kevinj308 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) Just found out fusion 360 has a 1 year free subscription for hobbyists and startups! http://fusion360.autodesk.com/resources/akn/view/NINVFUS/ENU/?guid=GUID-D1193A1F-FBC3-4CEE-8957-B3CA15B1649B click the installation and subscription information link. Download the trial and then follow the above directions. That's just bad ass, thanks man. I'm gonna give that a try when I can set aside a weekend to get into it. ETA found a review of the software on CNCCookbook. Pretty much what Peter said, not so much for cad, but a good way to get into hsm on the cheap. " I would not want to be a CADCAM beginner trying to figure out this beast. It could be done, but there are easier ways. An intermediate user that fancies getting access to HSMWorks level CAM at a bargain price and who is prepared to deal with the foibles, might be well served. " http://blog.cnccookbook.com/2014/11/12/fusion-360-promising-power-uneven-usability/ Edited January 18, 2015 by kevinj308 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dskinsler83 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM-935HighPrecisionMills.html I may try to save up for this one the 935TV model and have the DRO added from the factory along with power feed on the X Edited January 18, 2015 by dskinsler83 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightUp_OG Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) Well I was able to do this in about an 1.5 hours while watching TV and just taking my time. It will be a tool tray for the new TTS tool holders. Used adobe illustrator for the 2d layout (I am not great in cad but smoke in lll.). Imported a dxf into 360, extruded with tool path and sim. Once I really know the app this tool tray would take 10 minutes to create. Edited January 18, 2015 by StraightUp_OG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost21 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Just wanted to say, I have enjoyed reading this thread. I will never be in a position to do any CNC of my own ,But Reading this thread I would say you guys are having fun. I love working on my guns and doing as much work on them as I can myself. But all of you have gone to the next level. Love watching the vids , and some of the photos I have seen posted on here , I have seen some great work. Thanks and good luck with all future builds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterSteele Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Just found out fusion 360 has a 1 year free subscription for hobbyists and startups! http://fusion360.autodesk.com/resources/akn/view/NINVFUS/ENU/?guid=GUID-D1193A1F-FBC3-4CEE-8957-B3CA15B1649B click the installation and subscription information link. Download the trial and then follow the above directions. That's just bad ass, thanks man. I'm gonna give that a try when I can set aside a weekend to get into it. ETA found a review of the software on CNCCookbook. Pretty much what Peter said, not so much for cad, but a good way to get into hsm on the cheap. " I would not want to be a CADCAM beginner trying to figure out this beast. It could be done, but there are easier ways. An intermediate user that fancies getting access to HSMWorks level CAM at a bargain price and who is prepared to deal with the foibles, might be well served. " http://blog.cnccookbook.com/2014/11/12/fusion-360-promising-power-uneven-usability/ Yeah, that about sums it up. It's a lot better now than it was during the first betas - I've been beta testing everything Inventor- or CAM-related for the past few years - but I'm not really a fan of the modeling. Well I was able to do this in about an 1.5 hours while watching TV and just taking my time. It will be a tool tray for the new TTS tool holders. Used adobe illustrator for the 2d layout (I am not great in cad but smoke in lll.). Imported a dxf into 360, extruded with tool path and sim. Once I really know the app this tool tray would take 10 minutes to create. Just wait until you start playing with the 3D toolpaths!!! You'll absolutely fall in love with the adaptive roughing. Do pay attention to the simulations though - there are times when it will do some fairly inexplicable things. The other one I really love is morphed spiral. When I'm working with wood, I don't even bother doing roughing passes anymore on a lot of things with 3D shapes. I'll just drop the stock in and use a morphed spiral toolpath. Anyway, I think I've more or less worked out my AR lower design, and this is it. (Yes - the mag release hole is too long - I've fixed that since.) For this round at least I decided not to go too exotic - I'm going to do a fairly standard-ish look to the buffer tower. I've done the error checking both against a set of blueprints off the internet and against Justin's model from CNCgunsmithing, and it looks good. I'm planning to do some cutting this week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightUp_OG Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Looks good! Did you start with Justin's model or from scratch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterSteele Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Looks good! Did you start with Justin's model or from scratch? I did model from scratch, but had a second instance of Inventor open on the other monitor to take measurements from and do comparisons. I also took some inspiration from https://grabcad.com/library/cnc-ready-ar15-billet-lower-receiver-1, although I didn't really copy it too directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightUp_OG Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightUp_OG Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the grabcad link. I just downloaded those files! I love this $h*t!!!! Edit: Darn the files are Solidworks EASM and it does not look like there is a way to convert to STEP or such outside of Solidworks. Edited January 18, 2015 by StraightUp_OG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterSteele Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Thanks for the grabcad link. I just downloaded those files! I love this $h*t!!!! No problem - you can find almost any part for almost any gun there, although there's minimal quality control - stuff may be wildly inaccurate or at a minimum completely apocryphal. If you want the actual 3D model of that lower, you gotta pay the guy. He posts all his stuff as an advertisement, but