Here’s a modification I made to the Z-axis ball screw mounting bracket on my Sieg X2 (Harbor Freight) mini-mill. My CNC conversion kit was made by CNC Fusion and their design does not allow you to adjust the top gib screw without removing the column from the base and sliding the head half way off of it, which is necessary to get at a large 10mm bolt that holds it from the inside of the spindle head (along with 2 smaller bolts on the outside). … Read the rest
CNC
CNC: Automatically find edges, hole centers and more with Mach 3
This article describes how you can use Mach 3, the popular CNC controller software, to automatically
- Find the edges of your work piece (and therefore the corners)
- Find the centers of holes and their diameter
- Set your cutting tool at a known height above your work piece or table
What’s involved
This feature is very easy to implement and use and it will cost you almost nothing. … Read the rest
Does the world need another CNC tutorial?
I thought I’d try writing a more personal post and see if anyone is interested in what I have to say. I also wanted to see if it would be any easier to write. When I sit down to write for this blog the words often don’t want to come out, even though I can write fairly quickly and easily for work or forums and discussion groups. … Read the rest
DeskEngrave
DeskEngrave is a free Windows program that makes it easy to add engraving to your parts if you have a CNC mill, router or similar machine. It will create text using any TrueType font installed on your PC, make it the height or width that you specify and put it on a straight line or wrapped around a radius. … Read the rest