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Adding a CNC Spindle to a CoreXY which specs are the most important

Posted by Nylkos 
Adding a CNC Spindle to a CoreXY which specs are the most important
May 23, 2018 05:53PM
I built a CoreXY 3D printer.
Print really good, added a small motor for PCB milling, works pretty good for PCB and soft wood.
I want to upgrade for harder wood, aluminum and possibly steel...
I am looking on Aliexpress and I see a wide range of specs and was hoping to find the required wisdom for me to choose the appropriate setup.
ATM, the one that I am considering the most CNC Spindle

Thank you for your assistance
Re: Adding a CNC Spindle to a CoreXY which specs are the most important
May 24, 2018 02:38AM
Do you really want to mess up your printer? I have built a CNC mill and it's not even in the same room with my printers.

If you consider buying this spindle, you have to have a battery charged by the 500W power supply. The motor will otherwise cook the PSU.
Also consider the size and weight of it. Can your C-XY gantry handle such weight?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2018 02:41AM by o_lampe.
Re: Adding a CNC Spindle to a CoreXY which specs are the most important
May 24, 2018 11:12PM
My 3D printer is pretty solid...
I went overboard with the 90 degrees bracket, using an aluminum top plate for the X & Y movement, multiple cross support...

The structure itself is made of 2020 aluminum.

Why are you saying that I would messup my printer?
Re: Adding a CNC Spindle to a CoreXY which specs are the most important
May 25, 2018 03:18AM
Quote

Why are you saying that I would messup my printer?

Debris all over the place. Wood dust sticks everywhere and causes all kinds of issues later. ( even with a dust cover over the spindle and vacuum cleaner )
I even separated my laser engraver/cutter from the printer, because of the dusts.
Re: Adding a CNC Spindle to a CoreXY which specs are the most important
May 25, 2018 12:52PM
I knew that I would have to move my electronics from under to the back (avoid the possibility of aluminum causing contact on my board), but I didn't think of that magnitude.
Re: Adding a CNC Spindle to a CoreXY which specs are the most important
May 25, 2018 02:44PM
I suppose your PCB and soft wood routing is dustless?
Have to agree with major dust and spoil created by subtractive manufacturing

3D printing little or no force put on extruder --- just sitting there pumping out poly

Milling --- mill produces considerable torque (cutter moving it's way thru material -- some distance away from anchor)

lots of pitch and yaw about Z axis
X and Y have to push much harder

CNC mills beefy to keep tolerances imposed by cutting process
3D printers don't need this

Perhaps CNC mill can 3D print --- but 3D printer milling NOT!

confused smiley
Re: Adding a CNC Spindle to a CoreXY which specs are the most important
September 23, 2018 05:14PM
I think your best bet would be a Dremel with extension so you don't have to put any weight on the gantry. 2020 extrusions are great for 3D printing and laser cutters but machining anything more than engraving it's too flexible. I own a 700x500mm openbuilds ox with 2080 y axis side extrusion braced with a plywood wasteboard an two 2060 and 2040 extrusions for the gantry and it's too flexible still for anything more than cutting aluminium at 0.5mm depth of cut. It also needs lots of wd40 for lubricating the end mill or it gums up with half molten aluminium. Wd40 is flung everywhere, it's a real mess.
It's great for wood but chips and dust get everywhere within a 2m radius and it's very loud so think of the neighbors too if you have any. Get a shop vac with micro particle filter, your lungs will appreciate it in the long run.

The issue is stiffness, so you need a light spindle. Light spindles have limited cutting capacity so you need to go very slow which results in end mills wearing quicker. And the bed isn't really suitable to apply any xyz forces to either. So a lot of resonances will occur. The best way to deal with this is stiffness and mass. A 3d printer is nimble, quick and light, not really suitable for routing. The occasional pcb milling and engraving is what you're looking at.

I've cut plates to build a corexy 3d printer similar to yours using the ox router (see the corexy forum, look for nfan). I'm planning to build a milling machine next which should be able to cut aluminium and other metals better. It'll probably be build with steel tubing and linear guide rails.


--
Kind regards
Imqqmi

NFAN CoreXY printer:
[reprap.org]
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