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Making the Osprey Legs

The programming is graphical.

You basically point out the area to work, the cutter to use and how deep to go. Yeah there is a "little" more to it than that but not much more. That is how CAM works.

Programming straight up g-code with a calculator, and typing in the code. You would not see this action until December 2017. I would not even try.

I do g-code some stuff, but mostly just adding something in or modifying and existing program. There is really no need to create from scratch because the CAM is just doggone easy.

It's like using a pencil and paper to figure something out when you are sitting in front of a computer with Excel. WHY - just use Excel, it's soo much easier.
 
Brent Dowell said:
You can really push that little 1/8" end mill! I've got so much to learn!
Click to expand...

Brent, I took me 4-5 years to finally come to grips with cutting wood on a CNC machine. YES - I broke LOTS of cutters. YES - I very nervously pushed my feedrates up from 20-40 IPM to what I can do now.

On my old machine the "machine" would loose steps if I pushed to fast. I did get up to as high as 200 IPM on some cuts, but I was very reluctant to stay up there. I could trust 90-125 IPM but I needed to be careful and watch it.

With this new machine - I can walk away from it, plus it can relliably go a lot faster. It's a new bar for me. That 1/8 end mill can handle a lot more than the video showed.
 
Leo Voisine said:
The programming is graphical.

You basically point out the area to work, the cutter to use and how deep to go. Yeah there is a "little" more to it than that but not much more. That is how CAM works.

Programming straight up g-code with a calculator, and typing in the code. You would not see this action until December 2017. I would not even try.

I do g-code some stuff, but mostly just adding something in or modifying and existing program. There is really no need to create from scratch because the CAM is just doggone easy.

It's like using a pencil and paper to figure something out when you are sitting in front of a computer with Excel. WHY - just use Excel, it's soo much easier.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation. That's pretty much what I figured. :thumb:
 
Ryan Mooney said:
If I'm eyeballing that tight you can turn about 6" under the carriage?
Click to expand...

I can turn 5.5" on the rotary under the carriage - I am pretty sure 6" would hit.

From the top of the black table to the lowest interference point is about 9.5 to 9.75 I asked for 254mm which is 10". Seeing the construction on this machine I now wish I had asked for 12". Oh well, live and learn.

If I remove the aluminum table top I can gain about 1.5 - to give me about 11" - from machine frame top to lowest interference point. That is entirely doable. I CAN get the piece "in between" the lowest interference point - which is what you see when the top of the rotary piece is under the "Z" axis. If I move the gantry right or left it hits the round work piece.

I do plan to have the rotary mounted on the frame, so I can gain that 1.5" in height.

I do have plans to have an opening in the table to allow me to mount a vise inside the machine framing and hold something upright. Then - floor to table top is 36" - and another 9 or so inches to get me to 45 inches. If conditions are right I can maybe squeeze another inch to get me to 46" - floor to cutting area.

Possibilities - that is all I can see is possibilities. My job is to turn possibilities into realities.

There is a LOT that I want to do.

Someday - I am going to rebuild that rotary axis. Nothing wrong with it mind you, but it could be better. It is certainly workable, but it certainly could be better.. I paid $714 for it, plus more for separate drives and installation. For $714 it is awesome. I was looking at a lot smaller for a lot more money. It is years away, and many hours of use, but I will enhance it.
 
Leo it sounds to me like there are not enough hours in the day for your job jar. Time to put in a little overtime.
Your projects are beyond beautiful. Keep on posting enjoy them all.
David
 
Well 5.5" is still a fairly good sized chunk of material...

I can see a ton of interesting ideas coming out of that setup alright! This is a pretty exciting machine for the money for sure. Cool stuff, really enjoying seeing the details.
 
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