Former Member
Guest
Again while you may do a lot of machining you get caught inside the box. I come out with a finished part and a clean edge.
And it makes good money doing it. Soooo....Think outside the box.
-
Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.
Fixture plate for CNC Router
- Thread starter Matt-Aburg
- Start date
And it makes good money doing it. Soooo....Think outside the box.
I am enjoying the work you are showing. I have a much smaller hobby CNC - Onefinity Woodworker X50 - that I have customized and added on to. I added an ATC spindle and am also using a Masso G3 with the linear tool rack pick and place logic - it is working out well so far. I purchased a slightly smaller (and thinner) cast plate from ASA to use as a base. They were close and very easy to work with. I remember being somewhat awestruck backing into their warehouse with my jeep and being surrounded by story high racks, some with aluminum bar 12 - 16" diameter and 10 - 20' long. I am not a business, just a homeowner who builds things, and I always appreciate when I find a business, especially as large as ASA, that does not treat me any differently than a larger customer. Well, except for the prices I imagine 
Is your custom Cancam based off their B1 or B2 series machine? How would you describe the experience of discussing/adding the customizations, and how long did those conversations take as well as the shipping?
I would very much like to see future updates when your time permits, as well as the machine milling plastics and aluminum once you have it and your fixtures dialed in and working.
Tom
Is your custom Cancam based off their B1 or B2 series machine? How would you describe the experience of discussing/adding the customizations, and how long did those conversations take as well as the shipping?
I would very much like to see future updates when your time permits, as well as the machine milling plastics and aluminum once you have it and your fixtures dialed in and working.
Tom
Matt-Aburg
Ultra Member
This is a C1-OTAT. I upgraded from the 2.2 kw motor to 5.5 kw. The one shown is the video below is their standard that is mainly sold to schools. My spindle takes ISO-30 toolholders rather than the smaller ones. I also had the Gantry increased to 12 inches from 8 inches. Their standard dust boot in numatic. It is not removable, and so not good for aluminum. I did not opt for the dust boot or the vacuum. The machine is still wired to receive a vacuum system if so, chose later. Also putting their dust boot on would make less Z travel. I insisted on having the spindle bottom just below the LED lights.I am enjoying the work you are showing. I have a much smaller hobby CNC - Onefinity Woodworker X50 - that I have customized and added on to. I added an ATC spindle and am also using a Masso G3 with the linear tool rack pick and place logic - it is working out well so far. I purchased a slightly smaller (and thinner) cast plate from ASA to use as a base. They were close and very easy to work with. I remember being somewhat awestruck backing into their warehouse with my jeep and being surrounded by story high racks, some with aluminum bar 12 - 16" diameter and 10 - 20' long. I am not a business, just a homeowner who builds things, and I always appreciate when I find a business, especially as large as ASA, that does not treat me any differently than a larger customer. Well, except for the prices I imagine
Is your custom Cancam based off their B1 or B2 series machine? How would you describe the experience of discussing/adding the customizations, and how long did those conversations take as well as the shipping?
I would very much like to see future updates when your time permits, as well as the machine milling plastics and aluminum once you have it and your fixtures dialed in and working.
Tom
Wait time was extreme due to many uncontrolled events. Covid, Shipping Backlog, Rail washout, many orders in front of mine, when they finally received the frame. Total time from order to delivery was about 9 months.
I have been to ASA in Mississauga one time. It was enormous. For convenience's sake, I deal with Essex Metals down here.
See below video for Base model C1-OTAT
When do you think your mods & tweaking will be to the stage you hang out the shingle for CNC milling work?
You mentioned thread milling on the tooling plate (and then finish threaded by hand). Is that because of tolerance limitation of the cnc/software or why couldn't do it entirely on the CNC?
You mentioned thread milling on the tooling plate (and then finish threaded by hand). Is that because of tolerance limitation of the cnc/software or why couldn't do it entirely on the CNC?
Matt-Aburg
Ultra Member
I just finished getting a small job done on the lathe. Tomorrow, I need to go pick it back up at Heat Treat and polish it. Then I need to go deliver to the customer and see another sales call.
On the plate:
I still need to finish bolting it through the PVC, hopefully tomorrow or next day. (All drilled just got sidetracked) Then I have C-bores and engraving. I am very close to running some parts to test. (2 weeks)
I chose not to finish the thread milling on machine because I was not 100 percent confident. I had never done thread milling before, but now I am addicted! Future project will be to tune in the process. I did not use a cycle but drew a helix in Mastercam and created my own cycle.
