CNC Shark Forum

Hi Ken I would imagine that most folks here do not use Mach3, as it was phased out with the introduction of the proprietary controllers. Personally, I think it is far superior to the new setup. I started with the same setup as you have, and chose to keep Mach3 and upgrade the electronics instead. Th...

cnc-clamp.jpg The clamps I use are made in either wood or aluminum, with a tab on one side and a pin on the other. The tab side is used when there is room on the upper edge to hold a part down. For other situations, the pin on the opposite side would go into a shallow hole drilled in the side of th...

For what its worth, once you extend the Y axis, you start thinking about making a new x axis, then a better z, and before you know it, you have built a second machine. The linear bearings and lead screws are usually an industry standard item. I used Roton for the screws and Glacern Machine for the l...

another suggestion for cutting aluminum is to never plunge straight down into aluminum.
always ramp your cuts, so that the cutter is always moving sideways while descending.

Hello JC Can you jog the z axis down, so that the bit is lower than the desired cut depth? The symptoms you describe can happen if you hit the end of travel on the z axis in the down direction. The stepper motor will try to move further and miss steps. The controller does not know this and and the b...

It seems that the newer sharks have less room under the table for reinforcement. You could use something like 1/8" thick aluminum strip instead of the angle. That should give you enough room for the bolt heads. However, If you are going to use a spoilboard on the tabletop anyway, consider using a wo...

This is a common problem and has been for years. These threads may be of help to you. There is an aluminum clamp available from Dixie Billet. IMHO a much better alternative to the plastic clamps that break and stretch. http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3619 http://www.cncsharktalk.com/...

Hello Jeremy, Firstly, great job on your upgrade. The fully supported bearings, elimination of plastic, the z axis changes, and metal motor mounts will really help your machine. The "speed change around curves" is a function of the "g-code to stepper motor movement" translation going on in the contr...

I had this idea of using a phone app that I can not find. Don’t even know if it exists. Where it listens to the ticks of the clock and gives me the number of beats per second in hundredths or spacing of the ticks. Before the "phone apps" came along there was Microset, which is a very accurate tool ...

Hi Thom, In looking at the number on your control panel, I tried to do the math to tie everything together. starting with the 4th axis, I come up with 12000 steps per chuck rev (33.334 steps per rev x 360 deg /rev) With a factory stated ratio of 6 to 1 on the pulley drive, it would be 2000 motor ste...