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- | ===== Wood CNC overview | + | ====== Shapeoko 3 XL – Common |
- | ==== Common terms explained | + | |
- | Most of the information below is taken from a direct transcript of a series | + | Most definitions here are adapted |
+ | **Tip:** These are the basics you’ll need for your induction quiz. Links to the original videos | ||
- | \\ | + | ===== Core Concepts ===== |
- | ===CNC=== | + | **CNC** – //Computer Numerical Control//\\ |
- | Computer Numerical Control | + | A computer-controlled machine that moves a cutting tool with high precision. |
- | \\ | + | **CAD** – // |
+ | Software used to design your part. You draw shapes, add features, and prepare them for cutting. | ||
+ | * **We use:** Carbide Create (free version is fine) | ||
+ | * **Why it matters:** This is where you create the geometry of your project. | ||
- | ===CAD=== | + | **CAM** – // |
+ | Software that converts your CAD design into movement instructions for the CNC. | ||
+ | * **We use:** Carbide Motion (pre-installed on the workshop Raspberry Pi) | ||
+ | * **Why it matters:** This is the “translator” between your design and the machine. | ||
- | CAD software, Computer Aided Design. This is the entry point to getting your machine to make something. First design the item in this software, you create the edges and the features of your item. The CAD software also generates the instructions for your machine to follow. These instructions are a series of coordinates and commands which tell the machine where to be, where to go and how fast to move. Our recommendation is you use Carbide Create, this is the CAD software | + | **G-code** |
+ | The text-based “language” CNC machines read. Generated automatically by CAD/CAM software. | ||
- | \\ | + | ===== Machine Movement ===== |
- | ===CAM=== | + | **Axes** |
+ | * **X:** Left ↔ Right | ||
+ | * **Y:** Front ↔ Back | ||
+ | * **Z:** Up ↔ Down | ||
+ | //Tip: Y has the “Y rails” and Z is the vertical axis — that leaves X as side-to-side.// | ||
- | CAM software, Computer Aided Manufacturing, | + | **Home Position** – The fixed point the machine |
+ | **Work Zero** – Your chosen starting point for a specific job (usually a corner or centre | ||
- | \\ | + | ===== Design Files ===== |
- | ===G Code=== | + | **Vector Graphics**\\ |
- | The is the language the CNC speaks, this is just a fancy word for the coordinates | + | Drawings made of lines and points (e.g., SVG files). Ideal for CNC because |
- | \\ | + | **Toolpaths**\\ |
+ | The routes your cutter will follow. Defined in CAD, turned into G-code in CAM. | ||
- | ===X, Y and Z=== | + | ===== Materials & Workholding ===== |
- | These are the directions or reference for the movement of the machine. X Is side to side, Y is backward and forward, Z is up and down. One easy way to remember the directions is that there are 'Y rails' and a 'Z axis' on the machine physically. Therefore, the only thing left. Is X side to side. | + | |
- | \\ | + | **Stock** – The material you’re cutting.\\ |
+ | **Spoilboard** – A sacrificial board under the stock to protect the machine.\\ | ||
+ | **Workholding** – Clamps or other methods to secure your stock so it doesn’t move. | ||
- | ===Vector Graphics=== | + | ===== Cutting Parameters ===== |
- | Vector graphics, such as images saved in a SVG format, consist of lines and nodes, sometimes called points. These lines and nodes define the boundaries of any shape and art that you want to put in the computer. The information in the vector graphic allows the machine to follow the coordinates and create your art. | + | |
- | \\ | + | **Feed Rate** – How fast the cutter moves through the material (X/Y).\\ |
+ | **Plunge Rate** – How fast the cutter moves down into the material (Z).\\ | ||
+ | **Spindle Speed** – How fast the bit spins (RPM), adjusted on the router dial.\\ | ||
- | ===Tool Paths=== | + | //Why it matters:// These three settings determine cut quality |
- | Tool paths are the paths created by you and the CAD software. You'll define how a tool is used and where it is going to go along a tool path. This is the go between or messenger | + | |
