fix its position with a fixed bearing block. Best would be two angular contact bearings preloaded agains each other but two trust bearing would be good two. You can also fit them to the opposite site where the leadscrews are running in the normal bearings anyway. That should increase stiffness by a lot any allow for actual cuts in steel
The problem of the spindle chuck is it's length, he is using ultra long end mills also, that are extending far below the linear rails of the y axis. So it is vibrating like hell, and can not mill steel but only scratch it. The test about robustness is, to attach a rope to the end of the endmill, route it over a roller and attach 4 lbs to it, then measure how much it deflects the endmill tip in x and y axis. To cut 800N/mm2 steel 2.5mm/0.1" deep with 0.01mm/0.004" chip you get 20N or 2kg or 4lbs. If it deflects more than 0.0025mm/0.0001" it can not cut smoothly.
@@flexiblebirdchannel using a good quality hss tool would soak up more slop than carbide at the cost of speed.
9
15:02 - hands away from the spindle when it's running!
Thank you Mr Shubert!
Big Love To Mr. Schubert..
Three cheers for dedicated teachers like Mr Schuber!
Great work and great team work! Both are critically important for good projects.
we need more teachers like yours knowledge is needed in these fields
The Mr. Schubert's of the world DO NOT get enough credit!
6:34 were you just watching the torch without cover?
A simple way to double the machineablity is to use 12L14 steel. This steel has a small amount of lead that tripples the cut quality.
I like when i read a comment that reflects real knowledge about machining.
May i ask what do you for living?
Very nice machine . It is great to see young people making stuff not just buying thing on line. Keep up the good work and good luck at college.
10:12 what are these "airbubbles" in the aluminium? on the back side? or just massive imperfections?
Gracias por compartir, gracias mr shubert por acompañar el proyecto, god blees all the humans like him, te quedo profesional, Felicitaciones Bro!!!
Nice work Mr Teacher. Life shaped... check! My DT teacher had a profound impact on my professional life. great video
Awesome! I am planning a CNC like this for a long time but without any real world references. Thanks a lot for sharing this project
@LeviJanssen is the box of your machine welded or bolted together? If welded how did you minimize distortion? Are you using stepper motors or servo motors and what size are they? You said the control system was from an old cnc router you had, what brand? You said you used 3/8th steel plate for the construction, are you not worried about vibration, you have no damping mechanism? Thanks, good project, Ron.
Very cool build! Very impressive that it's rigid enough to cut steel (something typical CNC routers wouldn't dream of doing). Also: traveling across the country with a 90lb. box is totally do-able (I moved countries with my desktop CNC router!) I'd say being able to fabricate your own parts without leaving the dorm is totally worth the effort. Plus nerd cred!
Nice work!
why does it need to have at least a certain amount of rigidity? couldn't you just reduce the cutting speed/depth until it works (however impractical that may be)?
@@cvspvr say you made a 0.1mm deep cut, if the machine isn't rigid enough, the tool will just deflect that 0.1mm, and not even cut anything.
@@cvspvr yup, it will cut anyway. What rigidity helps you with is surface finish, chatter, and not breaking the tool - otherwise it's completely irrelevant.
@@jakobnorrestam wouldn't the deflection also be proportional to the width of the cut? for example, say i was trying to drill a 1mm diameter hole in steel. if the frame of my mill was made of 1mm diameter wood toothpicks, obviously it'd bend long before the steel even has any scuff marks, but if it was made out of 10cm diameter wood dowels, wouldn't it be rigid enough to slowly drill a 1mm diameter hole in steel?
That is one sturdy CNC.
Why did you went with supported rods rather than MGN rails for example? Any specific reason?
Good job. Two tips though. Never put your hand near the cutter when it is running and always make your first cut on steel go right through the mill scale as that is the hardest part of the plate.
I have caught my shirt a few times and it really su*ks especially because it was shirts I really liked. Takeaway; always take time to secure loose clothing while using the grinder with a wire wheel, I am lucky I only received minor injuries.
