A few shots of the pair. Already started gluing but have decided not to use the CNC again until I've got some extraction and a dust shoe on there because the ultra fine particles created when cutting the valcromat are finding their way into all the bearings of the machine. Spent a day flushing out all the rubbish with fresh grease and cleaning every inch - not much fun!
CNC all clean and one of the cabinets clamped up whilst waiting for the glue to dry.
CNC all clean and one of the cabinets clamped up whilst waiting for the glue to dry.
Attachments
The spindle is great. Brilliant even. Never struggles and I've done silly things like rapid at 10m/min with a 12mm diameter cutter at about 15mm DOC and with the spindle running 11000rpm lol That was pretty scary and I hit the estop sharpish but even then it had carved about a foots worth of destruction. Its amazing how quickly things start to go wrong. I think even if you had the estop button between your buttocks you'd still not react quick enough
Oh yea; there's nothing quite like CNC for full-on destruction
.My personal best was a 1/2" solid carbide upcut spiral bit catching the edge of a dome headed steel bolt I'd used to hold a workpiece down... whilst travelling at 2" per second. The rotation of the cutter unscrewed the bolt by a couple of cm from the table surface as it passed by, then the cutter changed direction and ploughed straight through the bolt. I'm still finding tiny fragments of carbide cutter in the garage (and the bolt didn't do too well either).
Very tempted with a VFD and spindle. The main reason is getting a slower cutter rpm (whilst maintaining torque) for the slower linear speeds our machines do (vs. the industrial monsters).
Would love the space to be able to put an enclosure around mine!
I'm using just the motor+impellor unit from this (it's the bit right at the bottom): Fox F50-843 Dust Extractor (3hp): Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools
It all comes apart very easily, and the unit pulls a huge amount of air. It's more of a low hum than the wail of a vac, so no too offensive in noise terms. Great for dust extraction; though I'm using the equivalent of 6" ducting to keep the losses low.
I see you've mentioned about dust on the bearings. Are they pillow blocks on linear rails? If so, they should have wipers inside so should be OK.
Will take a look thanks. Really must get round to setting up a touch plate. There's so many things about my machine that would be improved with a bit of up-front time, but I never manage to get round to it!
Speakers looking absolutely superb BTW. They've proved doubly useful, as I've been able to recalibrate my other half's acceptable level; based on the approach of "see dear, I could build something that big, so be thankful our speakers are smaller"
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Oh yea; there's nothing quite like CNC for full-on destruction
I'm getting ready for the moment where I take a screw or bolt out along with a cutter. I'm trying to play it safe at the moment by including the drill code for hold down points in with the gcode. That way, as long as I don't move the work piece, I shouldn't hit anything. The day will come where I can't do that though and you can bet it'll be the same day I plough through one!
I wouldn't even think about it. Its a massive difference to using a router. Full torque at 10k rpm is no problem. With a VFD you also get the ability to fine control the spindle speed and direction for operations such tapping. I'm not geared to do such things at the moment though. Mach needs a modbus board to talk to the VFD.
The rails are fine. They have wipers as you say but the ball screws don't and dust sticks to the screw and then enters the ball nut. Its only a problem on the X for me as the others are concealed.
Set aside a day for yourself sometime and get some stuck on there. Really easy to do once you sit down and make a start. These along with home switches are the two biggest time and money savers you could fit.
Speakers looking absolutely superb BTW. They've proved doubly useful, as I've been able to recalibrate my other half's acceptable level; based on the approach of "see dear, I could build something that big, so be thankful our speakers are smaller"
Haha! I like what you did there.
That seems extremely expensive!
With conversion to GBP it works out around £310 a sheet. I bought 2500x1250x25mm for £79 each from these guys:
http://www.avonply.co.uk/Client Area/ASP/Valchromat.aspx
Which, over here, makes it approx 2-3 times the price of MDF for the same sheet size.
I think one of a couple things is happening here. Either your distributor realises he has exclusivity and is gouging, demand is very low or the shipping costs to get it to Australia are high and that's factoring into the cost. Either way its not worth it at that price. If you can get it for a reasonable cost, I'd say its worth the premium for the time you save in finishing alone, especially if you paint. The physical properties that are superior to MDF are a bonus IMO.
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Just double checked my info.
Its 25 x 2500 x 1850 sheets for $427 weight, 65kg.
thats the only sheet they 'stock' here.
for my current speakers im using 25 and 32mm hmr mdf.
32 x 2400 x 1200 $105 66kg
25 x 2400 x 1200 $80
and yes, we get ripped of on pretty much everything.
petrol, is currently $1.45 litre.
rego for a 4cyl is ~600, 6cyl ~800 8cyl ~1,000.
adobe software is ~ $1,400 MORE than in the us.
we pay tax on what we earn.
we pay tax on what we spend.
we pay tax on what we do for entertainment.
we pay tax on any interest in our bank accounts.
in some states, they even tax you for the amount of rainfall they 'expect' to fall on your land.
move to australia. please, the government needs your money.............
Shin, your speakers and craftsmanship is to die for.
if i lived there, id be getting you to make my cabinets...
Its 25 x 2500 x 1850 sheets for $427 weight, 65kg.
thats the only sheet they 'stock' here.
for my current speakers im using 25 and 32mm hmr mdf.
32 x 2400 x 1200 $105 66kg
25 x 2400 x 1200 $80
and yes, we get ripped of on pretty much everything.
petrol, is currently $1.45 litre.
rego for a 4cyl is ~600, 6cyl ~800 8cyl ~1,000.
adobe software is ~ $1,400 MORE than in the us.
we pay tax on what we earn.
we pay tax on what we spend.
we pay tax on what we do for entertainment.
we pay tax on any interest in our bank accounts.
in some states, they even tax you for the amount of rainfall they 'expect' to fall on your land.
move to australia. please, the government needs your money.............
Shin, your speakers and craftsmanship is to die for.
if i lived there, id be getting you to make my cabinets...
Then you should go to Sweden...... The highest
tax pressure in the world! 
Regards
/Göran
Yes, the cost of goods is high.
But the rest of your rant is bull$hit. Australia is a low-to-middle taxing country. Roughly the same as the US (and we get healthcare), and a lot lower than the UK.
Report on International Comparison of Australian Taxes
Costs high, but taxes low. I've just been to Germany, and I felt like a king - buying these huge wheat beers for A$6. A decent 330ml local beer cost me A$10 at dinner last night. But they do pay at least 10% more tax than I do in Germany, and the average income is a fair bit lower.
Sorry for for the OT Shin. BTW, I got the Mach3 2010 Screenset running -had some fun and games with the dual-axis homing, but got there in the end.
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