- | \\ | + | ===== Tools & Cutters ===== |
- | ===Stock=== | + | **End Mill / Bit** – The cutting tool. |
- | The stock is the material | + | * **Flat End Mill** – Flat tip, general-purpose cutting. |
+ | * **Ball End Mill** – Rounded tip, for 3D contours and smooth finishes. | ||
+ | * **V-Cutter** – Angled tip, ideal for engraving and sign work. | ||
+ | * **Fly Cutter** – Large flat cutter for surfacing spoilboards or material | ||
- | \\ | + | **Flutes** – The cutting edges on a bit. More flutes = smoother cut, fewer flutes = faster removal. |
- | ===Feeds and Speeds=== | + | **Upcut / Downcut** – Direction of flute spiral: |
- | Feed rate is the rate at which your end mill is being pushed through the material. This is generally in X & Y, so forward | + | * **Upcut:** Pulls chips up and away (better chip removal, but can lift stock). |
+ | * **Downcut: | ||
- | The speed is the spin rate generated by your router for the Shapeoko you'll adjust | + | **Shank size** – the size of the diameter of the solid part of the bit, two sizes are currently supported by our router: |
+ | * **1/8** - 1/8 inch (3.175mm). | ||
+ | * **1/4** - 1/4 inch (6.35mm). | ||
- | These two factors, in concert with your end mill cut and shape your stock to produce your item. Feeds and speeds can be used generally or quite specifically. | + | ---- |
- | \\ | + | ===== Machining Types ===== |
- | ===Types of Tools=== | + | **2D Machining** – Cutting shapes at a constant depth.\\ |
- | Cutters, end mills or bits. | + | **2.5D Machining** – Multiple depths, but cutting |
- | End mills have a varying number of flutes or cutting | + | **3D Machining** – Machine moves in X, Y, and Z simultaneously to create complex curves.\\ |
- | The flat end mill is one that finishes in a completely flat surface designed to give you a flat bottom cut in your stock. These are the workhorses of CNC 1/4 and 1/8 will get you started on your first projects. | + | ===== Safety ===== |
- | The ball end mill finish in a ball whose nose radius is equal to 1/2 the diameter of the tool. This is a fancy way to say that the ball at the end is the same diameter as the end mill. The ball nose is used for a variety of milling | + | **Emergency Stop (E-stop)** – Red button |
+ | **PPE** – Safety glasses, hearing protection, dust mask.\\ | ||
+ | **Dust Collection** – Removes chips and dust from the work area. | ||
- | V Cutters/Engravers look like upside down triangles. These cutters produce | + | ===== More Info ===== |
+ | * [[https://carbide3d.com/ | ||
+ | * [[https:// | ||
+ | * [[https:// | ||
- | Fly cutters. These are used for face milling material, flattening the waste board of your machine, or flattening the top of your material. Face milling is different than end milling in that you are only cutting with the bottom of the tool and never the. Side of the tool. Fly cutters can have multiple cutting blades on the bottom surface of the tool, but unlike a traditional end mill, do not contain those flutes, those spiral grooves up the sides of the end mill. Fly cutters contain different numbers of cutting tips from one on up use of a fly cutter typically results in excellent surface finish. | ||
- | Up, cut and down cut, coming back to the topic of flutes, upcut or downcut refers to the direction of the flutes, the direction of the flutes creates a few basic effects. First, any chips or debris travelling off the cutter. Will be forced either upward or downward. Upward will have them automatically removed from the piece you are cutting downward will force those pieces towards the bottom of your stock. Second, | + | ===== Powering |
- | There are lots of other specialty end mills that you may come across or choose | + | * Remove the padlock and turn the isolator |
+ | * Is the Raspberry Pi isn't already running press the silver button to boot it up.\\ | ||
+ | * Rotate the emergency stop button clockwise to reset it if required.\\ | ||
+ | * Check that the belts look in good condition, no cuts of frays.\\ | ||
+ | * Check that there is no thick dust build up on top of the big silver gantry' | ||
+ | * Check that there is nothing left loose inside the enclosure that could jam the movement | ||
