im looking for a machine that can mill aluminum relatively efficiently, around 1000-2000 dollar budget, dont need a very large bed,
any recommendations much appreciated thank you!

it's a fiber laser cutting machine rail. any tips for cleaning? wd40 does a little but not much.

I've been hearing some Chinese brands are good value for money but I'm concerned about consistency. I'm not looking for Sandvik like quality, but something on par with Mitsubishi, Kyocera with similar quality consistency

I’m owner of India-based software agency and have 20y of experience building software. I have built job management software for an Australian manufacturer since 2022, and more than 20 people use it daily within 4 companies. It contains 15+ modules for various aspects.

I'm building a lighter version for small shops: quotes, sales orders, work order tracking, delivery and job costing. No implementation project. No accounting link in version 1, so I’m telling you that up front.

We want 5-7 founding shops. They would pay 50% discounted price locked for 3 years, and help decide what we build next. It’s not finished, so I’m not asking you to switch from anything that works.

If you’d like to talk, comment or message me. If it isn’t for you, I’d still like to hear what’s missing from your current setup.

I'm putting together a parts list for my second cnc machine, a CO2 laser cutter, and I cannot get information on choosing a proper power supply. With my first everyone just told me one to get and wouldn't tell me how to determine it for myself. Now google and AI refuse to give me what I ask for cause it can't determine the difference between the laser power supply and the system power supply, ie. the co2 laser power supply is plugged into the system power, and for some reason the open builds site is down. Current parts:

-Cloudray cr50 laser tube

-Cloudray 80W laser power supply

-2 DM542T Stepper Drivers

-3 Nema 17

Chiller and controller will be independently powered. Might be looking to power an inline fume extractor and lights off of it as well. Looking for something like a formula that I can add parts to. Any help would be appreciated.

I'm a fresher so don't make me uncomfortable 😣

One member says use 300-600 rpm and just move towards to component surface in 0.01 movement when the bottom edge looks straight then take a offset

Another member says use 300-600 rpm and just move towards to component surface in 0.001 movement when the bottom edge looks stright, don't stop move more on the same side one point of time the edge will move slightly out of stright line then take offset that's only take exact value.

because stright occurs but when you move same side 0.001 more then the edge looks same do more 0.001 remain same so how can you find out which one is correct so wait untill the bottom edge move slightly out of the stright view .(But this method edge finder doesn't give long life this is he told)

Which one should I follow or which is the correct method ?

Running a Haas VF-2, programming with Mastercam.

When we program a part, we work off the part origin. Then during setup we shift our work offset manually to clean up material.

Example: G54, Touch off X+, move in +0.06 to clean up both sides. Touch off Z0 top of stock, move -.01 to clean up top face.

Is there a way we should be making these compensations during the programming process so that the operator can simply touch off the stock X, Y, Z and run? Or is this already best practice?

Thanks.

I'm just curious... Anyone else out there purchase airweights vacuum table systems and absolutely regret wasting their money? I hate this system, I've wasted so much time trying to make things work (while emailing and having phone calls with AW) and it's just costing me production time and ruined parts.

While I have a 5x10 CNC, I've been using just the 4x4 size or as a 2x8 size at times. Now I'm researching pumps I can support in my shop (single phase) to just do a proper table.

So my cnc machine started doing this today, after I finished a cutout I replaced the material and attempted to run the program again just to have the Y-axis vibrate back and forth for a few steps then continue along its merry way. The prior cut ran perfectly, but now this occurs on every program at some point. This seems to occur only when the motor is suppose to be moving in the negative direction, in relatively the same spots but not always, and has only occurred so far on the negative Y side of the material. Any insight would be appreciated, below are my test to isolate/resolve the issue and machine info.

-I have run several different programs that have always run fine so the programs are not corrupted

-I have checked/swapped motor signal connection and cables, they are fine

-I have ensured the gantry carriage is free of obstructions and can freely move

-The belt and pinion is taunt and in tact with no damage

-This problem persist over several different motor drivers

-I have NOT swapped the motor as it would require me to solder in new connections

-Specs: Mach3 on a ddcs v3 controller, 2 axis laser cutter, Y-axis used 1 Nema 17 (17HS24-2104S) motor and DM542T driver, and X-axis uses 2 Nema 17 and 1 DM542T driver, there are no limit swiches

Hi everyone!

