CNC Machine Operation Steps

⚠️These usage instructions are not a substitute for the required "Learn to Use a CNC Router" class. You must take the class and complete the checkout procedure before you are permitted to use the CNC Machines. ⚠️

Before You Start

⚠️ Check & Switch Operating System ⚠️

Attempting to use either CNC machine while the computer is booted into the wrong Operating System may break the CNC machine, cause injury, or ruin your project. The small CNC machine is set up in MacOS. The large CNC machine is set up in Windows.

• To switch to the correct Operating System for the CNC machine you want to use:
  • Restart the computer
    • On Windows: Start Menu > Power > Restart
    • On MacOS: Apple Menu > Restart
  • When the computer shuts down, hold down the Alt key until the computer loads a Boot Options menu
  • Select the Operating System you need using the arrow keys, then hit Enter
    • Note: The mouse will not be usable in the Boot Options menu; you will have to use the keyboard

Check & Empty Vacuum

The vacuum manages saw dust accumulation to keep your project area (mostly) clear and to manage saw dust in the air. When it is too full, it loses suction and cannot function properly - which will make your post-cut cleanup time longer. The vacuum also uses a reusable cloth filter, and accumulated sawdust can heat up and cause damage to the vacuum. Checking the vacuum is a way of Being Awesome: taking responsibility for the space and the tools we use so that they remain available to the community we belong to.

• To clean the vacuum:
  • Open the vacuum by pressing the blue tabs on each side of the lid inward until the lid handles pop free, then pull the lid off
  • Clean the filter:
    • Removing the filter ring and setting it aside
    • Remove the reusable dry filter (cloth) - leave foam sleeve in place
    • Shake debris from dry filter into garbage bin
      • Hold the filter inside the bin to reduce sawdust getting in the air and all over
    • Replace the reusable filter back over foam sleeve
    • Push the filter ring back into place
  • Empty the vacuum tank:
    • Pull the vacuum hose out and check both ends for sawdust obstructions and, if hose is obstructed, shake out over garbage bin to clear.
    • Lift the tank out of its corner and dump the contents into the garbage bin.
    • Put the tank back in its corner and push the hose back in place.
  • Close the vacuum by replacing the lid on top of the tank and push gently until the tabs click back into place
  • Turn the vacuum on and clear any debris that fell on the table while cleaning

Design Your Project in Carbide Create

• The basics of designing CNC projects in Carbide Create are included in the "Learn to Use a CNC Router" class.
• Refresher tutorials and more in-depth usage tutorials can be found on the Carbide 3D Website under Resources - Design with Carbide Create.

Shapeoko 3 - Small CNC Machine

Step 1: Secure Your Stock

To secure your stock:

1. Place your stock (as best you can) on the spoilboard so that there are available grid holes near the edges of your stock.
2. Set Step Clamps in place around your stock. Thread bolts through the center holes and hand tighten the clamps into place. The bolt should be threaded into an insert that is close to the stock for more stability.
3. Use a wrench to tighten the bolts into the threaded inserts until they are secure, but not over-tightened. You should be able to loosen the bolts with a bit of pressure with the wrench, but should not be able to loosen the bolts with your fingers.
4. Check that your stock is secure by trying to wiggle it. If the piece does not wiggle, it is secure. If it wiggles, work on your clamp placement until the stock no longer moves when you try to wiggle it.

Step 2: Insert the Appropriate Bit

Bits are inserted into a collet, which is tightened by a nut, at the bottom of the router part of the CNC machine. To insert a bit:

1. Remove the magnetic vacuum brush
   • The vacuum brush will remain off until the end of Step 3: Zero the X, Y, and Z Axes
2. Press the button that holds the router shaft in place and use your fingers to loosen the big nut at the bottom of the router enough to insert the shank of your bit
   • If you can't finger-loosen the nut, use the large black wrench
   • Only remove the nut entirely if you need to swap collet size
     • Most of AHA's bits come in both the 1/4" and 1/8" shank size and it's easier to just swap to the bit you need that has the right shank size for the collet already in the machine
3. While keeping the button pressed, insert the shank of your bit into the collet and use your finger to hold the shank in place while you finger-tighten the nut to keep the bit from sliding out
4. Still holding the button to keep the shaft from turning, use the large black wrench to tighten the nut
   • The nut should be secure but not over-tightened (you should not need excessive pressure or to yank on the wrench to loosen it again)

