# Helping students make a CNC Router Table



## bgriggs (Nov 26, 2008)

I have been helping the students at Morrisville State College make a Router table. A chance invitation by a neighbor to view my CNC Router table turned into an invitation to advise an engineering project at the college. The good experience is one I will never forget. 

The S.U.N.Y. Morrisville Mechanical Engineering Technology programs focuses on Engineering with an eye towards manufacturing. Students learn the design, engineering and machining skills needed for a career in manufacturing. The Capstone Project's assignment was to design and build a CNC Router table for manufacture.

The students were broken up into three teams. Each team was responsible for making one axis of the machine. The students were instructed to study two sets of plans for CNC Router tables and use those as the basis to design their own original machine. The two plan sets used were the Joescnc Hybrid and a set of plans for a Z axis I designed and offer, called the Warp Drive Project. They then built their own machines.

The gantry plates on the Y axis were made of aluminum plate which were designed in Solidworks, coded in Mastercam and machined on a Haas machining center. The Y axis used 2 Rack & Pinion drives from CNCRouterparts. The X&Z axis were machined from aluminum and include a Rack & Pinion Z axis.

The teamwork needed to pull off a design/build this complex is intense. Every little design change required a careful analysis of how the change would effect the overall design. 

I am extremely proud of each and every one of the students and it was my pleasure to share my passion for CNC machines with them. The level of professionalism of the staff, the well equipped facilities and the eager participation of the student made this project a joy. 

I am certain future classes will make many wonderful projects with their new CNC Router table. I can't wait to see what they make.

Bill

Students Make a CNC Router Table - Maker Masters Maker Masters


Capstone Project - Students Make A CNC Router Table - YouTube


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## Admin (Feb 13, 2012)

Well done Bill.

You have created something better than a machine, you have nurtured a future generation of young people with initiative, passion and self worth.

Blessings to all involved in the project.


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## LiLRdWgn (Dec 31, 2011)

Awesome project for some very bright and ambitious young people. We need a lot more just like them. Hope each and everyone of them fulfill their dreams.


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## Noob (Apr 18, 2009)

Everybody involved deserves praise, but I'd like to shake your hand because of the seeds you've planted. There is no doubt they will be able to use the knowledge they've gained with hands-on experience in their future. 

Having to work with other companies to develop products isn't always easy because communication breakdown and design changes can negatively effect how components fit together. Breaking up the students into groups or teams was a great idea because they get to see first-hand how important communication is.

Once again, thanks for your contribution!


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## Garyk (Dec 29, 2011)

Bill,
The ability to help another improve their life is a great gift. Something you will remember for the rest of your life. The US needs to regain the lead in producing engineers that we have lost to the Asiatic part of the world. A high five to you my friend !!

Gary


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

*A job well done!
*
You were given a group of young, willing and eager students who have accomplished a great taste. With your knowledgeable guidance they have completed a machine that will be shared with future students to help them attain their goals as well.

I am sure you have gained in this experience as well as the students. There should be a smile on your face and a warm feeling in your heart knowing that you have shared your knowledge to help these students

Thanks for posting this,
Thanks for being you,


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## mark greenbaum (Sep 26, 2010)

*Great Job - Teaching and Instilling Can Do Spirit!!*

KUDOS - Now send that CNC to me in Nashville, TN, so I can build all kinds of furniture and guitars.

No Really - Excellent job teaching the young folks, and now they can go out and be assured a solid foundation of Mechanical Engineering in the US. I design machines for a living, when I am employed (job loss due to down-sizing), so have your students go out and make the US strong again. We need to make things that make other things if we are to go get the next industrial revolution and make it ours. I grew up Motown, so making stuff is in my blood. Thanks for sharing your Morrisville students' acheivments (BTW - I lived four years in Vernon Center, NY).


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## Tagwatts (Apr 11, 2012)

Oziray said:


> Well done Bill.
> 
> You have created something better than a machine, you have nurtured a future generation of young people with initiative, passion and self worth.
> 
> Blessings to all involved in the project.


Bill, first let me congratulate you and your students. I was a teacher for some 30 years. I taught what we referred to as Auto Destrution. There is just nothing more pleasurable than to see students succeed at work and gather knowledge that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

Great work, Great project, and Keep up the good work. TOur schools all need educators of your caliber.


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## bgriggs (Nov 26, 2008)

Noob said:


> Everybody involved deserves praise, but I'd like to shake your hand because of the seeds you've planted. There is no doubt they will be able to use the knowledge they've gained with hands-on experience in their future.
> 
> Having to work with other companies to develop products isn't always easy because communication breakdown and design changes can negatively effect how components fit together. Breaking up the students into groups or teams was a great idea because they get to see first-hand how important communication is.
> 
> Once again, thanks for your contribution!


Paul, 

Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement. The student in this class are top notch and have validated my faith in the belief that people who want to learn can do some pretty amazing things with a little help. I was honored to work with them.

Bill


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## bgriggs (Nov 26, 2008)

Everyone, I just want to thank you all. I did this project because I believe that we need to continue to excel at technology. High tech equipment should get into the hands of more youth. The loss of technical courses in or schools is a travesty. I hope more fine schools like S.U.N.Y. Morrisville continue to support Science, Engineering and Technology for our kids. 

I thought you folks might enjoy seeing the project that the students cut as a demonstration. The School Logo was carved into a piece of wood. This Logo was cut in front of a crowd of dignitaries. It was the first G-code cut after running an alignment rectangle. 