- | \\ | + | ===== Starting the software and initialising the machine ===== |
- | ===Types of Machining=== | + | * Start Carbide Motion by pressing the raspberry button in the top left -> Office -> Carbide Motion\\ |
+ | * Press the " | ||
+ | * Press on " | ||
- | 2D, 2.5D and 3D machining. These are three types of machining you will hear referenced. | + | ===== Installing probe pin ===== |
- | 2D and 2.5 are nearly the same thing. 2D refers | + | The first step is to install |
- | 2.5D machining indicates | + | Choose the probe pin that matches |
- | 3D tool paths are created off 3D models depending upon the software you're using, you'll be able to see the 3D model of your design part, that part and your inputting of tool paths will create situations where the machine is moving in all three axis at once. | + | ===== Clamping down stock ===== |
- | ===== Instructions ===== | + | In Carbide Motion press the Jog button to enter the Jog Screen. You can use the buttons on the screen or the pendant to move the router around. |
- | \\ | + | Place your stock on the spoilboard so it’s aligned with the grid. The spoilboard has threaded holes spaced 100 mm apart, and the grid lines are aligned with the machine’s X and Y motion. This makes it easy to square your stock with the router’s movement. |
+ | Use the small stop blocks on one side to position the stock — each block has two smooth sides and two with small serrations. The serrated sides give better grip but can leave small marks on the stock. | ||
+ | Use the Crush-It clamps on the opposite side to hold the stock securely. Each clamp has replaceable front jaws (smooth or serrated) for different materials. Loosen, but don’t remove, the front screw on the clamp. Position the clamp tight against the stock and bolt it down. Then tighten the front screw to push the clamp face firmly against the stock. | ||
+ | Make sure the clamps don’t block the toolpath and use bolts of the correct length — too long and they can bottom out in the threaded holes. Tighten evenly so the stock sits flat and secure. | ||
- | === Ground Rules === | + | ====Dave==== |
- | * All users must complete an induction prior to using the machine. | + | Turn on isolator |
- | * No metal materials, this CNC is just for use with wood and suitable plastics. | + | |
- | * Don't try and bypass the safety interlocks. They are there to protect you and the machine. | + | |
- | * Wear eye protection when the door is open. End mills can shatter if crashed. | + | |
- | * Wear hearing protection and offer hearing protection to others in the room. | + | |
- | * Keep fingers away from moving parts. | + | |
- | * Tidy up afterwards. Vacuum up your dust and wipe down any dirty surfaces. | + | |
- | \\ | + | Turn on red emergency button if needed |
+ | Start Carbide Motion by clicking the raspberry button in the top left -> Office -> Carbide Motion | ||
- | ===Creating a design in Carbide Create=== | + | {{: |
- | At the time of writing the latest version of Carbide Create is V7 build 764. | + | |
- | The is just a basic How-To to get you started. There are links at the bottom the the page to a series of videos from Carbide 3D as well as their full written manual, The manual is for a slightly older version but most of the important parts are the same. | + | Click the connect |
- | When you first open Carbide Create you will be presented with the design screen. This is where you create/ | + | {{: |
- | Hovering you mouse over any of the buttons brings up a tooltip with a brief description of what it does. | + | Give the CNC a visual check to make sure everything looks OK |
- | The first step is to your stock and machine | + | Click initialise |
- | Click on the settings icon. | + | Remove dust shoe using clip on right and using the 17mm spanner and the yellow locking button on the side of the router fit the probe pin which is the same size as your bit bearing in mind you might have to change between the 1/8 and ¼ collet. |
- | {{: | + | In Carbide Create press the Jog button in the top menu and using either the on screen pad or the pendant, move the router to the back of the enclosure. |