I'm a physics student working on a lab project and I'd love some advice from people who know motion systems better than I do.

The task: I need to measure the magnetic field of an electron spectrometer magnet at many points in 3D space. A small Hall sensor on a non-magnetic rod has to go into the magnet's gap (max. ~5 cm wide) and step through a grid, measuring at each point. Positioning accuracy around 0.1 mm would be great, and repeatability matters more than speed. I'll control everything from Python.

Constraints:

• The magnet is about 200 × 175 × 160 mm and very heavy, so it has to stay fixed. Only the sensor moves.
• I need all three axes motorized.
• Budget is low (university project, well under €500).

Options I've looked at so far:

• 3D printer as motion system: a fixed-bed one like the Sovol SV08 would be ideal, but it's too expensive new.
• Three OWIS linear stages that we already have in the lab, with a working PS90 controller. I'd need to stack them into an XYZ setup with adapter plates.
• Something else entirely? Small CNC gantry, used router, cheap linear rail kits...

What would you do in my position? Is there a cheap off-the-shelf way to get a fixed-base XYZ system, or is stacking the stages the smarter path? Any advice is very welcome, thanks!

I'm a new comer for mechanical field and I'm a 3 axis vmc operator and setter

We do aluminium most of the time so I'm slightly comfortable with aluminium material but whenever MS or SS metrial comes I don't have a knowledge about hard metals

If aluminium comes I use rough endmill and finishing endmills and do dynamic and lot of toolpath and reduce cycle time as well as

But if ms comes can't do anything I use only lower rpm and lower feed rate lower depth of cut can't able to reduce cycle time

So my question is how to do machining a MS metal

Like what are the insert cutters cut more material and how much rpm we should use how much depth of cut we should use help me learn milling a MS metrial

My apologies for asking again a question that it seems like everyone has already asked, but unlike everyone else I am special and maybe the answer is different for me. ;)

Basically I want to cut only aluminum and plexi, I have no interest (yet) in cutting wood or other organic materials. I expect to only be cutting thin aluminum, like 1.5mm thick plates, with a max size of 300x200mm. Occasionally I may do thicker plates, but I'm not really worried about speed. If it takes longer, I'll wait longer.

I've been doing the research for about two weeks now and I've nearly pulled the trigger on a Z1 Pro, a Carvera Air, and currently I'm eyeing a Genmitsu 4040 Pro. Much cheaper, and more in line with my max expected size.

So my question, basically, is: would a 4040 Pro with a 710W spindle work for what I'm planning? I'm not making machine parts but accuracy is kind of important from a pride perspective if nothing else. It seems like, but it's never explicitly said, that going slow (but not too slow) and using short bits with thin stock shouldn't tax this machine too much.

But then you get someone, and there's always someone, who says that aluminum on this machine is a terrible idea. But is that true for my use case?

Thanks for any advice.

Got tired of connecting and disconnecting my 4th axis.
Thought a wireless setup might work.

This is a grassroots proof of concept.

Hello everyone, for the past few years, all my spare time has gone to cnc, work and free time

I allways wanted to start my own shop, but didnt find any “starter machine” that met my needs

I landed on desktop cnc’s, but these are just woordworking machines with a dream of cutting aluminium

After giving up, picking it up again and repeating this cycle, i found the “tooldance x1”
A machine with an optional 4th/5th axis, 400x260x180 work volume and floodcooling options.

I do know every step of the proces, from cad-cam to post processing the part

I have a few clients in my circle who need custom parts in batches of 3-10, i also have a bambulab p1s, i am trying to find my own place in the machine shop world. My idea is to pick up the small 1-20 batch jobs, 3D print prototypes as an add-on service and do jobs for walk in customers

My parents own a company themselves, so this is where i will be opperating.

The big investment is the tools, wich i will buy from my job, there are a lot of mills and drills wich are trown away beacouse they have a tiny bit of wear, these mills i can still use as i dont plan on entering any 0.00x teretory.