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Make something big - Assignment Week 7

Assignment tasks for Week 7:
 
Group assignment

  • do your lab's safety training
  • test runout, alignment, fixturing, speeds, feeds, materials, and toolpaths for your machine
     
    Individual assignment
  • make (design+mill+assemble) something big (~meter-scale)
  • extra credit: don't use fasteners or glue
  • extra credit: include curved surfaces
     

    Contents



     

    Do your lab's safety training

    The following images illustrate the Work Health and Safety (WHS) procedures and warnings.
    Working in university environment means that a lot of procedures had to be written and staff and students need to be inducted into spaces where there could be potential harm such as the CNC router room.

    Safety signage at the entry door of the CNC router room
    Fig.1 - Safety signage at the entry door of the CNC router room

    Before the room can be entered the following warning signs and procedures should be read and followed.

    Access Information
    Fig.2- Access Information
    Fully Enclosed Footwear must be worn
    Fig.3- Fully Enclosed Footwear must be worn
    Uwe, wearing PPE
    Fig.4- Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)

    The following is a run down on all the steps that are involved in safe operating the Multicam SR2412Vi CNC router. https://multicam.com.au The air compressor needs to be switched on and correct pressure settings to be checked. The air compressor is in a separate room that is ventilated and lit.

    Warning signs on the compressor housing
    Fig.5- Warning signs on the compressor housing
    Check emergency stop button and LCD display
    Fig.6- Check emergency stop button and LCD display
    Air compressor has been started and the correct settings checked
    Fig.7- Air compressor has been started and the correct settings checked
    Check air pressure reading on the manometer at the pressure tank
    Fig.8- Check air pressure reading on the manometer at the pressure tank

    After the air compressor has been checekd, turned on and assured that the correct pressure of 6.5 bar has been achieved I wen back to the cnc-router room to check the personal safety equipment again.

    Ear muffs and safety glasses need to be worn when operationg the cnc-router
    Fig.9- Ear muffs and safety glasses need to be worn when operationg the cnc-router
    More warning signs to be read and adhered to
    Fig.10- More warning signs to be read and adhered to
    There are Material Safety Data Sheets and Work Helath and Safety Information folders plus a emergency escape map available at the door of the cnc-router room.
    Fig.11- There are Material Safety Data Sheets and Work Helath and Safety Information folders plus a emergency escape map available at the door of the cnc-router room.
    First Aid Kit located
    Fig.12- First Aid Kit located
    First Aid Kit contents checked
    Fig.13- First Aid Kit contents checked
    Fire extinguisher located and checked for last test date
    Fig.14- Fire extinguisher located and checked for last test date

    Several steps are involved before the cnc-router can be safely operated:

    The dust extraction is turned on before the CNC router is turned on
    Fig.15- The dust extraction is turned on before the CNC router is turned on
    The main power switch is protected by a padlock, so that only trained staff can start up the router and supervise students
    Fig.16- The main power switch is protected by a padlock, so that only trained staff can start up the router and supervise students.
    There is a Safe Work Method for the Multicam CNC Router operation list that needs to ber read before turning on the router.
    Fig.17- There is a Safe Work Method for the Multicam CNC Router operation list that needs to ber read before turning on the router.

    Before the router is finally turned on the pressure air is turned on and the machine is cleaned from dust and debris and it is made sure that there are no objects sitting against or on top of the machine and everything is freely accessible.

