Ultimaker as CNC Milling Machine

[helder-l.-santos 0]

What do you think about this?

"How to Transform your 3D Printer

in a CNC milling machine"

 

http://www.velleman.eu/downloads/0/user/usermanual_k8200_cnc_milling.pdf

 

[tsp42 0]

I would think that a rotary tool with a flexible shaft might be a better fit for the ultimaker to keep the printer head weight down.

[helder-l.-santos 0]

nice thinking! I like the idea

 

[helder-l.-santos 0]

Does anyone knows how to invert the z movement of the plate? Is it possible to easy edit G-code generated with CUDA to do that?

 

[Titus 170]

I'm not sure if Cura can do this, but you can always reverse your wires on the motor and use the bottom endstop

 

[Daid 306]

Does anyone knows how to invert the z movement of the plate? Is it possible to easy edit G-code generated with CUDA to do that?

 

You don't need to do that. Movement is done in the same way as mills. Z+ is "head up" (thus, bed down on the UM)

But I also do not recommend turning the Ultimaker into an CNC mill. A CNC mill needs to "catch" the vibrations of the tool hitting the object. And the Ultimaker gantry is not really suited for that.

You rather look into the Mantis mill. It's easy and cheap to construct.

 

[muttstang 8]

It is probably not strong enough to handle anything but the easiest materials to cut. If you wanted to cut some visualization type prototypes from foam block that might work.

[xisle 34]

A Dremel shaft extension works alright for light-weight jobs, like etching. I made a simple mount for testing a while back.

Etched acrylic with UV backlighting.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Guest