Group

Complete your lab’s safety training¶

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)¶

Before you even touch the controller, gear up.

Eye Protection: Mandatory. CNCs can throw wood chips or metal shards at high velocities.
Hearing Protection: Spindles and vacuum blowers are loud enough to cause permanent damage over a long job.
No Loose Items: This is the most critical rule. No jewelry, no lanyards, no loose sleeves. If you have long hair, tie it back securely. A CNC will not stop if it catches your sleeve.
Sturdy Footwear: No sandals in the lab. You’re handling heavy sheets of plywood.

Machine Prep & Workholding¶

Most “accidents” happen because the material moves during the cut.

Secure the Stock: Use enough screws or clamps to ensure the board cannot move. If you are using screws, mark their locations in your CAD/CAM software so the toolpath doesn’t hit them.
Check the Path: Air-cut (run the file with the Z-axis zeroed above the material) if you are unsure about your clearances.
Tooling Check: Ensure the collet is clean and the bit is tightened correctly. A “flying bit” is a nightmare scenario.

The “Golden Rule” of Operation¶

Never Leave the Machine Unattended: CNC fires are rare but fast. A dull bit or a paused spindle rubbing against friction-heated wood can ignite in seconds.
The Emergency Stop (E-Stop): Know exactly where it is. Keep your hand near it during the first few minutes of a new job.

Dust and Debris¶

Extraction: Always run the dust collector. Fine sawdust is a respiratory hazard and an explosive risk in high concentrations.
Clearance: Never reach into the work area while the spindle is turning to clear chips. Use a brush or vacuum after the machine has stopped.

Operating instructions for Ouplan Steel 3020¶

Machine https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/fresadora-ouplan-steel/71322830
Instructions based on the Portuguese link and video
Other fablab benfica resources

Step 1: Safety and File Preparation¶

Safety First: It is mandatory to always wear safety glasses and ear protectors when operating the CNC machine.
File Setup: Have your project file prepared (using software like Autodesk Fusion) and exported to a USB drive in the .nc format.

Step 2: Material and Tool Setup¶

Place the material you intend to cut perfectly flat on the machine bed to prevent any issues during the job.
Secure the material tightly to the machine so that it does not shift during the cutting process.
Select your tool: Tools 6, 7, and 8 are permanent fixtures at the lab, whereas tools for slots 9 and 10 must be brought from home.
If you are using a custom tool in slot 9 or 10: remove the slot, install your tool, tighten it very securely using a wrench to ensure it won’t come loose during operation, and replace the slot in the machine.

Step 3: Machine Initialization¶

Power on the machine and the terminal, then launch the Ino Control software.
Press the Enable and Reset buttons, which are located next to the emergency stop button.
Before beginning your setup, click the Origem (Home/Origin) button in Ino Control and wait for the machine to move to its home position.

Step 4: Tool Loading and Measurement¶

Navigate to the tool loading operation and select Carregar ferramenta (Load tool).
Enter the number of the tool you want to use and click OK.
Once the tool is loaded, go to the Control section in the terminal and select the option to automatically measure the tool length.

Step 5: Setting the Z-Axis Origin (Zeroing Z)¶

Click the Manual button, use the mouse to indicate a point close to you, and press Executar (Execute).
Switch to the Jog page, which allows you to easily move the machine’s coordinates using the keyboard.
Lower the Z-axis until there is a small gap between the tool and a flat part of the machine surface, making sure to adjust the X and Y axes accordingly.
In the tool section, select tool 1 and click to change the tool, then go to the auxiliary console and click on the spindle to deselect it.
Use the “paper trick”: place a sheet of paper beneath the tool and lower the Z-axis very slowly.
Stop lowering when there is some difficulty sliding the paper, but before it gets completely trapped.
Click the button to mark the current Z-axis position as your Z origin.

Step 6: Setting the X and Y-Axis Origin (Zeroing X and Y)¶

On the program’s home page, click open and load your project file from the USB drive.
Use Manual mode to move the machine close to your desired starting point and execute the move.
Switch back to the Jog page to precisely dial in the exact X and Y positions you want for your starting point.
Click the button to mark the current X and Y positions as your X/Y origin.

Step 7: Cutting and Cleanup¶

Press the Iniciar (Start) button to begin the cut.
Once the machine has finished cutting, safely remove your parts.
Vacuum the machine thoroughly so it is clean and ready for the next user.
Turn off the terminal and the machine, and remove any remaining raw material from the CNC surface.