Vocab

• Bit: A bit, in CNC machining, is a cutting tool inserted into the CNC machine that is used to cut away material from your stock. There are many different kinds of bits. Some of these include: router bits, which are most often used for woodworking, v-bits (a.k.a, chamfer bits) are a type milling bit used to make sloped cuts (e.g., letter engraving, bevel/chamfer edging, etc.), end mills which are designed to cut using the circumference of their cutting edge and are used for contouring, profiling, pocketing, and many other types of cuts, etc. The words "bit" and "mill" may sometimes be used interchangeably, though there are differences. AHA currently only has milling bits, so if you are using AHA's bits, you will be inserting either an End Mill or a V-Cut Mill (usually referred to in the space using the brand name VCarve). Bits consist of a shank, flutes, teeth, and tips.
  • Shank: The shank is the non-cutting end of the End Mill that is inserted up into the router.
  • Flutes: The channels that are formed between the teeth, or the cutting edges, at the cutting end of the End Mill. The flutes channel the chips of material being removed from the stock away from the stock. There are two types of flutes; straight flutes and spiral flutes. Spiral flutes are further divided into two types: upcut flutes (which pulls chips of material up and away from the stock) and downcut flutes (which pushes chips down toward the stock).
  • Teeth: The cutting edges of the End Mill.
  • Tip: The tip of the bit. There are many different tip shapes, and these produce a different shape of cut as they tip engages with the stock.
• Collet:
• Stock: In CNC machining, stock is a solid piece of material that will have some of that material removed by the router. Depending on the machine type and tools, your stock may be metal, wood, plastic, or (for pen plotters) paper.
• Spoilboard: A spoilboard is a disposable work area. This part of the machine often gets gouged or otherwise damaged - but don't worry, that's what it's there for! It takes the gouges so the CNC machine doesn't have to.
  • There are different types of spoilboard set ups. The small CNC machine uses a threaded insert grid spoilboard. It is made by drilling a grid into the spoilboard material and adding threaded inserts into the holes. Bolts are then inserted through a clamp and tightened into the threaded insert to apply downward pressure on the stock, securing it in place.
• Step Clamps: Step Clamps consist of three parts. The Clamp part is long, with one tapered, blunt end, and one angled, serrated end, with an oblong hole in the center. The Block part is a right triangle with a serrated hypotenuse . The Bolt is just that - a bolt - that is inserted into the hole in the clamp and threaded down into the threaded inserts in the spoilboard. The Clamp's tapered end sits on top of your stock, and its serrated end is supported by the serrated edge of the Block. The Bolt holds the Clamp in place, and causes the Clamp to exert downward pressure on the stock to keep it still. A video demonstration of how to use a Step Clamp in a Threaded Spoilboard is available from the Inventables channel on YouTube
• Threaded Inserts: Threaded inserts are inserted into an object to make a threaded hole.

Shapeoko 3 XXL

Operating steps for the larger Shapeoko are forthcoming.

Computer

AHA Login password/username or guest account.

Safety

• End Mills can Snap
• Spindles will pull your hair in
• Safety goggles are a must
• Toolpath - Test your paths before running live.
• Do not leave it alone when running.

Mounting your Material

Use the shorter studs go into nuts mounted in spoil board and ensure they do not go below the bottom of the nut or they can collide with the gantry.

If you plan to cut through or around your material, your material will move. You can use double sided table or the create tabs option in the VCarve software to prevent the work piece from moving after it is detached.

Changing End Mill

• Get appropriate end mill
• Get collet
• Put end mill in collet
• Put collet w/end mill into collet holder
• Tighten with adjustable wrenches to the spindle
  • Tight, but don't crank down on it
• You can raise / lower spindle holder Z height if your part is too high or too low using two screws on the mount of the spindle.

