Interesting YouTube video - check out his new RC helicopter motor spindle. He also points out the wiring issue with Chinese machines. #cnc3040 #spindle #helicoptormotor
Thank, I’ll have a look.
I have a #cnc6040 and a #cnc3040 (actually it’s called #cnc4030 ).
I completely replaced the 4030–electronics except for the vfd and on the 6040 I keps the stepper-drivers but replaced the LPT-breakout with a USB board, wired a proper grounding and added RS485 control for the spindle VFD.
Lol, hey Jean & Marcus. You found my video on YouTube. That was my first home cnc machine. I sold it some time back. Now I have a converted titan TM20LV (grizzly g0704 clone). Cheers Aaron
I’m using the 3040 only because it’s small and I don’t mind that the electronics are *** because I replaced them anyway.
I don’t intend to do aluminum with that one.
Just wax and wood.
My primary one is a large 6040 with a water cooled 2.5KW spindle. Both share the ER11 collet size, the same 4th axis design and the mounting braces.
Would love your detailed opinions of the 3040 - I am looking at the 3020 right now vs the Shapeoko 2. i would not have considered the 1 but the 2 looks nice.
3040? The electronics looses steps heavily because the spindle-controller provides the power and ground for the stepper drivers.
The LPT-breakout is a bad idea anyway. You want a cheap USB-board that has a command buffer and creates it’s own clock.
The 4th axis must be raised to even use the supplied collet for anything >50mm.
Even then it is heavily constrained in terms of part-diameter by the low gantry.
The spindle is not very powerfull and reduces it’s rpm under load but it is very quiet. Take good care of the spindle-cable. It must not rub anywhere.
The spindle controller has a PWM input and you can switch between software-control and a potentiometer. I haven’t wired up my PWM control yet. (Neither did I install end-switches yet.)
The tool-height probe is a great thing to have.
The 4th axis stepper is WAY underpowered. It MUST be replaced to mill anything heavier then a breeze of air. At half-step it has less power then 2 of my outstreched fingers.
The mechanics are solid. Positioning accuracy is below what I can meassure with my mechanical 1/1000" dials.
(Wanted 1/1000mm. My fault on eBay.)
@Marcus_Burton Thank you for the detail, that is very useful. a couple of quick questions,
I assume the underpowered spindle is the 200W spindle, do you find that it is so underpowered as to not be able to effectively cut material, or do you just have to use a low feedrate?
Which USB breakout did you get? Do you use with Mach3
I find the spindle too weak to keep it’s RPM when cutting z-5mm wood and the top-rpm could be much higher.
Yes, I use MACH3.
My board:
Since then this board moved from my 6040 into my 3040 and I upgraded the big one to a russian Ethernet board because I wanted 6 axis. (I’m programming a 5 axis CAM “simplemultiaxiscam” and the USB-board can only support 4 axis)
I build one, its not for aluminium!!!
@Piotr_Smolucha What material are you milling? Looks like some kind of white stone.
insulation foam, polyurethane