won't give out the model unless you give him money. IIRC it's something like $200 for the model, but I might be misremembering. It ain't cheap, though, I remember that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightUp_OG Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 AH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dskinsler83 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 So ok Dawson's ICE magwell what speed for the cutter? It's aluminum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightUp_OG Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 So ok Dawson's ICE magwell what speed for the cutter? It's aluminum What are you trying to do? What cutter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightUp_OG Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) Fusion is fairly intuitive. Took a few try's to get the code right but I think I got it. I still need to figure out the clamping. Edited January 19, 2015 by StraightUp_OG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterSteele Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Thanks for the shout out! Looks like you're getting a good handle on it. I got lucky - the implementation of Mach3 on my mill at work requires no changes from the default Mach post. My router at home on the other hand ... didn't get so lucky there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinj308 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 still need to figure out the clamping. I've drawn the clamps onto the part in cad, either integral or as a separate part made into an assembly. I'm sure there's a better way but it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dskinsler83 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 2 flute or 4 flute and HSS. Just want to trim the width for a guy do his Eagle will fit the IDPA box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterSteele Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 One worthwhile note - it's this way in Inventor, and I'm pretty sure it's this way in Fusion as well - create some sketch geometry on areas that you don't want the cutter to go, and you can use the sketches to define avoid areas. (Well, let me rephrase - I know you can define avoid areas in Fusion, but I'm not 100% positive that the sketches in Fusion work the same way that they do in Inventor.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amish_rabbi Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 2 flute or 4 flute and HSS. Just want to trim the width for a guy do his Eagle will fit the IDPA box You need more info than that, cutter size, depth of cut, width of cut, ect. Everyone should do themselves a favor and pick up g-wizard speeds and feeds calculator. I am far to lazy to do the math myself and use g-wizard for everything, it gives you a very good starting point. I'm in no way a machinist so having a starting point and all the other info g-wizard gives you is invaluable to me. As i understand, aluminum you want to use 2 or 3 flute because its so gummy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Use 2 or 3 flute end mills on aluminum. They have more back clearance that 4 or more flute cutters. That helps cut down on rubbing behind the cutting edge on softer materials. Also best for wood or plastic too. If you are not running coolant you will need to run the spindle at a slower speed to keep heat down and avoid alum. from melting onto the cutter, making it into a solid, non cutting cylinder. If you are not running coolant, get some Tapmagic for Aluminum. It's the best cutting fluid for that. Nothing else even comes close. They have one for alum. and one for everything else. The easy way to clamp a part on a low real estate machine is to drill a couple of holes and bolt it down directly to the table with T nuts. If you can't have extra holes in the project, sometimes you can use holes that would be there anyway. If that doesn't work, you can make end blocks that clamp to the T slots that have horizontal bolts or setscrews that bite into the ends of the part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightUp_OG Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) The easy way to clamp a part on a low real estate machine is to drill a couple of holes and bolt it down directly to the table with T nuts. If you can't have extra holes in the project, sometimes you can use holes that would be there anyway. If that doesn't work, you can make end blocks that clamp to the T slots that have horizontal bolts or setscrews that bite into the ends of the part. That is what I was thinking. I was also looking at these bad boys. http://www.miteebite.com/products/monobloc_e.html Any thoughts on those clamps? My thoughts are HOLY POOP they are expensive! Edited January 19, 2015 by StraightUp_OG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Those are good clamps, though pretty expensive. Look at all their other products too. They have some good innovative workholding products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterSteele Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Well, this has been a confusing - and somewhat annoying - morning. This was supposed to be a straight forward facing operation. The block is aligned parallel to the X-axis, and this was supposed to be a facing operation right-to-left with .125 stepovers in the Y direction. .04" off on the first pass, then a finishing pass at .010". Welllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ... I'm losing steps somewhere. About .098" per pass, and it's quite consistent. I'm a little confused by this. (Yes, I know the finish sucks - that cutter has just about had it, and all I needed was for the piece to be more or less flat.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jid2 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) Welcome to CNC hobbies, where simple things take hours and sometimes days. Check to see if you are losing steps on basic move commands without trying to cut. Is this your CNC bridgeport? Give us a picture of the machine and setup. Edited January 19, 2015 by jid2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightUp_OG Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Heh, I forgot that I made a pin jig and it fit the stock perfectly. Super snug fit should be GTG for this pocketing operation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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