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CNC milling with open source software

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Re: CNC milling with open source software

#11

Post by rmu09 »

tsmarsh wrote: post #4

I got into CNC milling about 9 months ago. SVG to 2.5D problems are easy, and get you to a lot of cute solutions, its about as close to the work flow of 3D printers as you can get. But the really interesting stuff is when you get to CAM. Multiple tool paths, genuine 3D cutting. Moving the work between paths etc. Its like going from juggling 3 balls (2.5d) to 5 balls (3D). I haven't seen any competitive opensource CAM…

Have a look at FreeCAD Path Workbench. You won't use it to run your 200000$ 5axis mill, the 3d kernel has limitations, and the UI isn't polished and has rough spots, but it is usable.

Re: CNC milling with open source software

#12

Post by cmsimike »

nadavami wrote: post #8
cmsimike wrote: post #7

I've been looking for a home PCB machine and would appreciate any recommendations on what to look at or what to avoid. I've been told multiple times that it's easier to just have a service print your board which is probably true, but that would take a lot of fun out of the entire process for me.

I've been using a 3018 CNC with pretty good results. They're fairly inexpensive machines (about $300 I believe) and are decently accurate. I still order boards from China, but for a quick breakout board it's incredibly handy! I also decided to get a 5W laser which is also pretty fun to engrave with. I'm planning on writing a series of blog posts about it if you're interested! As a last note, if you like tinkering, th…

Thanks! I would def love to read your posts about this.

I have a 3d printer at home that i picked up a couple years ago, so I know how much of a time sink these things could be. Regardless, every time I print something, it makes up for all the lost time/money.

Re: CNC milling with open source software

#13

Post by equalunique »

jononor wrote: post #2

Even though I love 3d-printing, and designing/building machines, I would not build a small CNC like that from scratch. Since you get better machines for <200 USD that runs open source firmware (grbl) out of the box. Recently got one of them for PCB milling, a CNC 3018 Pro

Please share your experience. This CNC 3018 Pro looks like a compelling option. I don't see many reviews on them that focus on open source tooling.

Re: CNC milling with open source software

#14

Post by tsmarsh »

phkahler wrote: post #10
tsmarsh wrote: post #4

I got into CNC milling about 9 months ago. SVG to 2.5D problems are easy, and get you to a lot of cute solutions, its about as close to the work flow of 3D printers as you can get. But the really interesting stuff is when you get to CAM. Multiple tool paths, genuine 3D cutting. Moving the work between paths etc. Its like going from juggling 3 balls (2.5d) to 5 balls (3D). I haven't seen any competitive opensource CAM…

> I haven't seen any competitive opensource CAM products... Solvespace is open source and claims to export tool paths as gcode with cutter radius compensation, though I have not used this feature. I found cutter radius and export 2D section but it's not cooperating right now! http://solvespace.com/index.pl

> preparing CAM data — export 2d vector art for a waterjet machine or laser cutter; or generate STEP or STL, for import into third-party CAM software for machining

Thats been my experience with all of the OSS CAM: g-code for 2.5D, or STL so that a 3rd Party can do the really heavy lifting.

Re: CNC milling with open source software

#15

Post by equalunique »

nadavami wrote: post #8
cmsimike wrote: post #7

I've been looking for a home PCB machine and would appreciate any recommendations on what to look at or what to avoid. I've been told multiple times that it's easier to just have a service print your board which is probably true, but that would take a lot of fun out of the entire process for me.

I've been using a 3018 CNC with pretty good results. They're fairly inexpensive machines (about $300 I believe) and are decently accurate. I still order boards from China, but for a quick breakout board it's incredibly handy! I also decided to get a 5W laser which is also pretty fun to engrave with. I'm planning on writing a series of blog posts about it if you're interested! As a last note, if you like tinkering, th…

Thank you. I too have been looking at one of these for PCB milling. Do you mind sharing the kinds of boards you have created with it? Are any of them KiCad projects on GitHub?

Re: CNC milling with open source software

#16

Post by nadavami »

cmsimike wrote: post #12
nadavami wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been using a 3018 CNC with pretty good results. They're fairly inexpensive machines (about $300 I believe) and are decently accurate. I still order boards from China, but for a quick breakout board it's incredibly handy! I also decided to get a 5W laser which is also pretty fun to engrave with. I'm planning on writing a series of blog posts about it if you're interested! As a last note, if you like tinkering, th…

Thanks! I would def love to read your posts about this. I have a 3d printer at home that i picked up a couple years ago, so I know how much of a time sink these things could be. Regardless, every time I print something, it makes up for all the lost time/money.

Absolutely! I recently got a 3D printer as well and the feeling of being able to create something "out of thin air" is amazing.

Hopefully I'll have something initial up this weekend, i'll post the link here when I do.

Re: CNC milling with open source software

#17

Post by phkahler »

jcoffland wrote: post #5

If you're interested in Open-Source CNC you should check out two of my Open-Source projects. https://camotics.org/ a CNC simulator and https://buildbotics.com/ a CNC controller. I'm somewhat surprised neither of these were mentioned.

Do any of them support the arc or spline gcode? I noticed that most of the 3d printers do not, even though they are essentially 4-axis CNCs.

Re: CNC milling with open source software

#18

Post by opwieurposiu »

CNC is programming "for keeps".

Any tiny little error in your gcode has a chance to crash the machine. Unlike a computer crash, a CNC crash results in broken metal flying across the room and anywhere from $5- to $5000 in damage. I programmed for a heavy machine shop for a year before I gave up and went back to making websites.

Hobby CNC is fun though, it is amazing what you can make out of wood when you can shape it with sub-millimeter precision. Also hobby machines are not strong enough to cause serious damage when you crash.

Re: CNC milling with open source software

#19

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

cmsimike wrote: post #7

I've been looking for a home PCB machine and would appreciate any recommendations on what to look at or what to avoid. I've been told multiple times that it's easier to just have a service print your board which is probably true, but that would take a lot of fun out of the entire process for me.

It's not just that it's easier, but you can get much finer detail, you don't have to deal with vias, and you can do more than two layers. And (big plus in my book), you don't have to deal with the inevitability of breaking those insanely small end mills.

The only benefit over having a board shop do it is the turnaround time, and even that's essentially a tradeoff of time vs money.

I just sent a board off to OSHPark. 3.5"x2.3" two-layer board for essentially $15 each.

Re: CNC milling with open source software

#20

Post by nadavami »

equalunique wrote: post #15
nadavami wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been using a 3018 CNC with pretty good results. They're fairly inexpensive machines (about $300 I believe) and are decently accurate. I still order boards from China, but for a quick breakout board it's incredibly handy! I also decided to get a 5W laser which is also pretty fun to engrave with. I'm planning on writing a series of blog posts about it if you're interested! As a last note, if you like tinkering, th…

Thank you. I too have been looking at one of these for PCB milling. Do you mind sharing the kinds of boards you have created with it? Are any of them KiCad projects on GitHub?

They're not, I wasn't focused on documenting when I created them. I'll be sure to add that to the list of things to share :) But here is an image of an SOIC-20 I milled. https://pasteboard.co/HX2z3EN.jpg

The short version of the workflow is: FlatCAM to convert gerbers to gcode then CNCjs on an orange pi zero to stream the gcode to the CNC.

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