8. Computer controlled machining

THE ROUTER //

This week we have learned about computer controlled machining, which is a machine that allows us to cut some materials such as wood, soft materials and some metals.

The machine that we have in the facilities of the fab, is the DW1218 CNC router, which I describe briefly below.

Details

Applicable material: Acrylic, Crystal, Glass, Leather, MDF, Paper, Plastic,Plexiglass, Plywood, Rubber, Stone, Wood

Cutting area: 1200*1800mm

Cutting speed: 0-30000mm/min

Supported graphic format: AI, BMP, Dst, Dwg, DXF, DXP, LAS, PLT

Modification

We recently upgraded the splinder from an air-cooled one to a water-cooled one, this technically helps a lot with noise reduction in the workspace.

air-cooled Splinder

water-cooled splinder

First practice

For this first exercise, a three-dimensional part was designed in the Fusion360 program. This software allows us to simulate the final interaction between the part and the machine with different types of milling cutters.

Milling cutters

In order to consider the design, it is necessary to understand the different types of cutters in order to be able to couple them into the final cut.

Types of Milling Cutters

COVE BOX BIT D 12.7mm R 6.35mm
COVE BIT D 22mm R 6.35mm
DOVETA BIT D 12.7mm
45"CHAMFER BIT D 32mm
FLUSH TRIM BIT D 12.7mm
STRAIGHT BIT D 16mm
ROUNDING OVER BIT D22mm R 6.35mm
STRAIGHT BIT D 12mm
STRAIGHT BIT D 6mm
ROUNDING OVER BIT D28.6mm R 9.5mm
90*"V GROOVING BIT STRAIGHT BIT D 12mm
ROMAN OGEE BIT D 25.4mm R 4mm

The Design

After having the model of the part designed, we move on to the manufacturing section where we define the size of the part and the selection of the milling cutters to make each of the different types of cuts necessary for its manufacture.

Something Big

For the next exercise, due to the change of the spare part of our router, we agreed to use another CNC available in the city to make the cut.

The design was made in the Rhinoceros 6 program using a basic manufacturing technique such as waffle, was built from lines and using the Loft tool and then sectioned the entire mass to extract each of its parts.

From Rhinoceros 6 the lines or contours of the design are exported to DXF checking that everything is OK from Autocad, when confirming that all the cut was OK this file is imported into EnRoute, the program that talks to the CNC.