# noob need advice for CNC job



## matthew1945 (Jul 26, 2012)

Hello!!
I am possibly in wrong place but i don't know where to start
I couldnt get this posted on cnc part of furum so i am here
I am finish carpenter , builder propose me to make some pieces (watch pic) and he would pay me even 1000$ for that , so he dont have to hire artist ,
I am thinking to get 6040 cnc router engraver from ebay and make it.

My questions:

-is it possible to find ready templates (doesn't have to be identical) in some cnc software ?? od do i have to design in ??
- how the hell you call this things scrolls? ornaments? decorative pieces? i dont even know how google it
- do you think i choose good machine? i dont wanna spent over 2k though

I know that wouldnt be easy, but i wanna take this opportunity to get this machine and learn how to use it, thanks!!


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## gmercer_48083 (Jul 18, 2012)

Contact: makecnc on router forums


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## Gino0105 (Feb 16, 2012)

Hi Matt,
Attached is a pic of a design I did in about 5 min using the users design package which came with the machine. The other options is to scan a pcs if you have a prob with the machine which will make an exact copy of your pcs.
I use the Carvwright CNC machine




matthew1945 said:


> Hello!!
> I am possibly in wrong place but i don't know where to start
> I couldnt get this posted on cnc part of furum so i am here
> I am finish carpenter , builder propose me to make some pieces (watch pic) and he would pay me even 1000$ for that , so he dont have to hire artist ,
> ...


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## matthew1945 (Jul 26, 2012)

Gino0105 said:


> Hi Matt,
> Attached is a pic of a design I did in about 5 min using the users design package which came with the machine. The other options is to scan a pcs if you have a prob with the machine which will make an exact copy of your pcs.
> I use the Carvwright CNC machine


Hi thanks for you answer, i like how it took you 5 min to make this design , it make me 
feel i can do it, i think i will order my cnc this weekend then. 
i wont have ability to probe nor i have any pieces . I only have those pictures.
I wonder which program should i use that would work with 6040 cnc , is there one that i can do design based on my pictures? i was thinking on designing it in skechup then convert it somehow to mach3/g code?? any thoughts?


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## geotek (Mar 4, 2012)

I have a 6040 machine and it does very high quality work. In fact I use it to mill circuit boards which require accuacies of 0.001". That being said. I also am a retired electrical engineer with quite a bit of experience in designing electro-mecanical systems. I rebuilt all the electronics and part of the mechanics of this machine. There are many factors involved in getting the machine and software to work. So, it short, the 6040 may not be the machine for you. 

I'm not a big fan of the Carvewright, for my needs. But it may be a good machine for your purposes. The software packages for the Carvewright are designed specificlly for that machine, it removes much of the guess work.

The machine is certainly an important part of this type of work, but, the machine is useless if you don't have software that will do what you need to do.


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## matthew1945 (Jul 26, 2012)

You make me think seriously about that carvewrite, but finally i decided i would go with 6040 for my other hobby reasons and ability to work with aluminium and other materials.
Also i read reviews and looks like this machine (carvewright) is not reliable after a while , and bits are expensiv too. 

what program would be best to design stuff like on my plans? artcam?


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## geotek (Mar 4, 2012)

I bought the 6040 to do precise engraving and milling, not really for artistic purposes. I haven't done any 3D carving with the machine, but I have used it for cuting inlays, which it does very nicely. If you plan to cut aluminum, it may work, but you would have to use very light cuts. It's a matter of Physics, my Bridgeport does a great job of milling aluminum and steel, but it weights 2300 pounds, the 6040 wieghts about 40 pounds. I have used mine on aluminum, but it is better suited for wood and plastics.

Here is a list of modifications I did to my 6040.

The mechanics of the 6040 are very good, much better than most small CNC routers. It uses 16mm dia ball lead-screws on all axis, and ball bearing linear slide on all axis (no backlash at all). The stepping motors are Nema 23 and are very strong. The frame is 5/8" (or thicker) aluminum plate. The ponly change I made to the frame was maker spacers that lifted the gantry by 1 inch to provide more vertical clearance.

The machine came with an 800W spindle and a VFD controller. It may have been me, or a fault in the motor or VFD, but I got max smoke out of the motor after operating it a few times. In any case I replaced the spindle and VFD with a 1.5KW unit. The spindle is water cooled and run very quiet. They use ER-11 collets, which are an industry standard.

I replaced the stepper motor drive electronics with a US made Gecko G540. This unit gives my 4-axis control and a few other control and inputs the original Chinese unit did not have. This ment I also installed a larger 24V power supply to make sure there was plenty on power for the stepper motors and water pump. The G540 came in a package deal with Mach3 and Bobcad. Mach3 is a great program. it is used to read the G-Code control the stepper motors as well as other function on the machine. It must be run on a computer running Windows XP, and the computer must have a parallel port, the new USB/parallel ports will not work. I bought a used Dell GX-280 for $75, and it works great.

