JahJahwarrior said:
neato!!! that talents some people have are amazing!! where'd you get themill?? howmuch???
I'd rather not say just where I bought it, because they jerked me around on it: I wanted a Taig, and they implied they had it in
stock and could ship immediately. When I didn't get it, three weeks after I'd sent the check, I called to find out what was up and found out they were back-ordered from the factory. It would be at least two more months before I'd get it. I switched my order to a more-expensive MaxNC... which they didn't have in
stock either, but the MaxNC factory would drop-ship direct to me. Another two weeks after I did an e-check for the difference, I finally had
my mill. Total cost, with shipping, was just under $2000.
The link
should point to a black-and-white picture of it in the process of cutting boxes. It runs off the parallel port of a PC. The NC program is DOS-based - it has to take direct control of the port and timers.
The computer doesn't come with it. I resurrected an old Compaq 486-33 and loaded Windows 98 on it (gives me good networking and can restart in
DOS mode). The only tricky thing was telling the NC software where Compaq put the parallel port (old Compaqs used a different I/O
address from everybody else).
Anyhow, I clamp two boxes onto the
jig and push the "go"
button (the "C" key on the confuser keyboard). It cuts the north end of one box and the south end of the other. Then I
switch the boxes, press "C" again, and it cuts the other end of each. The only problem I ever had was if I tried to cut too fast, it would melt the plastic rather than cutting it and I'd end up with a big glob of plastic stuck to the mill (standard .062" dia. 4-flute end mill).
Writing G-code (the command language for most NC tools) is a lot of math... mostly basic geometry. If you've read some of my other posts, you might have noticed math is something I'm sort-of good at. I didn't used-to be, until I recognized the
practical value. Math, taken as an abstract, is boring. When it can be used to describe actual, real-world relationships and help solve real-world problems, it gets interesting real quick.
(steps down off his soapbox)
Have fun!
John