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My old CNC machine

This was big a big beast - 8' x 4' x 4' or 2400mm x 1200mm x 1200mm.
I made it in 2004.
I dismantled it in May 2011.
I designed and built it myself.
I have a disability which prevents me using most tools.
So I got aluminium cut to length, with holes drilled in it.
Then construction was mostly with 3/8" bolts and 2 spanners.
Like a kid's Mechano construction set.
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What is CNC?

Perhaps you've heard of CAD/CAM - drawing something on a computer, and having a machine making it?
CNC is the machine part of that.

CAD - computer aided design
CAM - computer aided manufacturing
CNC - computer numeric control

As well as the CNC machine you see above, I designed and built the controlling electronics, and wrote software to complete the system.
So actually I built a complete CAD/CAM system.

Below is a more modern language (OpenScad) which is very much like the one I wrote.
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Before CNC

My work had a certain hand-carved look.
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After CNC

This was my first cut - clean, neat, straight.
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Out with the old, in with the new

On the work surface of the old CNC machine you can see the tiny work surface of my new CNC machine.
The old is 8' x 4' or 2400mm x 1200mm. The new is 120mm x 120mm.

The old machine moved a router in 3d to carve things from wood.
The new machine moves a plastic extruder to build things up from thin strands of molten plastic.

Unlike the old CNC machine which I designed and built myself, the new CNC machine is a MakerBot Thing-o-matic 3d printer that I assembled from a kit. I am making my own modifications.
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And here is my first 3d print on my Thing-o-matic 3d printer

Printed in ABS plastic using the OpenScad program I wrote above
I particularly enjoy creating apparently complex solids using simple shapes combined with simple rules.
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Animated AutoCAD design drawing of my old CNC machine

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New CNC machine - Thing-o-matic 3d printer starting to print a coaster

The square around the outside is not part of the design. It is to get the plastic flowing properly before starting the print.
  • Making the Thing-o-matic was fun.
  • Writing the computer program to make this coaster was fun.
  • But the most fun for easily-amused me is watching it print out.
As the head moves around it is squirting a thin thread of molten ABS plastic to build up the item. (ABS is the plastic used for LEGO.)

The whole print took about 12 minutes. This video is the first two and a half minutes.
You can see the same video, in a larger size, in YouTube by clicking here.