CNC micro mill conversion

[Kit Car Electronics]

Over the years, I've found myself wanting to drill and machine lots of small bits of plastic and aluminium - particularly now that I make cases for various electronic projects, so I've treated myself to a Proxxon MF70 micro mill that I plan to convert to CNC. It's VERY small, but has a good reputation for accuracy and the conversion to stepper motor drive is well documented already.

Still, thought I'd post it on here in case anyone else is doing the same...

 

[Kingster]

We need some reference for scale Mike 

[Kit Car Electronics]

Closest thing to hand 

[Kit Car Electronics]

Bizzarely it was way cheaper from Amazon.de (it's a German company) than anywhere else, with free Prime delivery, even though it still came from Sarl... (240Euro)

[Steve (sdh2903)]

Where's the rest of it 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Awww, it's so cute....

[DavidR]

I've had one of those for a few years now and it's very useful. It's great for aluminium or brass, steel needs more care and very small cuts. As a novelty I  made the item in the pictures for fun.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I love those sorts of traditional apprentice pieces David, my favourite is always the cubes within cubes; both just to see the end result, and these days, thanks to the glories of YouTube, I can waste ages just watching them being machined out from a solid piece of stock.

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

Is it three axis 

[Kit Car Electronics]

yes, although the y axis is only 46mm:

https://www.proxxon.com/en/micromot/27110.php

I'm adding a stepper motor to each axis, but will adjust the spindle motor speed by hand

10 minutes ago, Paul Hurdsfield said:

Is it three axis 

[DavidR]

1 hour ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

I love those sorts of traditional apprentice pieces David, my favourite is always the cubes within cubes; both just to see the end result, and these days, thanks to the glories of YouTube, I can waste ages just watching them being machined out from a solid piece of stock.

I've done one of those too, a bit scruffy but satisfying. I've always wanted one so had to make it. It's from a 50mm cube. The black marks are because I hadn't finished cleaning it before I took the pic.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Yep, always wanted one too, but never had the knowledge/skill let alone the kit to make one. Tried to find them occasionally, but everyone that’s made them seems to have sweated so hard over them, none will part with them - and I don’t blame them either!!

[Kit Car Electronics]

Looks dead easy, Dave. There are pre-made mounting brackets for the steppers and very cheap Arduino shields for the stepper  motor drivers.

Add an NVR switch, an old laptop power supply and a PC fan - then it's ready to go. The Arduino code is available and just loaded, with a free G-Code sender software for the laptop. I've hooked up one motor and it seems to be working...

Total conversion cost about £120

[darve]

3 hours ago, Kit Car Electronics said:

Looks dead easy, Dave. There are pre-made mounting brackets for the steppers and very cheap Arduino shields for the stepper  motor drivers.

Add an NVR switch, an old laptop power supply and a PC fan - then it's ready to go. The Arduino code is available and just loaded, with a free G-Code sender software for the laptop. I've hooked up one motor and it seems to be working...

Total conversion cost about £120

Only bit I understood of that post was "£120" 

[Kit Car Electronics]

Finished, all the motors are working, seems like good value for total cost of £400 approx, including the CNC controller that just hooks up to a laptop with the USB lead. It should be perfect for machining the small plastic electronics cases that I play around with.