Bill

http://www.makermasters.com/?p=1575


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

You deserve all the above kudos and more Bill. It's so unusual these days to find an enthusiastic teacher with the ability to motivate children rather than send them to sleep with boredom. I well remember when I was studying electronics, because of the number of students we were split into two groups, my group had a fabulous "young" teacher who had been a designer at a radio/TV factory and had run his own repair business and every lesson ran over time. Needless to say, all his students passed exams with flying colours. Now the second group had an older teacher who was still using his original pencilled notes. By exam time about half his students had dropped out and very few of those left passed the exams. I do hope that teachers in the USA are remunerated according to results!


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## bgriggs (Nov 26, 2008)

Thank you Harry.

Although I assisted with the project, I don't think I deserve the title teacher. I was simply a volunteer with specialized knowledge. The real Kudos belong to instructors Mike and John. Their passion for education is instantly apparent when they enter the room. We need more like them.

Bill


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## bgriggs (Nov 26, 2008)

*Update on this years projects*

I haven't posted in this thread in a while so I thought I would update you on the projects.

The students project this past semester was to improve the safety of the CNC Router table and get it ready for use by future students. They also had several other projects that they needed to complete since they would not be completing a single major project but several smaller but equally important projects like they would in industry.

Some of the safety features that the students tackled this year were adding homing and limit switches to all the axis, to prevent the machine from damaging itself. The students used hall effect sensors and magnets for limit switches.

Additionally they added finger guards around all the gantry openings and around the Rack & pinions. They designed and fabricated these using the schools 3D printer. They also assembled a complete dust collection system for the machine, a rolling computer cart and painted all the steel surfaces in school colors.

As if all that wasn't enough, they also rebuilt a plastic injection molding machine, reworked two molds and got the machine running.

Six weeks prior to the end of the semester it was decided that they would also tackle a design project since things were going so well. It was decided that they would build a working 4th axis for the CNC Router table. The students designed and fabricated the 4th axis using 8020 aluminum extrusion and plate aluminum. 

This group of students really worked hard at completing their projects and kept asking for more. Time ran out at the end of the course and the 4th axis machine was not completed in time to do a formal presentation, but the student insisted that they come back on their own time and finish the indexer. They finished it up the following day and got to see it run before they went home.

I am very happy and proud to assist the Morrisville State College Mechanical Engineering Technology program in any way I can. I hope more schools take an active interest in helping student learn how to make things.

There is a bit more detail about the projects on my blog if anyone is interested.

Warp Drive Project Story Part 2 - THE MAKERS GUIDE

Bill


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## bgriggs (Nov 26, 2008)

A few more pictures.


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## ddrev (Aug 6, 2009)

*CNC and the controller (black box)*

Hi,
I bought a small cnc router machine ( Align-Rite ) It has Rams software on it.
It has been difficult to get answers from their technical support. Can I run a different software program on this machine - do I need to buy a different black box
- what do I need to get this machine up and running ? Any help would be GREATLY
appreciated.

Thanks

ddrev


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Hi Dan and welcome to the forum. This thread started over 2 years ago and the last post was about a year ago although Bill still posts often. Not all members will see your question here so I recommend you start your own thread with your question as the title. If you need help you can send me or any of the other mods a PM (private message) once you have 10 posts. Click on any of our user names and the PM option will appear. The 10 post rule is in place to help discourage spammers. It's easy to get to 10 posts. Just comment on other members projects or help welcome other new members to the forum.


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## bgriggs (Nov 26, 2008)

ddrev said:


> Hi,
> I bought a small cnc router machine ( Align-Rite ) It has Rams software on it.
> It has been difficult to get answers from their technical support. Can I run a different software program on this machine - do I need to buy a different black box
> - what do I need to get this machine up and running ? Any help would be GREATLY
> ...


Hi ddrev,

I am not familiar with your machine. Can you provide a link so that I can give you a better opinion. 

If your machine can run G-code file it can probably use many of the available software. 

I will send you a PM with my contact info. Maybe I can help.

Bill


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Hey Bill..

Just wanted to say thanks for all of your contributions to the CNC side of the forum. Always polite, always professional..always well informed and always willing to help...You are an asset to the community...

Bill


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

TwoSkies57 said:


> Hey Bill..
> 
> Just wanted to say thanks for all of your contributions to the CNC side of the forum. Always polite, always professional..always well informed and always willing to help...You are an asset to the community...
> 
> Bill


+1. I love when you come to the rescue on these threads Bill cause I'm no help.


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## bgriggs (Nov 26, 2008)

Thanks for the kind words gentlemen. I enjoy helping out and sharing CNC knowledge with everyone.

Bill


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## ddrev (Aug 6, 2009)

Hi Bill,
Thanks for offering your expertise - The machine I bought (used) was made by
Alignritetool.com (Tucson, AZ) The software package was rams software. (TX)
I have a very basic understanding of cnc. I took a autocad class some years back -
more recently a class on autocad / cnc machining. I am open to any suggestions
you might have as to how to gain more knowledge.

Thanks Bill

Dan (Minnesota)


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## laurent_parti (May 15, 2013)

Bill very nice project and great value for people. Congratulations.

If you need more information and support for your project you can also check my channel on youtube where you will find a ton cnc stuff and also ongoing project !

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_Mjlpaikgv_ysvx0z6G6WQ

Laurent.


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