(Part 2) Top products from r/CNC

I've been looking into this space (best medium-cost maker/builder/fab tools) over the past couple of months, and here are my recommendations so far...

• CNC Mill (router) - For doing wood, plastic, and some light metal work, the Shapeoko 3 stands above the rest. It runs around $1.2k with a router included and can cut 16"x16"x3". You'll still need mill/router bits and materials, but pretty awesome for the price range. Note that they also just started selling larger versions (goes up to 33"x33"x3") for a few hundred dollars more. To move up to the next professional level but still on a budget, I'd consider building your own via CNCRouterParts Pro Kits (48”x48”x12”, $8k total).
  
  
• 3D Printer - The LulzBot TAZ 5 stands above the rest because of the range of materials it can print (with a special high temperature hot end) and its build area (11.7”x10.8”x9.8”). It's recently been reviewed by Make as the "Best Overall 3D Printer" which is a pretty high endorsement. It runs a little expensive ($2.2k) but looks like it's one of the best bets if you're looking to get into 3D printing.
  
  
• Lathe - You can get a mini lathe (7”x16”, $1.3k) in the price range you're considering, and while it may be a bit too speciality and manual, they're a great tool to have in your workshop. Especially if you like making round things.
  
  
• Laser Cutter - To get a decent laser cutter (not just engraving, but actually cutting materials) that won't break down, catch fire, release noxious fumes, or potentially blind you is currently around $4k minimum. There are a lot of cheap "eBay" laser cutters out there, but when you start to add up everything and weigh the risks they aren't really all that much cheaper. The two stand out models I've been considering are the FullSpectrum (40W, $6k) and the "coming soon" Glowforge Pro (45W, $4.8k).
  
  
• Electronics - You didn't mention this, but if you're looking at getting your hands dirty making things, electronics is now a pretty crucial component to support. The big ticket items (like an oscilloscope) are now a lot more reasonable than they were even 5 years ago and sites like SparkFun carry a lot of electronic components and tutorials that make it easy to get started even if you don't have much background in circuitry (yet!). My short list would include: a Rigol 50MHz, 4Chan, color disp, 4 probe oscilloscope ($450), a nice Weller soldering iron ($320), a soldering fume extractor ($70), some helping hands ($10), a Siglent signal generator ($360), and some nice boxes to keep your parts sorted ($20).
  
  Now go make some awesome things!
  

I've been using Nitto Tape and that stuff is pretty amazing.

I recently read this book with a very different stance on how far this future state is from today:

Humility Is the New Smart: Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age

I'm not saying your wrong, it's fascinating to me that every industry is full of people saying "but my role can't be automated, they will still need a human here".

No you would need a router and a mount. CNCRP sells nice mounts also. The Porter Cable 690 would probably be your best bet and you would still be slightly under your 3k budget.

Porter Cable 690 Mount CNCRP $93

Porter Cable 690 Router - Amazon $125

The guy who created the Shapeoko line has written a book that is a great into and how to for CNC starters:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1457183366/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This thing is tremendous. It looks like a chop saw, but it uses a carbide-tipped sawblade instead of an abrasive disc. Cuts steel in seconds, leaves a clean edge, doesn't heat up the stock like an abrasive saw.

I'm a fan of this one from General. It's got a nice solid aluminum handle. I can't stand the ones with the extra cutters rattling around inside. I mean, you have a toolbox you can store those in.

We just give These to the kids that wear glasses in robotics. Meets all of the safety requirements and easy to use.

This is the Bosch variable speed router I have & it works a treat. Just remember that any router is typically too fast to be effective at cutting metal but fine for wood & plastics.

Not a programmer, but gamer and PC tech. I've used trackballs most of my computing life. I recommend the Kensington Expert Mouse (link below) for general use unless you're looking at the engineering specific ones.

Kensington Expert Trackball Mouse (K64325) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009KH63/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_COgECbHH1BNE6

I agree, amazon link for Peter Smid's book: http://www.amazon.com/Fanuc-Custom-Macros-Peter-Smid/dp/0831131578/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

If you can write g-code you will pick up macro programming. It is actually very easy. I realize there are different styles of macro programming but they are all very similar. Just don't expect macro B to work for everything, check for your machine specifically.

I have this adapter, and I havent had a single issue yet. I know it's not super fancy or anything like what you use. But for the work I do, This allows me to use 3/8" dia endmills just fine, I prefer this over the 3/8" collet/nut combo porter cable sells, cause this has more surface area evenly gripping the fem verses just a small ring gripping it.

Or:
http://www.amazon.com/Roman-Carbide-DC1261-2-Inch-Cleaning/dp/B005W18EIW

To sweep in circular material, bolt hole patterns, etc. This is a fairly cheap one. You can use an indicator to do this also. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002YPA9JG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1394074669&sr=8-1

To sweep in your material to your cutter. Fairly high-end indicator, very precise. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0006J51CW/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1394074788&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

To sweep (tramming) in your head to your table. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007EMPHVE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1394075050&sr=8-1

Those are a couple basics for machine shop 101

Try this: BOESHIELD T-9 Rust & Corrosion Protection/Inhibitor and Waterproof Lubrication, 4 oz aerosol https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DD1DV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VKfECbFZQFBSM

Learning Mastercam X6 Mill 2D Step by Step

My CNC Router Parts Pro series does aluminium just fine. You will want to use a single flute bit. Below is the information I use. Also invest in a mist coolant / air blast setup. Contrary to intuition, you will want to take as much DoC as you can manage (within reason). At least .5 to .75 tool diameter. Lastly, don't slot. Use slot clearing / trochoidal toolpaths (adaptive toolpaths in F360). I shoot for around .0024 feed / tooth. Usually end up in the 80 ish ipm range.


