• Always have protection
• Eyes
• Ears
• Loose clothing should not be worn
• Hair tied back and out of the way
• If you notice anything strange with the machine DO NOT USE IT
  • Notify Albert
• Be aware of where the big red button is
  • Pushing the button will stop the current job from processing
  • It will not stop the router
  • turn off the switch for that
  • turn off the switch for cnc power
  • notify Albert
• Be aware of all the different ways you can shut off the machine
  • Safety should be your number one concern
  • You can always fix or redo a CNC job
  • Fixing a broken face is harder

• hardwood
• softwood
• composites - MDF, OBS, etc

• Be aware that plastics will melt if feeds and speeds are not set correctly
• Polycarbonate
• ABS
• Acrylic
• HDPE, UHMW
• etc

• G10, FR4, Garolite

* In theory the large CNC has the capability but it is not recommended * Please use the Sherline for small metal parts * Anything larger contact an external machine shop

• This ensures your safety and those around you
• Material that is not properly secured to the work surface has the potential to be ejected by the machine and injure anyone in the vicinity

• Recommended file format from vector software is DXF
• Depending on the CAM software it may be able to accept other formats
• CAM software and GCODE conversion
• SK Techworks has an art license for MeshCAM
• Aspire is installed on the computer at Techworks
• There are many other paid and free solutions out there
• We will be going over Aspire

• Aspire is CNC CAD/CAM package that has the ability to generate GCODE output for 3D carving and 2D profiling
• Aspire can accept multiple vector file formats including STL, DXF, OBJ and others
• The workflow for Aspire can be separated into two parts:
  • Importing/creating the vectors and setting up the toolpaths
  • Importing/creating Vectors
• When you start up Aspire you can either start a new job or open an existing one
  • in our case we want to start a new file
• you will be greeted with a screen asking for the dimensions and type of material
• there is also a section asking what the zero position is for the machine
• select the top of the material for z-axis zero
• I also recommend using the center point of drawing for x-y zero as it is simpler for lining up a job on your work piece - more explained later
• Please note the the long axis on our CNC is the x-axis
• If you have already generated your vector output you can just import the file by going to File→Import→Import Vectors
• This is the workflow for 2d profiling
• If there is an interest in 3D Carving I can go over this at a later date
• After you have imported your vectors you then need to ensure that the vectors are closed
  • vectors that are not closed will result in unexpected toolpaths when we try to generate them
• Once you have fixed your vectors you can then resize and position them as you like on the material

• Once you have your vectors in place it is not time to create the toolpaths
• This is how the CAM software will generate the GCODE for the CNC machine to run
• On the top right of the program there will be a tab that contains all the controls for creating toolpaths
• The operations we are interested in for 2D profiling are:
  • profiling
  • drilling
  • pocketing

• This operation will cut out the shape of the vector you want
• in the case of a circle let us say a generated toolpath will cut either on the inside, outside, or on the desired vector depending on the effect you require
• It is important that the vector is closed when trying to do inside and outside profiling. An unclosed vector will net an unexpected toolpath

• This is pretty self explanatory
• One thing to note is this operation will only work on properly generated circles
• some vector softwares will output a circle as a series of lines
  • while the end result resembles a circle it does not contain the same information
  • mainly where the circle is located
  • the problem here is that if you were to try to generate a toolpath on such a circle, Aspire will ignore it as there is no centerpoint to locate and drill

• This operation will clear the area enclosed in a vector
• for example if you have a circle and you do a pocket operation on it you can make a bowl or cup.
• again it is important to ensure your vector is close so that the generated toolpath comes out as expected

• When generating GCODE with the CAM software, it takes into account the physical start point, endmill properties, feedrate, and speed
• The physical starting point should already be set when you defined your workpiece properties. If anything has changed you can access them through the edit menu
• endmill properties are accessed when you have chosen a toolpath operation to perform
• once you have selected a toolpath you then need to select the tool you wish to perform the cut
• If a tool is not available in the default list you can create a new one to suit your needs
• At the point you are accessing the endmill properties you can also change the feedrate and speeds
  • feedrate refers to the rate at which the endmill travels while cutting. I believe the default is inch per minute (IPM) for the large CNC.
  • Speed refers to the spindle speed measured in revolutions per minute (RPM)
  • Feeds and speeds are a very important factor in the success of your job.
• correctly set feedrate and speed will yield great finish and longer tool life
  • as a rule of thumb the plunge rate should be set to ½ your feed rate
  • pass height - which is the distance your endmill plunges into the material to perform a cut- should be a maximum of ½ the tool diameter
• The CNC is capable of doing 100 IPM rapid movements but doesn’t like cutting at that speed depending on the material
  • 50 IPM is a good starting point for wood
• Mach3 has the ability to dynamically change the feedrate during a job so you can start a job slow, then speed it up as you get to know the material properties
• as the spindle is technically a tile router, it is not controlled by the CNC software. So speed is manually set with the dial.
• setting the speed too fast and feedrate slow will result in burning or melting
• setting the speed to slow and feedrate fast will result in breaking

• How to load GCODE
• Keyboard Operations
  • Jogging the axes
    • the arrow keys control the x and y
    • pgup and pgdn control the z
  • rapid
    • shift
  • fine tuning
    • ctrl
• emergency stop
  • big red button
  • esc key
• setting feeds and speeds
• Run the Job

• Power to the machine
• power to the router
• big red button
• fan power for gecko
• Tool Changing
• Securing material
• zeroing the machine
• clean chips
• Leave the machine in a state where someone else can use it with minimal setup
  • don’t leave your chips for someone to clean up
  • don’t leave your endmills in the router
  • don’t leave scrap material or custom sacrificial board on the machine
  • scrap material goes in the bin
  • if the bin is full, fucking empty it
    • we pay monthly for loraas even if we don’t use it
    • so we might as well use it