Using Ramps for cnc milling?

Hello all,

Ive recently become interested in doing some cnc milling on my machine that uses ramps 1.4 electronics. everyone has sort of thrown things like mach3 and skeinforge at me, but im not sure where to start. as 3d printing you use the slicer to make the gcode and its very streamlined and hard to mess up or cause any damage to the machine. with milling though im not sure what to use to make my gcode, or where i should start.

has anyone made a good tutorial for milling with ramps, and what are some free tools to use.

btw im using an h series foredom tool for the spindle, and im working on a way to monitor and control the speed.

thanks

You probably need something like this and this one is free to download

[www.cambam.info]

Google cnc cam software and you'll see plenty more to choose from with most being expensive to purchase.

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Maybe,

CNC requires strength, meaning you will need some beefy Steppers.

RAMPS by default uses <2A Steppers.

The reason I say maybe, is because if you go with screws instead of belts, you may get the torque you need for CNC milling.

Quote

as 3d printing you use the slicer to make the gcode

This doesn't mean you can't produce G-code on alternative ways. Most RepRap firmwares share (independently on which electronics they run on) the basic set of G-code with controllers like Mach3 or LinuxCNC.

Quote

has anyone made a good tutorial

[reprap.org]

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

ShadowRam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe,
>
> CNC requires strength, meaning you will need some
> beefy Steppers.
>
> RAMPS by default uses <2A Steppers.
>
> The reason I say maybe, is because if you go with
> screws instead of belts, you may get the torque
> you need for CNC milling.

no, pololu stepper drivers are to 2A. ramps gives out step/dir, everything else is on driver. i have ramps and driving tb6560 with 3A/phase...

... correct, I'm sometimes controlling my CNC-mill with 70Volt/6Amps-drivers or another machine with 325 Volts/2Amps-drivers with the same RAMPS

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

ok as far as my setup its a corexy machine, but each axis has two 4.2kgcm steppers. all aluminum extrusion frame, 2040 and 404020, so its very stiff and beefy. the pulleys are 15 tooth as apposed to the normal 20 so it has more torque than the standard reprap. so in comparison to a normal reprap moving at the same speed it has 11.2 kg/cm on each axis. and the corexy doesnt allow for twisting of the frame, also corexy is basically like normal xy rotated 45 degrees, so if you hold one motor and move the other the head moves diagonally. this means that moves in the x and y direction will have more torque, which is good since a lot of milling is usually square.

also thanks so much for the cambam link, its actually a recent thing too unlike many of the other cam utilities ive tried.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2013 07:52PM by aduy.

There are a lot of convenience functions missing from the RAMPS gcode interpreter.

No support for multiple coordinate systems being the primary one you'll miss with milling.
The other one that would drive me nuts is the crappy jogging controls.

I run Mach3 on my mill to a parallel port break out board (though I have a smooth stepper sitting around here I keep meaning to install) driving the stepper drivers, as do many others. The real advantage of Mach3 is the Wizards, about half the time I use my mill, I really cannot be bothered to load up CAM software and mess with it, and I can get by with running 2 or 3 wizards to generate the GCode I need.
I ran EMC2 for a while on my other mill, and with enough thought you can do something similar with a small set of parameterized GCode programs.

You could certainly get away with Pronterface and RAMPS, but I'd make sure you have a real EStop that really works somewhere in there, it's extremely common to misplace a decimal point when you are manually entering GCode and unlike printers the consequences can be fairly dramatic on a mill I've seen mine throw what was left of a 1/4 inch cutter 30 ft across my garage with enough force to have it stick in the dry wall.

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My blog [3dprinterhell.blogspot.com]

Whenndealing,with CNC, how is the gcode generated?

Does mach3 do it, or are there slicing programs formcnc like there are for printers?

Three ways usually one of

Hand written
Macros or plugins like the Mach3 wizards
CAM software

The later for anything complicated, there are many options most of them for extreme amounts of money, if you think commercial CAD is expensive, CAM is even more expensive.
But for most simple 2.5D operations there are plenty of free options.

