Cutting Edge

CNC routers require a collection of parts to get the job done

In the first of a two-part series, here’s what you need to know about spindles, axes and tables

Programming the safety line.

Writing G-code.

Alibre enhances its Atom 3D software.

Adding robotics.

Lights Out Manufacturing

Choosing a printer.

Hot keys and keyboards.

Seeing is believing.

Say the word “free” to a group of woodworkers and they will come straight at you like a moth to a light.

As with most machines in a woodshop, performance can decrease with time and failure is always an option.

A desktop CNC router is an entry-level machine that is relatively inexpensive, physically quite small, and offers a user-friendly introduction to computer aided design (CAD) and machining (CAM).

Next to software and operator training, CNC shops struggle most with properly securing work to the table.

I don’t know what you guys are trying to run on your molders but based on the condition of some of the spindles in for repair, I think it might just be concrete. Broken shafts, seized bearings, “welded” tooling all can be prevented, and it starts with listening for signs.

A mid-sized cabinet shop with a CNC router for milling flat stock is quite dependent on either personal computers or work stations.

A 3-axis CNC router can do more than just machine sheet stock for cabinets. Given the right software and tooling, other than a spiral cutting end mill, a 3-axis CNC router can generate more artistic items than cabinets.

When you stand back and think about it, a CNC machine of whatever variety is nothing more than another power tool that depends on a single or multiple electrical motors to operate, and electrical motors have parts that fail, usually at most inopportune time.