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Electronics Forum -> Diy Cnc
Hey, I have vague recollections of a similar post on here eons ago but i cant find it.
I have a friend who has his own cable making business.
We were chatting and he has thrown me some work.
One of the future jobs is to drill out some plastic jiffy boxes to mount certain connectors/hardware on to.
So i've spent the weekend mulling over the best way to do this in a professional sense.
Sure i'll probably just end up sitting at a bench, marking out and drilling each box, ensuring that its right.
Then the mad scientist part of me considered a CNC machine.
However, after much googling it seems most of the DiY CNCs are workshop sized behemoths that use routers.
Id like to be able to have a small device that the plastic box can be mounted on to and then hit the shiny "Go" button and it will drill all the 3mm mounting holes.
Then stop, let me swap out to a bigger drill for other sized holes etc.
Laser cut would be awesome!
Fat chance of that!
Itd be a good thing to have, custom A/V wall plates could be made etc.
Or will this concept be like pissing into the wind?
Damien
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INSTRUCTABLES website had a bunch of really cool ideas on small home grown CNC devices.
I even did the search for you.
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I personally would stay away from a laser cutter, since you more often than not have to drill the holes to make them round and burr free anyway
You might need to change the drills yourself though
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Thanks Jman. I just hope parts etc are available in Australia.
Damien
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Far too technical a solution to bother with really.
For such simple work, build yourself a small jig (wood would do, with drilled metal plate covering the pre-marked drill holes) with all holes pre-drilled and marked for size.
If the jig holds the box securely it will make the job go as fast as you could rig up a box in a CNC machine in the first place.
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Thats a good idea.
Some of the DiY machines looked interesting but complicated.
I dont have the time to devote to such a project
Pity you cant buy a cheapie "desktop milling/cnc machine" cheapest i found was $12,000 AU plus 8 grand freight LOL Why doesnt GMC or Ozito produce one for $200 i can buy at Bunnings Hardware!?
Damien
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Hmmmm you might be onto something there.
I will build them if someone will finance the project!
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There are a number of CNC 'kits' around and prices start (IIRC) as low as a few $100's.
A semi-professional CNC machine can be had from Elektor in kit form for £1200 (about $1600)
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Quote: Far too technical a solution to bother with really.
For such simple work, build yourself a small jig (wood would do, with drilled metal plate covering the pre-marked drill holes) with all holes pre-drilled and marked for size.
If the jig holds the box securely it will make the job go as fast as you could rig up a box in a CNC machine in the first place.
I agree...a drill jig is the way to go.
If you need to drill more than a couple of dozen pieces, then you equip a wooden jig with hardened drill guide bushings.
These bushings are industry standard in every drill size made, very cheap, & can be epoxied into a wooden jig.
These bushings will assure continued accuracy, even after thousands of holes.
Then you set things up production line style.
You set up for the first hole, then drill all of the work pieces before setting up for the next hole, & so on.
You want to equip your jig with positive stops & work clamps, so that each workpiece is identical with all others.
These mass manufacturing techniques are how the big companies do things.
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The simplest jig of all is simply an L-shaped backstop on your drill press table, that you hold the work against while you drill.
Depending on how much tolerance you have on the hole positions, this may or may not be suitable, because it won't correct for play in the drill press mechanism, or wandering of the drill bit.
However I've found this technique suitable when doing a bunch of repetitive holes on some cabinet work and a number of other projects.
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Quote: The simplest jig of all is simply an L-shaped backstop on your drill press table, that you hold the work against while you drill.
Depending on how much tolerance you have on the hole positions, this may or may not be suitable, because it won't correct for play in the drill press mechanism, or wandering of the drill bit.
However I've found this technique suitable when doing a bunch of repetitive holes on some cabinet work and a number of other projects.
This method is perfect for use with production line mass manufacturing techniques.
A "jig" doesn't have to be complicated...
Simpler is better.
To minimize drill bit tip runout, use a short bit with a split point.
If your drillpress has decent spindle & quill clearances, holes will come out accurate to .010" or better.
However, for larger holes, a drill bushing may have to be used to keep the holes round.
Plastic boxes are often flexible enough so that you end up with triangular holes on the larger sizes if they are not well supported.
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Is this any help?
http://letsmakerobots.com/node/9006
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Bookmarked! that one looked cool.
MDF is easily acquired.
Damien
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Quote: Is this any help?
http://letsmakerobots.com/node/9006
Isn't that cute.
You can even do large holes with that, by equipping the Dremel with tiny endmills & using circular interpolation.
Not much for accuracy, however, mostly due to those wimpy leadscrews & huge step size.
Accuracy will also deteriorate rapidly with use, mostly because of the non-precision lead screws.
Ordinary threaded rod accumulates backlash rapidly with use.
Threaded rod threads are already machined for maximum clearance to make up for the less-than-smooth thread surfaces.
These rough thread surfaces lead to rapid wear.
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