Such an awsome project! A compact and very very usefull mill. Especially with 'on a budget' parts. Im currently working on a mill myself and videos like this are great!
I think I'm going to build this but using NEMA 27s. Also going to design an acrylic hood for it with a shop vac insert for cleaning. Might also include an oiler-catch system and oiler insert system.
Great Job Levi, just up that spindle to either a palm router or a better VFD water cooled, you need 25 to 30 k speeds to really get superb face finishes.
12:34 when in doubt? ...stop, walk away and check for your self, always! this is a really cool build, bravo
this entire video was a joy to watch one day I hope build a miniature CNC Machine
When you are new to welding....grinding is your best friend. Some have been known to say "I can weld anything I can grind".
I can grind aluminum but I sure as heck can't weld it with my stick toaster
Get some short stubby 3 flute end-mills. The largest diameter you can fit in the spindle you’re using. That will help with deflection greatly and allow deeper passes.
A teachers job is to possibly help as much as possible and a prolific student is a hell lot of fun to teach.
Awesome project, big congrats!
Great job dude! Even from just the first shot of the machine, you can tell this is a much more robust structure than literally any of the other *products* on the market of this form factor. Man... if you can figure out a production-friendly version of this, sign me up. :)
Great job setting an ambitious goal and fallowing through.
You did awesome man. But the metal shop has way more then 100k in machines. That haas, i think... is worth 45 to 80k
Is it possible to get plans for the frame?
Is this spindle one of those chinese 500W ones? If it is, I have one exactly like that on my OpenBuilds. You're telling me that it can cut steel?
Hello. I am planning to build a similar machine. Please tell us how NEMA 17 stepper motors performed during operation? Were they productive enough for your project? Shouldn't they be replaced with more powerful ones?
Perhaps I will use a more powerful 1.5 kW spindle. Do you think that in this case I will need more efficient stepper motors (let's say NEMA 23)?
Sorry, I can't access your project. Have you used trapezoidal lead screws? Are they accurate enough for metal processing? You have only used a bearing arrangement on one side of the lead screws. Was that enough, or would it be better to put supports on both ends of the lead screw?
I have a new found hope for people in Levi's age range. I wish more young people would party less, learn more and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Levi, the very best to you in your college studies; I know you will do very well.
Very well done. Keep your fingers clear of that chuck.
A battle tank of a cnc mill but Nemo 17's are awful wimpy. How are they holding up?
Pretty cool machine!
As others have mention, it seems using ballscrews would be better if you got the money. And perhaps adding some bellows to cover those guide rails would make it even better!
Ok, I'm super jealous now!
I miss having this kind of time. Haha, though I don’t regret anything in my life. Enjoy it while you have it!
Fair play. Well done. Big up Mr Shubert
Why a bed slinger and not the x axis moving like the the pasma cuter in the begining of the video?
With a base like this i would really suggest to put a small pump and circulating cutting fluid for metals, would be amazing
So, you can cut receivers uppers and lowers with this just need the specs??
If you 'sneak' too much - don't you risk the tip? I think the chips remove heat from the tool, so skimming can be dangerous, if there is no chips.🤔 Super cool project though! 👍💪🤓
Why did you opt for the round rails vs. the flat style ones?
Can you share some of your feeds, speeds and cut depth? I'm using the same spindle and I'm struggling to properly cut wood...
Good job and cool machine, it is more rigid than expected, but the structure is better for cutting soft material, it is difficult to control the tolerance for hard material.
ppl like MR. shubert a very important to society.
It is possible to reduce at the very least 25% of the weight without any noticeable loss in rigidity if you skeletonize the outer frame. But if the problem is size, then you would have to redesign the whole thing and replace some core elements.
That feeling when it touched the steel and didn't break must have felt so good
Props to the teacher! 👏
Great build!! It's unfortunate that comments will affect what is shown in the video.
a spindle with less stickout would help , nice work
You're a very smart kid. Making something you can use and take with you. You could leave it in your room Making stuff while you learn. Stick with programming and automated maching. Still have much to learn, should have cut some holes for weight reduction. You're so lucky to have access to a shop like that, we only had a couple manual mills and lathes that we never used.