Test your machine¶

🚧 WIP
Test for runout, alignment, fixturing, speeds, feeds, materials and toolpaths for your machine

Chatgpt

For this week’s group assignment we have to test runout, alignment, fixturing, speeds, feeds, materials and toolpaths for our CNC machine (which is a Ouplan). Explain what those parameters mean in one paragraph each, and how do we test for those.

For a CNC characterization assignment (like in FabAcademy), the goal is to understand how the machine behaves mechanically and during cutting. Below is a concise explanation of each parameter plus practical ways to test them on a router such as the Ouplan CNC machine.

Runout¶

What it means:
Runout is the amount the cutting tool wobbles as it spins in the spindle. Ideally, the bit rotates perfectly around its center axis, but in reality there is always a small deviation caused by imperfections in the spindle, collet, or tool. Excessive runout reduces precision, causes uneven cutting, increases tool wear, and produces rough edges.

How to test it:

Insert a straight bit or dowel pin into the collet.
Mount a dial indicator against the bit near the tip.
Rotate the spindle slowly by hand.
Observe the maximum deviation.

Typical acceptable values:

Good CNC router: < 0.02–0.05 mm
Hobby machines: 0.05–0.1 mm

You can also detect runout indirectly by cutting a small circular pocket and checking if the diameter varies.

Alignment¶

What it means:
Alignment refers to how square and orthogonal the machine axes are relative to each other and to the bed. For example:

X perpendicular to Y
Z perpendicular to the bed
If the machine is misaligned, shapes that should be square become parallelograms and vertical walls may lean.

How to test it:
Common tests include:

1. Square test

Cut a 100 mm × 100 mm square
Measure diagonals
If diagonals differ, X and Y are not perfectly orthogonal.

2. Surfacing test

Surface a large area of spoilboard.
If stripes appear or depths vary, Z may not be perpendicular to the bed.

3. Indicator sweep

Attach a dial indicator to the spindle and sweep across the table.

Fixturing¶

What it means:
Fixturing is how the material is held securely to the CNC bed. Poor fixturing allows the material to move or vibrate during cutting, which causes inaccurate cuts, broken bits, and poor surface finish.

How to test it:
You evaluate fixturing by observing:

Whether the material moves during cutting
Edge quality and dimensional accuracy
Vibration or chatter

Try several approaches:

Common fixturing methods:

Screws into spoilboard
Clamps
Double-sided tape
Vacuum table

Then cut the same test geometry and compare accuracy and finish.

Speeds¶

What it means:
Speed usually refers to spindle speed, measured in RPM (rotations per minute). It determines how fast the cutting tool rotates. Too high or too low RPM leads to poor chip formation, overheating, or burning (especially in wood).

How to test it:
Cut identical toolpaths with different RPM values while keeping feed constant.

Example for plywood with a 6 mm endmill:

Test RPM values:

10,000
14,000
18,000

Observe:

chip size
noise
burning
surface finish

Feeds¶

What it means:
Feed rate is the speed the tool moves through the material, usually in mm/min. Feed must match spindle speed to maintain a correct chip load (the thickness of each chip removed by the tool).

Too slow → rubbing, burning
Too fast → tool breakage or stalling.

How to test it:
Use the same RPM but vary feed rates:

Example:

800 mm/min
1200 mm/min
1600 mm/min

Evaluate:

edge quality
machine vibration
chip formation

Materials¶

What it means:
Different materials behave differently under machining due to hardness, grain structure, melting point, and chip behavior. CNC settings that work well in plywood might fail in acrylic or aluminum.

How to test it:
Run the same toolpath with the same bit on different materials, for example:

plywood
MDF
acrylic
foam

Compare:

surface finish
dimensional accuracy
tool wear
chip evacuation

Toolpaths¶

What it means:
Toolpaths are the strategies used by CAM software to move the tool to remove material. Different toolpaths affect machining time, surface finish, and tool load.

Examples:

pocketing
contour
adaptive clearing
raster
climb vs conventional milling

How to test it:
Cut the same shape using different strategies and compare:

machining time
surface quality
tool marks
chip evacuation

posible test files¶

Calibration test pattern
https://dzevsq2emy08i.cloudfront.net/paperclip/digital_file_uploaded_files/456/original/CNC%20Calibration%20Test%20Pattern%20-%20MWP%20V1-1%20121415.pdf
https://fabacademy.org/2023/labs/wheaton/students/jason-goodman/assignments/week07.html

Post processors¶

https://github.com/X3msnake/Ouplan-CNC-Fusion-360-Post-Processor
https://github.com/X3msnake/Ouplan-CNC-Vectric-Aspire-Post-Processor