- | This brings up the 'Job Setup' box. | + | Clamp stock to bed making sure it doesn’t move |
- | {{: | + | Move the router into the bottom left corner, attach the probe magnet and touch the probe to the probe plate and you should see a red light. |
- | Enter the width and height | + | Put the probe plate tight to the bottom left of your stock and using the jog screen |
- | Enter the stock thickness, if you are cutting all the way through it then it's very important to get this correct. The 'Zero Height' | + | In Carbide Motion click Probe -> corner -> Begin Probe |
- | The Toolpath Zero drop down allows | + | Remove magnet and probe plate when it asks you to remove ground clip. Make sure you are clear as the head will move when you click OK. |
- | Under the ' | ||
- | Once you have finished click ' | + | Go back to run menu |
- | Now you can use the 'Crete Vector' | + | Plug in USB stick and click cancel |
- | {{: | + | Click the load new file button and navigate to computer -> / -> media -> cncuser -> your USB drive and confirm from description that you have loaded the correct file, there are some preview tabs to see what is going to be cut. |
- | For this example we are going to draw a square 150mm X 150mm which will be the outer line of our design. | + | Press Done. |
- | Click on the create rectangle tool, click once on the grid to select the centre of the rectangle then move your cursor to set the size of the rectangle and click again to finish. You don't have to worry about getting the square the correct size or in the correct place when drawing it as these can be easily changed later. | + | press start job. |
- | With the rectangle drawn and selected you will then see more options in the toolbar | + | Then press start on next screen |
- | {{: | + | Spindle will move to front right and the screen will ask you to fit your first bit, fit bit, make sure bit doesn’t stick out lower than the bitsetter measurer. you might need to adjust height of dust shoe. |
- | In the ' | + | Fit the dust shoe, close doors and press resume. |
- | The ' | + | Spindle will spin up and there will be a message to set the speed dial. If the dial is correct just hit resume, if you need to change it open the door, the spindle will stop, set the speed, close the door and hit resume, the first job will start and start cutting. |
- | {{: | + | Opening the doors whilst cutting pauses the job, you can close the doors and press start to resume where you left off. |
- | The Anchor point selection allows you to choose what point on the shape to use for the measurements. The Position shows the location of the selected point in relation to the bottom left corner. X is how far the shape is away left to right and Y is the distance bottom to top. By selecting the anchor point in the lower left and specifying 10mm in both the X and Y boxes the square is moved 10mm away from both the lower and left edge of my stock. | + | Hitting |
- | {{: | + | ===End Dave=== |
- | For the sake of simplicity I will not be covering any of the other ' | ||
- | |||
- | In the ' | ||
- | |||
- | If you are cutting a part out from a larger piece of stock that it clamped in place it is important that your part doesn' | ||
- | |||
- | The easiest way to ensure a part you want to fully cut out doesn' | ||
- | |||
- | Selecting the 'Edit Tabs' option will click anywhere along a vector line to place a tab, you can also click the 'Clear all tabs' button to delete all the tabs. I will click roughly on the midpoint of each line of the square to add a tab, we will specify the physical sizes in a later step. | ||
- | |||
- | Tabs added to the square. | ||
- | |||
- | {{: | ||
- | |||
- | ===Generating toolpaths in Carbide Create=== | ||
- | ===Powering up machine=== | ||
- | ===Homing=== | ||
- | ===Clamping stock=== | ||
- | ===Installing bit=== | ||
- | ===Setting workspace coordinates and probing=== | ||
- | ===Loading, Checking and Running the Gcode Toolpath=== | ||
- | ===Cleaning Up=== | ||
- | |||
- | ===== External links ===== | ||
- | === Carbide 3D video guide on using Carbide Create === | ||
- | https:// | ||
- | |||
- | Video tutorials. | ||
- | Cut Rocket | ||
- | YouTube | ||