Mach 3

• Power on CNC mill
• Start Mach3 and pick Fireball
  • If you receive an error that the SmoothStepper is not detected restart Mach and check the USB connections to the CNC machine. Try to toggle the control box.
• Reset button in Mach is triggered on start, enable movement by clocking it.
• Move the mill with the keyboard
  • Up moves towards the wall.
  • Down moves towards you.
  • Left moves it left
  • Right moves it right
  • Page up raises the Z Axis.
  • Page Down lowers the Z Axis.
  • Tab brings up the jog pain to switch speed.
• Set mill to what you like to be the zero point and press Zero button on each axis. You can use goto zero to return to this point later.

↵If you are moving and you have to estop

• Write down all the coordinates it is at
• Then move it out of the way
• Then move it back to the spot

If you ESTOP and reset:

• It thinks the spindle is still moving, you will have to manually start the spindle up
• Hit the Spindle Button to turn on / off

Feed rate controls:

• If the machine sounds like it is straining while cutting, you can reduce the feed rate by hitting + or -
• You can go beyond 100%, but that might not be safe
• When starting - Set feed rate at 50% and see how it sounds.

Cycle Start:

• Starts G Code

Cycle Stop:

• Stops machine run after execution of current instruction.

Load GCODE

• Loads a gcode file.
• Shows an example of what it will do in the top right
• You can rotate, zoom in / out

Red lines are where there is motion but NOT cutting. Blue lines are where it will cut

GCODE:

• Yellow line is where it is at

• If you stop, it stops immediately at that spot.
• If you start, it will start immediately at that spot
• If you want to restart, you haveto tell it to rewind

When first starting:↵It will raise the tool head, start the tool head, and wait for it to come up to speed. After it's dwelled for a few seconds it will lower and start cutting your work piece.

VCarve Pro = 2D Software

• File, New
• Size of job: Inches or Millimeters? Ideally stick with Millimeters. Vcarve will translate to mm if needed
  • We're doing 2" x 2" for example
  • Setting the Z or Zero, Setting it at the top, and center of workpiece. When we start the end mill will be at the center of our design
• You can draw your tool path
• You can create it in inkscape or illustrator.

Import Path:

• Export from inkscape as a DXF
• Vectors must be CLOSED
  • File: Import -> Vectors
    • DO NOT ASSUME THAT DIMENSIONS IN INKSCAPE WILL MATCH DIMENSIONS IN VCarve!

↵Import a Bitmap:

• Import Bitmap from file menu.
• Under edit select Trace Bitmap and the tool will create vectors from your imported file.

Creating Toolpaths

Types

• Profile cuts around the shape (can be set as outside, inside, on the line)
• Pocket will hollow out a shape
• Drilling (you would need a drill bit)
• Quick Engraving (letters, circuit boards)
• Fluting allows you to create a pocket that something fits into
• Inlay toolpath allows you
• Texturing toolpath: Runs the end mill into the wood to give a distressed look

Sample creation

• Click a vector
• Choose a Toolpath: Profile,
• Select tool: AHA Section has our tools: Using hardwood soft media, 2 flute 1/8th"
• Click okay on tool selection screen.
• Edit Passes: Set pass thickness
• Setting it to do 2 passes
• If you wanted to cut all the way out and wanted to add tabs, here you can do that
  • You can select where you want tabs on the shape and manually set how many tabs you want.
• Calculate

Multiple Paths, Multiple end mills

• If you have multiple paths with different end mills order your paths in VCarve as needed and then select them by clicking the check mark next to each.
• If you have two in a row that use the same end mill, export that as one path file.
• Export each path that doesn't follow that rule into different files. You will run each file and change mills as needed in between.

Exporting Tool Paths

Save tool paths:

• Select toolpaths
• Save toolpaths
• Output all toolpaths
  • Mach 2/3 Arcs, Millimeters
• Save toolpath
• Generates gcode text file!

Load into Mach 3

• Load the GCODE
• Safety Goggles on
• Press Rewind
• Estop Off and press reset in Mach if it's enabled.
• Move machine to Zero point (see CNC page for current key mappings)
• Zero each axis.
• Peform a test without your material or the spindle plugged in to see if things are working okay.
• Then with material in place and spindle zero-ed, run your work piece.

Generate file in inkscape

Save as Desktop Plotting (DXF) autocad↵➞Default settings

Cut 3D

Works like VCarve but allows import of 3D Models (.STL files) to generate tool paths for 3D Models and cuts with the CNC Router.

References

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