Amana Tool 51402 SC Spiral 'O' Single Flute, Aluminum Cutting 1/4 D x 5/8 CH x 1/4 SHK x 2 Inch Long Up-Cut Router Bit withMirror Finish https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EVLCAQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Nl6PBbBDNAE20

Metal Cutting Engraving Machine Mist... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JU683KS?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

No problem, though your mileage may vary. My router is aging, so it's not necessarily accurate. I used one of these : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I5LDVC (as I'm too cheap to buy a SuperPID)

Yes. If my wimpy machine can be made to do it, an OX should be able to do so too. I have an old Shapeoko 2 that I have made some significant upgrades to increase rigidity (but not by much, unfortunately).

I've been using it almost exclusively to cut aluminum. Most recently I've been cutting 12mm thick plates with some real success. This weekend I'm going to attempt 20mm.

I've had to apply a lot of trial and error. I am absolutely not a professional. Here are some of the lessons I've learned:

• Use a lot of lube and clear your chips. Personally, I use Tap Magic for Aluminum. This has given me the best results so far. To accomplish this I invested in one of these. It's finicky as hell and I sometimes need to adjust it while the machine is running, but it sprays out lube and clears chips while the machine is running. It's totally transformed my experience cutting. (Note, Tap Magic is nasty stuff. Don't breath it. Read the bottle.)
  
  
• Shave the aluminum, don't cut it.
  
  My machine lacks rigidity. If I try to be aggressive at all, I can see the x-axis flex. This flexing on any of the axises can lead to your bit breaking, getting stuck and causing your belt to slip. This almost always leads to a ruined part. The best way I've found to minimize this is to make very shallow passes. I usually choose between 0.5 and 0.6 mm per layer. For 0.25" aluminum that'd be 11 to 13 or more passes.
  
  
• Experiment with feeds and speeds and end mills.
  
  The general advice is that you want to get good size chips. I know this is ambiguous, but I'm not a pro. Basically, if you read around, you'll see that professionals would typically have a slow spindle speed (much slower than my palm router will go), a moderate feed speed, and a two flute end mill. With a router, you take off so much material so quickly that you need to have a higher feed rate. So, slow router speed, high feed, two flutes.
  
  But, with my sloppy machine, it's just too flexible and things go badly quickly. So, I've only partially followed the advice. I use a fairly high router speed (5 out of 6, whatever that means in RPMs. I use what, to me, seems like a fairly fast feed speed. I think 700ish mm a min. And for these thick sheets of aluminum I've been using a four flute 1/8" endmill. I put the end mill in as far as I can, giving me less room for the end mill itself to flex. The only reason I use four flutes is because I made a mistake the first time I had a successful cut and and put a four flute end mill in, not my two flute. Once I got something to work, I was too scared to change things up.
  
  All together, quickly shaving layers has worked well for me. The downside is you can clog the end mill and it will wear out much more quickly. It's just a tradeoff I've had to make.
  
  
• Use Step-Overs in your cut paths
  
  One thing I learned while figuring out my process is that the deeper your endmill goes in the material, the more likely it is to bind up and cause damage to itself or the piece your trying to cut out. A trick I've learned is to use multiple passes with step overs. I use Fusion 360 to generate my tool paths. With contours in particular, I'll do three passes. The first pass obviously cuts the whole tool width (EG: 3.125mm). The next pass goes over half the thickness of the tool (1.5625mm). The next pass goes over a tiny bit, I think about 0.5mm. This is a finishing pass. It helps give a nicer cleaner edge to the piece your cutting out. This process removes much of the rubbing that the end mill would otherwise be doing along the slot of the contour being cut out.
  
  
• Figure out how to accurately reposition your machine
  
  I don't think I've ever had a piece that I cut out successfully on my first try. Usually the belt will skip (yes, they're tensioned as much as I reasonably can - I'm just pushing way past the limits of my machine), but sometimes other things go wrong. Maybe my coolant mister flakes out. Whatever. I hover my hand over the stop button and reflexively kill the machine as quickly as possible. When this happens, my machine forgets its position in space and I need to re-zero it. While I have limit switches, their repeatability is in the order of 1mm+, which is not nearly accurate enough to restart a failed cut.
  
  So, what I've done is learned how to probe using my machine. You can probe in all three directions. Knowing this, I can start a cut by pocketing a small square hole a known depth into the material I'm cutting. Say 20mm wide x 20mm long x 5 mm deep (depending on how deep your material is). When things go wrong, I can relatively easily determine where the bit should be when it was cutting the sides of the hold and I know how deep the bit was when it cut the bottom. I can then probe to the back of the machine and reset my Y position, to the right to reset X, and down to reset Z. With this approach I've been able to get what I'd estimate to be 0.1 mm or 0.01 mm of repeatability.
  
  This will require you to have both limit switches and the ability to probe for positioning. I use grblShield, which makes this moderately easy to setup. I'm not sure if your OX would have this.
  
  TL/DR:
  
  You can cut even thick sheets of aluminum on even a fairly non-rigid machine, you just need to experiment with it until you find a technique that works for you.