Hello Everyone, I’m 15 and lately I have been getting really into using cnc machines, yet these machines have a 3 axis design. Now I want to up my game and try to get into the idea of creating a cnc mill with the ability of operating 5 different axes. I was wondering how I would go about creating one using the smoothieboard and how simple it would be to operate 5 motors using the board. Thanks.
Imported from wikidot
Hey.
First off : start with a 3-axis machine. Then move on from that. There are good reasons why everybody has 3 axis machines and not 5 axis ones. They are insanely difficult ( and expensive ) to build with any quality sufficient to make them useful.
Smoothie does not have true 5 axis support, but there is on-going work to add it.
Cheers.
Agree w/ Arthur that a 3-axis machine is the best starting point — that said, adding a 4th axis is a marked increase in capabilities.
http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Upgrade_Overview#Additional_Axis
A while back, saw a design where the 4th axis was done by bolting a gear rack to the bed, then engaging that w/ a rotary axis bolted to the gantry