    Main Power Switch
    Fig.18- Main Power Switch protected by padlock
    Pressured air needs to be turned on before operating the cnc-router
    Fig.19- Pressured air needs to be turned on before operating the cnc-router
    Danger- Keep Hands Clear under all circumstances
    Fig.20- Danger - Keep Hands Clear under all circumstances
    Warning signs regarding the spindle and tool operation
    Fig.21- Warning signs regarding the spindle and tool operation
    Emergency Turn Off button located above the control console
    Fig.22- Emergency Turn Off button located above the control console.
    On/off buttons for the cnc-router
    Fig.23- On/off buttons for the cnc-router
    Tool revolver is located in this compartement
    Fig.24- Tool revolver is located in this compartement
    Tools to be checked
    Fig.25- Before operating the router it is necessary to check if the correct tools are loaded into the correct positions and that the tools are not jammed and can be easily retrieved.
    Vacuum on
    Fig.26- Checking that the vacuum is turned on for the router bed to hold down the waste board and material to be routed.
    Spindle gouard mount
    Fig.27- Making sure that the spindle guard is mounted and secure.
    The following images show a test runout, alignment, fixturing, speeds, feeds, materials, and toolpaths.
    Fig.28- The following images show a test runout, alignment, fixturing, speeds, feeds, materials, and toolpaths.

     

    test runout, alignment, fixturing, speeds, feeds, materials, and toolpaths for your machine

    The next part will cover a test runout, alignment, fixturings, speeds, feeds, materials, and toolpaths for the Multicam router.

    Spindle Warm up
    Fig.29- Spindle warm up can take up to five minutes
    Loading up the Job
    Fig.30- Loading up the Job
    Test Cut
    Fig.31- The square inside is an inside cut and the circle is an outside cut.

    • The test material was 9mm plywood.
    • For the test cut an upcut tool of 3.175mm was chosen.
    • Feeder Speed was 7000rpm
    • Plunger speed was 12000rpm
    • Spindle speed was 18000rpm
    • Direction setting was conventional
    • Tool path for the square was inside
    • Circle tool path was outside
    • Bridge settings were 3mm height and 4mm lenght
    • The innersqaure had two bridges
    • The circle had four bridges.

    Other flat materual placed to increase vacuum suction
    Fig.32- Other flat materual placed to increase vacuum suction

    To prevent the plywood from lifting up it has been screwed down to the waste-board.
    The vacuum wasn't strong enough to hold down the plywood sheet.
    Care needs to be taken that the router tool does not run into the metal screw.
    There also other means of fixating material to the work bench such as clamps and metal bars for alignment.

    To prevent the plywood from lifting up it has been screwed down to the waste-board.
    Fig.33- To prevent the plywood from lifting up it has been screwed down to the waste-board.
    The metal bar and metal corner help aligning material on the work bench.
    Fig.34- The metal bar and metal corner help aligning material on the work bench.
    Corner alignment with tool qualification sensor
    Fig.35- Here at the corner point we can see the round chrome coloured sensor that qualifies the tool, which means it measures the length of the tool and works in the length into the material height and plunge depth of the rout.
    Those clamps are used to hold down the to cut material to the work bench.
    Fig.36- Those clamps are used to hold down the to cut material to the work bench.
    Fixating the plywood with clamp
    Fig.37- Fixating the plywood with clamp
    The lab also has a range of cutting and routing tools that go with different size collets
    Fig.38- The lab also has a range of cutting and routing tools that go with different size collets
    More tools for routin
    Fig.39- More tools for routing
    Broken tool
    Fig.40- Broken tool
    Broken tool
    Fig.41- New tool inserted in the collet

    I found a website that has all information about speeds, feeds, materials, and toolpaths and can be obtained from the following website: https://cncrouterbits.com.au/technical_speeds_feeds

    This vacuum cleaner is a very important piece of equipment in the lab. It is used to clean the CNC-router from dust and router waste
    Fig.42- This vacuum cleaner is a very important piece of equipment in the lab. It is used to clean the CNC-router from dust and router waste.

    Individual assignment

    make (design+mill+assemble) something big (~meter-scale)
    extra credit: don't use fasteners or glue
    extra credit: include curved surfaces
     
    For the individual assignement I had planned to design a parametric organic shaped chair for assembly. I used 9mm plywood. The plywood I could source was of lowest grade because we have a building material shortage at the momemnt in Australia.
     
