CNC

Bit by bit over the last few months I’ve been making progress on my ShapeOko CNC mill. I have already assembled the mechanical system and attached the stepper motors and belts, but I hit a bit of a snag (or two) when it came to the electronics system. Good news

A couple months ago I purchased a “mechanical parts only” kit for a ShapeOko CNC milling machine through Inventables, and I’m happy to say that it all arrived last Tuesday! I’ve spent a couple hours each day since then working to assemble it, and I think I’ve got it pretty

Earlier this week I took another stab at fabricating another prototype CNC axis, just like the one I made a couple weeks ago. This time I was hoping to improve on some of the areas that I felt I didn’t get quite right the first time. Fabricating the axis Just

This week I spent some time in the Sculpture lab at my campus and attempted to fabricate a simple axis based on things I’ve learned while doing research for my own CNC machine. In particular, there is one crucial technique that may determine any future success or failure in my

Over the past couple weeks, I have been checking out options for improving various aspects of my Y axis design with the goal of reducing permanent bonds while keeping costs low. In particular, I have been thinking a lot about the interconnections between the precision rods, drive system and their

For a couple of weeks now, my initial design of the Y axis of my machine has been complete, but I have been unable to make any real, tangible progress due to funding complications. I’ll get to that matter shortly, but first I wanted to discuss what I have been

In my previous post about my CNC machine project, I identified the next logical step to take in this project as the design and construction of the Y axis. By focusing on this specific axis, a repeatable approach can be developed that can be built upon in the creation of

The last couple weeks have taught me a couple of very important and interesting lessons about CNC machinery. Most important of which is that even machines that are relatively simple, i.e. contain fewer parts, require a great deal of mechanical engineering and design consideration. Even things that appear simple must

Over past couple weeks, I’ve been taking some time to pore over available resources on CNC technology and wrap my head around the basics of how these machines work. Although the world of CNCing is immensely complex, especially when the system is seem holistically with CAD and CAM software taken

Over the course of the Spring 2012 semester, I will be pursuing one of the most interesting, ambitious and useful projects I’ve had the opportunity to work on yet – a CNC machine! Initially, this CNC machine will specifically focus on applications as a tool for Printmaking. The resident master