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My blog [3dprinterhell.blogspot.com]

I use linuxcnc (emc) on my cnc machine with a geckodrive g540 driver, 3.5A NEMA34s at 40V, 1/10 microstep. The cutting area of my machine is ~10x10".

The forces involved in cnc milling are very different than 3d printing. You will need more current and voltage than an allegro stepper can provide.

Linuxcnc is super reliable, open source, and extremely powerful. There are open source cam programs like heekscnc, somewhat free like cambam, but if you are serious you should look into vcarve from vectric.

core xy and belt drive, specially so long belt will not be good for milling. specially if you took weak 6 mm belt...

its surprisingly stiff but if needed i can swap in some 1/2-10 leadscrews that i have.

What are you trying to cut?
If you're milling PCB's it's not an issue.
If you wants to cut metal, understand there is a huge difference in stiffness between even the stiffest repraps and even a toy mill.

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My blog [3dprinterhell.blogspot.com]

If you have a RAMPS board, you could use the lcnc2ramps board in LinuxCNC-RepRap Project.

[github.com]

I think a reprap could be used like an engraver maybe, but accurately milling metals to even .005" tolerances would be a lot of trouble. IMO it would be easier to start with a small table top milling machine and modify it for 3d printing. I have some older cnc machines ive thought of modding to a 3d printer. But weighing in at 6k LBS for a small machine is a bit overkill for a printer.

woo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ShadowRam Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Maybe,
> >
> > CNC requires strength, meaning you will need
> some
> > beefy Steppers.
> >
> > RAMPS by default uses <2A Steppers.
> >
> > The reason I say maybe, is because if you go
> with
> > screws instead of belts, you may get the torque
> > you need for CNC milling.
>
> no, pololu stepper drivers are to 2A. ramps gives
> out step/dir, everything else is on driver. i have
> ramps and driving tb6560 with 3A/phase...

You missed the 'By DEFAULT'

Hi Gents,

I am new at CAM, and don't know enough about g-code to help myself.

I have built a Reprap Huxley from a kit. It used to have Techzone monotronics, but I have never been able to get it to work, so I replaced the electronics with RAMPS 1.4 a few days ago.

I need to machine some light aluminum parts on it, so I converted the print head to take a Dremel 4000 with a extension. That bit works fine. I know that the Huxley frame is not designed for it, am hoping that if I support the frame, set the feed slow enough, and the Dremel speed high enough, the printer may survive the vibration for long enough to get the work done. It is urgent, else I would not think of putting the printer though that.

I have Solidworks as a CAD platform, and HSM express (still working out how to use it) as a CAM program. The firmware I have installed (Repitier) is not allowing me to move the motors, as the original print head had a thermocouple, instead of a thermistor, as Ramps 1.4 is designed for. I don't know how to disable the extrude temperature reading, and still have Arduno or Repeteir allow motor and opto control, so it is only allowing me to do "dry runs" in both Arduino and repitier.

The machining I need to do does not need to be hugely accurate, about 1/10 of mill is close enough, and most of it is drilling and slotting cutting into 12 aluminum channel, with some 2d profiling of flat plate. As such it does not need to be a sophisticated interface, and on a very small budget.

I am hoping to install some bit that will allow me to export the code that HSMexpress generates to allow me to machine my bits.

So my questions are:
Is this at all possible?
If so, what firmware do I need to put onto the RAMPS 1.4 to allow it to do cnc?
What CNC machine do I pick in HSMexpress, so that the g-cone can be interpreted by the software that I hope you can inform me of?

I don't have to use HSM express, if I can sketch the profile and hole centers in Solidworks, and somehow get the RAMP 1.4 to interpret it.

What do you think? (apart from this guy landed on his head)

I would say from the maching side no. Have no idea from the ramps side aluminium doesn't like fast cutters and the loads even with light cuts are high .As for software cambam is good and works well with Mach 3 worth looking at machining tables for speeds and feeds even the small cnc engraver I had had feed screws as opposed to belts to give you some idea my Bridgeport size cnc mill you can still move the motors when in holding mode by hand and the motors run @8 amp 60 volt

Hope that helps a little

Andrew

Bugger!

