Dan Gelbart has an excellent and well-presented series on YouTube on machines and prototyping. It`s a short course on how to build stuff aimed at students, researchers and others who are not machinists by trade. It`s applicable to prototyping and Read more…
Digital Read-Outs (DRO)
While my machine went right to CNC, and I use the integrated program for read out, there is a healthy environment for manual or precision DRO units. Basic Categories – Capacitance: lowest cost, lowest resolution, accuracy, and repeatablity – Magnetic Read more…
Machining Blogs and Forums
Various places I have gleaned good information from Machinist Blog – Aimed at plans, projects and how-to`s for home machinists Hobby Machinist – Forum for all levels; the `friendly`forum CNC Zone – The most ungainly collection of forums this side of Read more…
Milling Tools: Rake Angles
Random information I thought it a good idea to collate. From Wikipedia: Rake Angle Rake angle is a parameter used in various cutting and machining processes, describing the angle of the cutting face relative to the work. There are two rake angles, namely Read more…
The Virtual Machine Shop – Wikipedia for Machining
Lovely: LINK
More Stepper and Servo Wisdom
Again, from CNCZONE: Q.) What are the advantages/disadvantages between steppers and servos? A.) Step motors and servo motors service similar applications, ones where precise positioning and speed are required. The biggest difference is that steppers are operated “open loop”. This Read more…
Stepper Motors, Microstepping vs. Full, Increasing Torque Loss with Microstepping, Encoders on Steppers, Flywheels
There’s a lot of misconception about the subject (case in point: Excellent Reading). I also misinterpreted the information and made assumptions based on my (in)complete understanding of it. As such, here’s some excellent sources of information regarding such: CNCZone: Microstepping. The Read more…
Excellent Advice on Procuring CNC Components from 5Bears.com
A genuine great resource and build log: 5BearsCNC
Current Machine Configuration
LMS3960/3990 Mini-Mill Throat: 6.5″ (165mm) Table: 18.1″x 4.7″ (460mm x 120mm) X Travel: 11.8″ (300mm) Y Travel 5.1″ (130mm) Z Travel: 10.6″ (270mm) Travel w/ planned extension block: 12.6″ (320mm) 10.25″ (260mm) maximum extension from the bottom of the Read more…
Ball screw Mapping and Compensation
If you’ve done any investigation into ballscrews, you’ll see there’s a bewildering array of variables: metric/imperial, tolerance classes, pitch/lead, rotational moments of inertia, backlash compensation methods. One that may affect cut dimensions is the variation in pitch between one Read more…