MowryJournal.com   Life's Passions

Saturday afternoon was not about the CNC; it was prep for our pizza oven to get back into action. It was worth it.

It was set up, but we didn’t know what to do with the left over cables.

It was Friday night.

I told the Engineer that I would have recommendations by morning from my people. I put a post up on RouterForums.com, upon whose members’ recommendations I had put significant weight towards my decision. I also put a post up on Facebook in a CNC group that I’m a member of.

The Engineer asked me what I thought the solution would be … what was wrong? My answer is that I thought we had done something wrong in our ignorance, based on the obviously poor instructions that we had received. My guess is that it was a fix that could be figured out by the smart people I was in touch with, and then we’d be OK.

I was right.

Getting CLOSE

By Saturday morning, I had multiple answers from both groups I had questioned. Another theme was there, as multiple people told me to get in touch with Len, who I knew as my – and the – sales guy, and he would fix me right up. By Saturday evening, Len had responded to me, copying support, and telling me that the problem was probably that we had put the parallel cable in the wrong parallel slot.

And that is what had happened. Come to find out, there were two parallel slots, and the computer shown in the directions was different from the computer in my garage woodshop. The Engineer had plugged the cable into the parallel port that he thought was most like the illustration, but he chose poorly. We swapped ports, plugged the other, newly identified parallel cable that controlled the Tool Length Sensor into the other slot, and booted it up.

We were golden. Everything worked. Everything. Worked. Plug & play, indeed.

Sometimes, it is about who you know.

First cut.

I have now used the CNC for several hours. Love it. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve broken bits. I’ve had to go back and watch a few videos over. And over.

And, once the machine was wired correctly, it has been absolutely what I expected. It’s plug & play. It’s perfectly predictable & repeatable.

And, I haven’t made a perfect piece yet. I’m still working on that, in my spare time. I still have to feed the monster that my out-of-control hobby is. I need to make cutting boards, in addition to the blanks & pieces that are needed to feed the CNC learning process. I will get there – quickly – but it will take some time. Stay tuned.

So, that stated, here are some things I have already learned that would have helped had they been on my checklist a few weeks ago. If there’s a CNC in your future – especially a Probotix CNC, which I wholeheartedly recommend – then you might benefit by checking off this list before there’s a CNC in your shop.

1. Power distribution. I never asked where the power for the unit needed to be, and I should have. I had an electrician install a 220v circuit, and it was properly placed. Unfortunately, the power inverter came with a 6′ pig tail, and the plug barely reached to the new power cable I had installed. Further, the inverter runs 24/7 if there’s power to the unit, and I don’t have an off switch other than the breaker panel. Ooops. All of the power needs to be delivered to the shelf under the front of my CNC, which was not a problem … but could have been. I could have asked, but didn’t think of it. Now, you will.
2. Lighting is essential. I installed my CNC in a dark corner of the shop, so I installed additional lighting before it arrived. If you can’t see it, you’ll have trouble making it. Get the lighting right, first.
3. Building a stand. As previously reported, I didn’t consider building my own stand, and I probably should have. That way, I could have had a full shelf under the table (why oh why does Probotix not do that?). The time to build the stand would probably have been about what it took to assemble the Probotix model, though it would not have been as spiffy.
4. The computer needs a mount, too. I bought the computer mount offered by Probotix, and already don’t really like it. It has a very limited range of motion, and I would like to have more flexibility than that. You’ll need a way to have the computer monitor, keyboard & mouse adjustable to move around in your shop as needed. Getting it up out of the way is essential in my small shop, too.
5. No game controller. There was no game controller with my Nebula. I don’t miss it; I  thought it was gimmicky when I saw it. Still, I expected it and it was not in the box. Nope.
6. You need oil! The drive screws need to be oiled daily. Some of Probotix’s info says they send lubricant with the unit, but they don’t.
7. Dust collection. CNCs create a lot of sawdust. A lot. Be prepared with a dust collection solution out of the box. I wasn’t … it just slipped my mind. If you’re buying Probotix, then you may need a 1.75″ hose to mate with the magnetic dust boot for your spindle. Love the magnets! In addition, of course, you’ll need an adapter to get the 1.75″ hose to whatever dust collector you use (in my case, I’m going from 1.75″ to 2.5″). I ended up ordering that hose from Oneida (no clue why Probotix does not offer it!), and the adapter from Peachtree. I’m still not quite sure how I’ll mount the hose to the spindle, the gantry and then the table, but I’ll figure that out when it’s in hand.
8. Where’s your storage? I’ve already got several CNC bits, 10 collets for the spindle as well as the 2 wrenches to secure the bits in place. There’s the dust boot. The 3-in-1 oil. The job summaries. The jigs. They’ve got to go somewhere, so get ready. Solutions don’t have to be permanent in the beginning, but those expensive CNC router bits have to go somewhere!
9. Mounting your work piece. There’s no wrong answer here. Double stick tape is how I mounted my first cut … and the tape failed before the piece was done. I’ve read about some DIYers that use super glue and masking tape, and they’re welcome to that. The advanced class will go to vacuum hold downs, and that’s where I’m going when I have the time and money to build it. Meanwhile, I’m making MDF jigs with push clamps, and screwing the jigs to the spoilboard. This works, though it’s not without its own idiosyncrasies, which I’m working through. Whatever you do, you’ll need the solution in hand before you turn on the machine.
10. Cut scrap at first. You’re going to make mistakes, and you’re going to have problems. Don’t cut expensive work pieces until you know what you’re doing. Cut MDF, or plywood, or even the 2x4s from the shipping crate that your CNC arrived in. Until you know what you’re doing, cheap is good.
11. Other tools. I have brass brushes to help clean fuzzies off of the workpieces that require it. A large brush is great for clearing shavings, as is a portable dust collector hose.

Finally.

My first project was a word block: Happy.

I was.

Until the double sided tape failed, that is.

So, I did it again with a better hold down. I am going to get Happy.

Attempt # 3. Getting Happy.

But still not right.

Cutting a pig worked great, until the bit broke. It wasn’t meant to cut as deep as I made it go. Ooops.

After I got Happy, I decided to follow MrsMowry’s lead and go Home.

Not quite, but getting there.

More

Installing The Probotix Nebula

Buying A CNC: The Probotix Nebula

That’s No Garage, That’s My Shop