I have looked at cam am and mach3, and it will do some of what I need, I think. They also have an evaluation period, so that will let me test and machine. My stepper motors max out at 5amps at the minute, though I do have better ones on the way, in the mail. The belts on the Huxley won't take the load though, and I can't use flood cooling on it, so I may have to rethink the whole thing. I also have a Chinese imitation of a unimat 1 bore/lathe, so I might pull the ramps of the printer an put that onto the unimat, with gearing to give me the loads I need. Tricky and finiky at short notice.

Any other suggestion are welcome.

It does help, so thanks for that.

Just to throw my 2 cents in, I recently built a 2' x 3' CNC mill running NEMA 23's at 330 oz-in a piece. I have 2 running my y-axis, and 1 on each of my x and z axes. I use RAMPS 1.4 running the latest Marlin firmware with panucatt SD8825 drivers and pronterface for control. Initially, things were a bit slow but when I changed to a 24V powersupply, I running smoothly. I have milled wood, aluminum, and stainless steel thus far with little problem. I am using cambam for my CAM program and really like it. You just need to make a postprocessor to accommodate the proper gcodes that Marlin can handle.

I have scratch built a similar machine and I am running it off an Azteeg X3, with repetierfor firmware and host. I am interested in vectric aspire, but I am struggling getting my head around the post processor selection. I am going through their post processor guide, but i really need some direction to make the association to repetier and skeinforge to make the transition.

You managed to beef up to 24V on your RAMPS?
Reading [reprap.org] I thought it was impossible.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2014 11:50AM by j2l2.

Quote
j2l2
You managed to beef up to 24V on your RAMPS?
Reading [reprap.org] I thought it was impossible.

You're replying to a thread over a year old. Normally it's best to start a new thread.

Running 24V isn't a problem. Remove the D1 diode and power the Arduino through USB or a separate 5V supply. Also replace the PTC fuses with real fuses as they aren't rated for higher voltages, and replace the electrolytic capactors with ones rated for twice (or more) the voltage that you intend to run.

Thanks cdru,

I knew it was 1 year old, but wanted to ask tkole on his statement in this topic, it's not a new question
Thanks for your detailed reply. I'll dig more and may be start a new topic.

could do all those mods or purchase a taurino power an arduino mega 2560 that accepts voltage from 12v to 36v.

Sorry to jump in if this is slightly off topic, but I've been using a smoothieboard and a Taig mill to do 3 and 4 axis CNC stuff for a while. It works great, and the smoothieboard is very similar to RAMPS. As long as you aren't using GT2 timing belts to mill metal you should be good. Don't expect the same tolerances out of a reprap printer though. If you use small endmills and light cuts you can run NEMA 17s on any open source electronics.


I run it on repetier host, and while the jogging does kind of suck (no continuous movement) it is still precise enough to hold 0.01mm tolerances on the mill. I haven't had to do any complex contouring yet so I write most of my gcode by hand.

Using Ramps for cnc milling?
I have
ramps 1.4
Arduino Mega 2560
drivers and motors.

When
RAMPS1.4_TestCode.pde
[reprap.org] motors run perfectly (exclude malfunction ramps, Arduino and drivers and motors).

When
stress_test.gcode
[github.com]
with Universal GCode Sender 1.0.8 with GRBL
or with Repetier-Host V1.00 RC2 (printer type CNC Router)
or with ReplicatorG - 0040,
after properly set port and bauds, connection occurs and softwares are responsibles for commans like "~" and "$",
but motors do not move, manual commands or file is sending.
I suspect that has to do with the lack of the extruder, something with temperature control.
I need help. : o )

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2015 09:48AM by hdlp.

What firmware are you using?

Disable your min and max temp settings in your firmware.

You might want to look at "Mostly Printed CNC" on thingiverse. He's using a RAMPs board and has the firmware listed there too.

Thanks, Mike.
Thingiverse expertise is mechanical parts, no much about electronics and software. I do not find about this.

Firmware is repetier. The error message is : Printer set into dry run mode until restart. Error is because my project do not use thermistores or extruders: is only cnc.

[]s

Elcio

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2015 04:48PM by hdlp.