Good work. Coolant is your friend with steel.
Great work! Keep on making!
How did you learn how to make all this stuff? Especially the electronics and mechanical parts of your skills.
I know this is an older video, and your knowledge has probably increased in the machining world. But im going to comment this anyway:]
As far as your speeds and feeds are concerned, it doesnt really matter about what material you are cutting (it does) but it is more about what tool you are using.
Cutting metal, High Speed Steel wants to go slow. Around 100 sfpm. Anything carbide wants to go fast. It is designed for industry "time is money" standards. 700-900 close to 1000 sfpm. If your travel speed is limited, your spindle RPMs need to be way higher for it to cut and make chips how it wants to. That being said, i would personally run HSS tools if i had your CNC machine. Perfectly capable of cutting any steel, more forgiving especially during intermittent cutting, and doesnt require insane speeds. It will need some sort of cooling as if it gets too hot it will lose its HSS qualities, where as the carbide dont care. Run it dry all day, just dont get it hot then cool it. Rapid temp changes on carbide is no good. Flood coolant, or run dry with carbide. Certain materials can work harden if your tool hesitates during travel. I think certain tool steel alloys do this, as does titanium. Those metals would impact speeds and feeds of your process, but mainly focus on the tooling you are using. There is a whole lot of information out there now from tool makers about what the tools speeds and feeds should be.
The links to amazon stuff no longer available. Any chance of other pieces that will fit and do the job > ?
My most ambitious project was a paper plane! 😁 this IS impressive, great work 👍
Super cool 💪
17:58 sounds to me like you need a little box trailer turned micro machine shop
The 2nd cut is better also because it's closer to the vise and therefore it has less vibration.
I liked the small milling machine project, I intend to build one just like it.
15:00 - Did you really reach into the machine while the spindle was still running!?
How you going to get coolant on?
What screws you used? Ball screws or trapezoidal with backlash nut?
What is the largest piece of anything it can work on?
Surely it can fit under a desk. Can it double up as your chair? I sometimes used to sleep with 3 sets of windsurfing kit in my dorm room. Ground floor.
Dont forget the trochoidal toolpath for cutting steel !!!
Fantastic project! Get a spindle tht will allow variable speed, with as little over hang and tool extension. Look a mill spindles they are chunky all the way to tool holder. Will reduce chatter and tool chipping. A book to get is Machinery's Handbook. Study speeds and feeds. This is a great book. Newer editions have iso and din as well. Gongrats on a great project.
Love to see an update to this also how much did this actually run you
Good work mate. Looks great
Great guy techer!
do you share the projext files ?
Hello sir what controller did you used here?
Nice job man...and way to go Mr. Schubert! Godbess awesome teachers.
Great work what kind of motor do you have running the cutter?
what a fun video to watch, Levi! awesome result and the editing style is great, didn’t feel like 20 minutes!!
you’re doing so well!! 😁
Second!
Awesome video. I’ve got to get my hands on the metal working equipment next to the FRC room for my own project. I should definitely look into making my own equipment since I’m wanting to head out of state.
Best of luck Levi!
So what was your final mark the project ? Was there marks ?
Ball screws with proper bearing blocks, and a proper spindle would really wake this machine up. Personally, I would also see about going to NEMA 24 or 32, but thats just me. Better to have too much motor than not enough imho
very cool build man i found this channel from your 3d printer project and have been addicted to your videos i know maybe why you dont post is because of college or your internship but it would be super cool to have you post a few more videos because i love the content and got inspired i created my own 3d printer and i would like to see more videos from you thanks man for inspiring me i know its been 8 months but if you see this thanks man
Nice idea, but you might try building a rigid machine. Maybe i will make a small, desktop-sized cnc machine myself one day using my diy cnc mill.
Shout out to the prof!