Proxxon MF70 CNC - 2D cutting wooden wheel

[JonSpink]

for really fine routing like this I`ve used double sided sticky tape to stick the work board onto a base board. this stops it flying off with the last cut.

[ideegeniali]

Thanks for this handful info! I'll try next time I'm cutting plywood. Sounds interesting, cheap and easy.

[JonSpink]

your welcome, I used to use it for pcb boards and thin sheets of brass with a really fine cutter at really high speed it works great and also there are no clamps sticking up to risk running into.

[ideegeniali]

It's definetively a good advice. I never tried, probably fearing the piece wouldn't be held in place firmly. But if you succeded, it's definetively worth trying.

[ecksjay89]

Great Video.... What is the XY travel limits? IE how big of a piece can you mill out? Thanks!

[ideegeniali]

XY travel limits are the same as the original, unmodified proxxon mf70: 134 x 46 mm, if I remember well.

[dorvman]

What is the extent of the software that it comes with? Can you do things like scan an immage in and have the cnc cut the exact scanned immage out. Does it have things like text and pre programmed templates?

Thanks

[ideegeniali]

Just use the software you like best for you cnc'ing. There are dozens out there.

For this job, I used mach3 software by artsoft. It can (roughly) import dxf files, and that's what i did here: draw the wheel in dxf, and import it in mach3.

[dorvman]

Oh, so you can use any software you want for this cnc and it works ok?

[ideegeniali]

My cncized mf70 uses cobra electronic board by ideegeniali, wich needs step & direction pulses on a pc parallel port to operate. So you can use any software providing such pulses to drive this electonic. Just to mention some of the choices on the market: turbocnc (dos-freeware), cncplayer, galaad, mach3, kellycam, emc2 (linux-opensource), maccnc (mcintosh).

[ideegeniali]

I use mach3, wich i like most, for motor controlling. For CAM, you should be total free in choosing, since all of them should export iso/gcode.

For text, you may use built-in wizard in mach3, or ttf2gcode, artcam, ttfengraver, or other cam softwares... if you produce a iso/gcode toolpath, you can usually play it on any cnc machine, including this one.

[matt9741399]

Shame the mill took a chunk out of the side once the job was finished. I guess having something underneath the work that would stop the piece falling through at an angle would help?

[ideegeniali]

Sure! Great idea.

[emmfrag]

Hi, nice job. What is the motor speed you are using for wood like that and what size and type of tool you are using?

[ideegeniali]

Wood is plywood 4mm think (plus 1mm beneath of the base support, in wood). I used 180mm/min with 1mm U-mill for this work. I didn't use higher speeds not to brake the tiny mill. With 3mm U-mill, you see in wooden tree, i used 300mm/min in 4+1=5mm thick plywood.