So close..
Thank you for sharing that. I had been to Cancam's website before but never seen that model (C1) - I still do not see it on their site except for some videos. It looks like a nice machine - nice balance of size and functionality, and a very clean design. I believe the Taiwanese motion hardware used has a good reputation vs other overseas sources/manufacturers. I believe I read that this was one thing people liked about this company, that it was cost effective given where it was made, but also had a NA presence for quality support and after sales service that can be relied upon. Does it ship assembled, or is just the frame made overseas and the USA or Canada based facilities put all the components together and take care of final assembly?
The electrical cabinet looks well organized and neatly put together. I noticed 3 servo drives in the video. Does this CNC have the X axis gantry connected below the table, and a single servo/ball screw provides the Y axis motion?
As an aside, I was looking at your website and it looks like you do some great work. I sent a message through the contact form with some feedback.
Tom
I am new to CNC machining, and have only recently completed my ATC/Masso build. I am slowly learning the CAM side of things (I am teaching myself to use F360), and starting slowly with milling as I get to know my machine and tool paths. I started with machinable wax, then moved on to acrylic and HDPE, and am now starting work with aluminum.
I purchased a thread mill from Scientific Cutting Tools, and like you am excited to try thread milling. I have a 2.2Kw ISO20 spindle, so will be using a single form vs tri or multi given the torque limitations. I have not yet broken any tooling, but that delicate thread mill certainly looks like it may become my first casualty
. I am learning that all the feeds and speeds tables and calculators will never be as effective as time spent getting to know your own particular machine. My first real project will be a vacuum plate made from cast aluminum, but I still have a few days of experimentation before I start that.
Matt-Aburg
Ultra Member
The gantry is tied in below the table and is controlled by one 25 mm ball screw as you said. Their website is dated and does not reflect their current products. Their main product now are the "C" series routers. They are also in early stages of building a VMC.
On my own website, I have a lot of updates to do too. I am just so busy building this shop. When it is closer, I will be replacing the stock images of my machines with my own and adding the Router.
Thank you for the information on their website - I will check in from time to time to see if they update it. Again, it looks to be a very capable CNC, and given its construction I imagine it can hold fine tolerances well.
Being too busy to update one's website is a good thing
Matt-Aburg
Ultra Member
Looks great - thank you for the update. How did the fixturing pins fit? Are you using metric or imperial for the fixture?
As an aside, I spoke to the Cancam rep a while ago. Very friendly and helpful, even invited me to their location to show me the CNCs in action. I don't have the room - or money - for one (maybe never as a hobby user) but it would certainly be a contender. I like that customizations are easy and available.
Matt-Aburg
Ultra Member
I still am an old-fashioned machinist. I only use metric if the customer requests it. In the mold shop I worked at, what a pain that is, they had no metric library (NX software) and everyone still uses imperial measuring tools. All components are inch, unless it's an Automaker.
My dowels fit nice. I will be doing a check with some ground stock to check they stayed aligned to the workface edge (X axis).
Last edited:
Did you achieve those tolerances for the pins using end mills to machine the holes/ Did it require trial and error testing beforehand. Sorry if you mentioned this before, I did a quick skim read and didn't see that information (doesn't mean it's not there ).
That plate will offer so much flexibility for multiple fixturing options and work coordinate/offset locations. Can't wait to see it put to use.
).That plate will offer so much flexibility for multiple fixturing options and work coordinate/offset locations. Can't wait to see it put to use.
Matt-Aburg
Ultra Member
I drilled 5/16, spiral to 0.01 / side under. endmill drill 0.25 deep, then reamed 0.3755Did you achieve those tolerances for the pins using end mills to machine the holes/ Did it require trial and error testing beforehand. Sorry if you mentioned this before, I did a quick skim read and didn't see that information (doesn't mean it's not there
That plate will offer so much flexibility for multiple fixturing options and work coordinate/offset locations. Can't wait to see it put to use.
Matt-Aburg
Ultra Member
Cancam finally updated their website yesterday. It now reflects the current products.Thank you for the information on their website - I will check in from time to time to see if they update it. Again, it looks to be a very capable CNC, and given its construction I imagine it can hold fine tolerances well.