To control the spindle speed I installed an ES-484/RS-232 adapter between the VFD and computer. With this, spindle speed is controlled by Mach-3 and the G-Code program.

The entire unit was built into a shop cart from Harbor Freight. The electronics and computer enclosed in the lower part of the cart that is pressurized by a fan pulling air from a large automove filter located under the cart. This keeps the computer and electronics clean and cool.

I use Mach-3 to run the machine. For generation of G-Code I use CamBam, which IMHO is much better for this purpose than BobCad. I have a copy of MeshCam Art, but I haven't had the time to learn it just yet.

The 6040 machines are not plug and play, but are much stronger and more precise than almost any other small CNC router.


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## geotek (Mar 4, 2012)

Sorry for the typos, typing has never been my strong suit. Here's a couple of photos of the 6040.


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## matthew1945 (Jul 26, 2012)

geotek said:


> I bought the 6040 to do precise engraving and milling, not really for artistic purposes. I haven't done any 3D carving with the machine, but I have used it for cuting inlays, which it does very nicely. If you plan to cut aluminum, it may work, but you would have to use very light cuts. It's a matter of Physics, my Bridgeport does a great job of milling aluminum and steel, but it weights 2300 pounds, the 6040 wieghts about 40 pounds. I have used mine on aluminum, but it is better suited for wood and plastics.
> 
> Here is a list of modifications I did to my 6040.
> 
> ...



does Lifting the gantry allow you to carve deeper? like more then specified 60 or 75 mm?
also where did you get your gecko and for how much?
your setup is very interesting ? can you upload some pictures?
do you use 4th axis? i got it just for fun and i wonder what i can do with it.


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## geotek (Mar 4, 2012)

Lifting the gantry improved the clearance btween the gantry and table. I did this to make more room for the 4th axix, which I've haven't built yet. Here's a few photos of my contraption (before I raised the gantry):









This is the Dell computer hidden away below:









This is the panel I mounted the electronic on. You can see the dirt-bike radiator used to cool the spindle, and the big air filter below:









Here's the topside view. Since this phot was taken, I built a removable shelf on the end for the keyboard/touchpad. A touchscreen would be neat to have.









Here's a printed circuit board. The V cuts for isolating the traces are only 0.005" deep/


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## matthew1945 (Jul 26, 2012)

thanks for your reply geotek , i got more questions 

i am thinking about gecko g450 because all motors are not working smoothly no mater how i adjust mach3 , do i have to buy power supply too? or can i reuse one that is in one from control box that came with machine? it looks exactly same like one that is being sold with gecko on ebay. Also where can i buy better cables? what kind of cable it is anyway?
where did you buy home switches? are they easy to install?


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## geotek (Mar 4, 2012)

You can use the power supply that came with it. I bought a larger one because I wanted to cover myself if I made use of the 4th axis.
I bought the limit switches at Radio Shack. Ypu will have to fabricate some mecanical parts to mount the switches. It may take some head scratching, but you'll figure it out.


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## matthew1945 (Jul 26, 2012)

i got gecko and still have problem with shaking /not smoothing work of steppers, can you please give me your settings for motor tuning ? ones from user manual doesn't work well.


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## bingaom (Oct 30, 2013)

Wonderful set up ever. Well done. 
I am in process of ordering cnc 6040 for my own hobby. 
Could you advice me exactly which software it needs to transfer drawing file on usb to computer then computer to machine. ? What about program instructions to machine? all seems confusing to me.I worked mostly on milling.;and cad support Engraving machine.
Please advice.thanks.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Bump...


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## matthew1945 (Jul 26, 2012)

Why bump? Any specyfic questions?
since thread been brought back to life i think i will post effect
of that project and my machine setup later on today


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

The thread was bumped as the question from* bingaom* was waiting for moderation.

Are you able to assist?


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## matthew1945 (Jul 26, 2012)

bingaom said:


> Wonderful set up ever. Well done.
> I am in process of ordering cnc 6040 for my own hobby.
> Could you advice me exactly which software it needs to transfer drawing file on usb to computer then computer to machine. ? What about program instructions to machine? all seems confusing to me.I worked mostly on milling.;and cad support Engraving machine.
> Please advice.thanks.


First of all PC computer is needed to operate this machine.
CAM program like Vcarve ,aspire, artcam is needed to convert drawing to gcode.
then program like mach3 is needed to feed gcode to machine.


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## matthew1945 (Jul 26, 2012)

Anyway here is finished job that i did on my cnc. all carved in mahogany .


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## matthew1945 (Jul 26, 2012)

here is my setup. I changed stepper drivers to gecko g540, added home/limit switches to machine. Spindle is fully controlled by mach3 via Vfd plugin , base been flattened/machined, i made my custom Z zero plate. recently made acrylic enclosure and now i am working on vacuum table. All siting on Harbor freight cart. Geotek thanks for inspiration


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