    The production pipeline consists of the folloing stages:

      Modelling of an organic shape in a CAD software and slicing the shape in flat panels
      Importing the file into a vector drwaing software in order to create an EPS files that can be used by Enroute, the CNC router set-up software
      Craeting g-Code from Nroute to be send to the CNC-Router
      Router cut all pieces
      Sanding all pieces and assemble individual pannles and center piece to finished chair.

    Organic chair shape modelled in Fusion 360
    Fig.43- Organic chair shape modelled in Fusion 360 (back view)
    Organic chair shape modelled in Fusion 360
    Fig.44- Organic chair shape modelled in Fusion 360 (front view)
    Organic chair shape modelled in Fusion 360
    Fig.45- Organic chair shape modelled in Fusion 360 (top view)
    Organic chair shape with sliceing tools in Fusion 360
    Fig.46- Organic chair shape with sliceing tools in Fusion 360
    Organic chair shape with sliceing tools in Fusion 360
    Fig.47- Organic chair shape with sliceing tools in Fusion 360
    Organic chair sliced in Fusion 360
    Fig.48- Organic chair sliced in Fusion 360
    Organic chair sliced in Fusion 360
    Fig.49- Organic chair sliced in Fusion 360
    Organic chair sliced in Fusion 360
    Fig.50- Organic chair sliced in Fusion 360

    The individual panles of the chair had been distributed out to one layer and be saved as SVG file ready to be imported into Adobe Illustrator. I had to do this because Enroute which creates the G-Code for the cnc-router only can import EPS files. That was my knwoledge at the time. Later I found out how to use FreeCad as a bridging tool to create an EPS file for Enroute.

    Organic chair individual parts layed out in Fusion 360
    Fig.51- Organic chair individual parts layed out in Fusion 360
    SVG file imported into Illustrator to be saved as EPS
    Fig.52- SVG file imported into Illustrator to be saved as EPS
    Imported EPS file in Enroute with tool paths and brideges defined
    Fig.53- Imported EPS file in Enroute with tool paths and brideges defined

    The below videos show the router in action cutting out the parts for the chair.


     

     
    The square holes had been cut out first
    Fig.54- The square holes had been cut out first

    Once the parts had been routed they got sanded and filed to fit the centre square bar.
    The next pictures illustrate the assembly process.

    Between every chair part goes a round shaped distance holder
    Fig.55- Between every chair part goes a round shaped distance holder.
    All parts have been assembled.
    Fig.56- All parts have been assembled.
    One dowel joint is holding all pieces together, now glue needed
    Fig.57- One dowel joint is holding all pieces together, now glue needed.
    Complete Chair.
    Fig.58- Complete Chair.

    The chair is complete, it is planned to make a pillow that fits into the chair to make it more comfortable. The chair is 1050 mm in length and all parts are timber.
     
    Summary
    I really enjoyed this assignment because I like working with wood. This assignment allowed me to create an organic shape in Fusion360 which I haven't done before. The idea was to use the Boolean function to slice the object so that a resulting SVG file could be used. Unfortunately the software version of Nroute that is generating the G-Code for the router did not allow for SVG import. This was the reason why I had to run the SVG file coming from Fusion360 through Illustrator in order to create an EPS file which could be used in Nroute.
    After having completed the cutting of the chair pieces I set down and investigated ways to export files from Fusion 360 and use Inkscape to convert them into Enroute.
    Instead of one week this project took me four weeks. I spent one week learning software and designing the chair, one week to get to know the Multicam SR2412Vi CNC-router.
    The router has no memory, every setting needs to be set again once the machine had been turned off.
    At the end everything worked out as planned and I am now more confident to use the cnc-router thanks to this assignment activity.
     
    Files
    1st set of Chair Panels EPS file
    2nd set of Chair Panels EPS file
    Organic Chair design in Fusion360
    Organic Chair design, individual panels, in Fusion360


     

    Last update: March 19/04/2023


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