Being too busy to update one's website is a good thing
CNC Routers Canada: Best CNC Machines for Sale | CanCam
CanCam is committed to providing quality CNC routers and laser engravers paired with industry leading customer service. Get a quote today.
www.cancam.ca
Matt-Aburg
Ultra Member
Back to work today.
It has been a very long 3 weeks. I got a very bad cold, then had foot surgery. Today, I put on my new safety boots, and am ready to rock and roll. Yesterday, a friend came over and went under the table to help fasten the plate. I had a slight design change because the plastic table that comes with the router is very brittle and did not hold a thread. I pushed the holes through and put cap screws through the plastic table and some beams. Used SHCS, with washers and nuts. It is clamped !!
Today I have some roughing on the Bridgeport CNC, and maybe qualifying this table (quality check). I have engraving to do on it, and it will be in use before end of week for finishing..
It has been a very long 3 weeks. I got a very bad cold, then had foot surgery. Today, I put on my new safety boots, and am ready to rock and roll. Yesterday, a friend came over and went under the table to help fasten the plate. I had a slight design change because the plastic table that comes with the router is very brittle and did not hold a thread. I pushed the holes through and put cap screws through the plastic table and some beams. Used SHCS, with washers and nuts. It is clamped !!
Today I have some roughing on the Bridgeport CNC, and maybe qualifying this table (quality check). I have engraving to do on it, and it will be in use before end of week for finishing..
little ol' e
Jus' a hobby guy
I missed your response a while back, but yes, I don't have any experience with CNC routers or adding plates to them . I'm considering purchasing a CNC router for my son if he continues the interest.
I often do think outside the box, but having said that...
My thinking was/is;
If I'm pocketing through a block on the CNC mill, set up on my plate in my G54 work offset corner. I would Z level rough out the pocket (depending on size) or contour ramp staying up .02 from the bottom.
(Leaving a shim so to speak on the bottom and possibly an island in the middle that I need to knock out afterwards- saving a chunk rather than roughing out the entire pocket )
Then I would finish contour the walls but leave .005 on the bottom so I don't cut into my plate.
At that point I flip it over, push my work piece back into my fixture corner and CNC a chamfer or just chamfer by hand depending.
I do the same with outer profiles.
If I have a block with a key way in the bottom or happen to add a couple dowel holes that I can locate on or splash in with my cad design, Then I can use them in relationship to the plate that I use to merge my blocks onto.
That particular key in my table uses G58 for example which never changes. Dowel/tooling hole locations are always inline and remain G59.
Since I have G54-57 already stored in the 4 corners of my plate in the controller. Which never change.
Unless a cutter is pilot driven into the plate, my G54 through G59 never changes.
So my question would be,
If I were to purchase a CNC router in the near future with a tool changer and make an aluminum plate for it. Would this way of thinking work without having to machine into the table or having to skim it for flatness at times ?
Former Member
Guest
On G-codes themselves I am very weak as I'm somewhat spoiled in having conversational converter that does the grunt work. Some of my stuff is already over 4000 plus lines of G-code. I only tweak and cut out code to minimize runtime.
That said, of you make a fixture plate for your router create accurate stable mounts on the router itself. This way your plate always start off in the same position. Skim plane your plate and now you have a consistent flat surface on a re&re of the plate. Depending on the accuracy you expect you should be the same at all points once you zero at the start of a job.
I also reference of the initial part as 0,0,0 and work down into the work. As work becomes more complex that may change.
That said, of you make a fixture plate for your router create accurate stable mounts on the router itself. This way your plate always start off in the same position. Skim plane your plate and now you have a consistent flat surface on a re&re of the plate. Depending on the accuracy you expect you should be the same at all points once you zero at the start of a job.
I also reference of the initial part as 0,0,0 and work down into the work. As work becomes more complex that may change.
Last edited:
little ol' e
Jus' a hobby guy
Last edited:
Matt-Aburg
Ultra Member
First real work on the router.
The router does a fine job, but definitely a bit less rigid. I went this direction to have a huge window for machining. I know it won't cut ferrous material, but that was never intended.
Anyway, Here is one Kurt vise mounted with one of the bearing housings after finishing setup # 1.
The router does a fine job, but definitely a bit less rigid. I went this direction to have a huge window for machining. I know it won't cut ferrous material, but that was never intended.
Anyway, Here is one Kurt vise mounted with one of the bearing housings after finishing setup # 1.
