A bit of CNC play

JD951

New User
dusty
Well here's a box I made for a friend. Top is CNC carved with a Carvewright machine. Not a fan of that system. Wood is red oak locally harvested in Forsyth Co. Corners are finger joint


IMG_20220129_162422.jpg



Here's how it looks after he finished it.

Case 5.jpg


Annnd here's what's inside. My friend is a builder of custom flintlocks and is an accomplished luthier. He made the powder flask from black walnut along with the small compartment for flints and ball. And yes, we have shot that pistol more than a couple times.

Case 2.jpg
 

Echd

C
User
Looks good.

What do you dislike about the carvewright system? I am still learning my Onefinity and use mainly fusion and vectric.

A pistol box is in my near future as well, but I'm spending more time obsessing about how to design comfortable grips than the box.
 

JD951

New User
dusty
Looks good.

What do you dislike about the carvewright system? I am still learning my Onefinity and use mainly fusion and vectric.

A pistol box is in my near future as well, but I'm spending more time obsessing about how to design comfortable grips than the box.
Carvewright-

Pros- unlimited x axis

Cons- 14in Y axis, user hostile buggy proprietary poorly written garbage software, proprietary tooling, work piece motion, incapable of inlay, incapable of engraving, incapable of multiple parts per program, proprietary machine parts, incapable of interconnection ie requires use of proprietary card, flaky errors if the machine isn't spotless clean


My previous background was in CNC tooling fabrication with a laser and 5 spindle router. I really really like the Onefinity from a machine standpoint, but for my $$ v Use, I'm going with Longmill. Both can do the same things. I like the ball nut and basic construction of the Onefinity X50 but not so much their controller. I've become a big fan of open source on parts because it will allow me to customize my machine to do what I want. My current order is for a Longmill with VCarve Pro. I'll get a laser later as that's what I did mainly in CNC but a "powerful" 7w laser is hardly impressive since I'm used to running 2200w constant wave on a 60x96 working area.

Where I am with software- I'm learning VCarve Pro and Libre CAD for a parametric CAD program. I'm also using Inkscape for vector manipulation since I'm very familiar doing it in Corel Draw and the two programs look to function almost identically. Of the higher end paid packages out there, I really hate the subscription model and will never use a "cloud" based software like Easl. I want it local.

LongMill v Onefinity- While I really prefer the Onefinity, bang for buck, Longmill. Maybe my next machine will be a Onefinity and with that in mind, all software must be capable of playing nice with a Onefinity. Of all the other machines out there, I will not spend my money on a belt driven system, and yeah, I know the Longmill uses a very small one on the Z axis lead screw.

Stuff I'm making-
Well, let's say I have lots of stuff I want to make and I've been busy learning software packages while programming what I want. The pistol box came about after a conversation with a friend at the range. We were shooting that hog leg and he mentioned he would like to have a case for it but his shop is really set up more for custom flintlocks and luthier work. My shop is more conventional with the exception of the CNC toys that are starting to multiply. Conversation went from case for flintlocks to custom cases for his musical instruments and more. This was a just a trial run utilizing the machines at hand.

The current box I'm making is more conventional but it's a case for a replica Confederate sniper rifle, the Whitworth. During the War, a little over 200 of these made it in past the blockade. In it's day, it was entirely capable of lethal hits out to 1k yards as many Yankees found out. Today, not many survive and of those, none of their cases survive. There are some examples in England as the rifle was manufactured and sold there. So I'm copying one of the surviving English ones and adapting it to fit the replica rifle. Pix to follow on that one. How does it fit into CNC? Well, the Longmill can mill brass and there are parts for that case that are not available anywhere but I can reproduce them on a CNC. This case will have off the shelf hardware but any future cases I make will have period style hardware I've made.

I have one other box in the making and it's being done on the Carvewright. It's a custom case for an original 1869 Rolling Block rifle. Case is about 48 x 9 and the top will feature a heavily Celtic/Norse theme. Program is already done and a trial piece cut. There were things I didn't like about the trial so I've altered the program and will cut it again soon. Basic design- celtic weave background on entire top. 5 medallions- one with Thor's hammer, 2 with celtic knots, and 2 more with Odin's ravens. Each design is taken from original celtic and viking carvings. Each corner has a celtic weave corner. It's pretty intense and takes 10+ hours on a Carvewright.
 

Echd

C
User
Interesting response. I'll be interested to see what you come up with.

On the more mundane side of things I'm drawing up some grips for a heavily abused single six that belongs to a coworker, but I just can't settle on a design. The frame of this very early single six was not in production long and few aftermarket grips exist, and no working models for me to steal were out there, so it has been an excuse for me to dust off the f360 and practice. Practical parts have never been an issue for me but ergonomic and stylish is definitely a problem...
20220225_160338.jpg

I'm currently working on some larger "wraparound" style grips- think s&w conversion grips- to cover some damage to the back strap and bottom of the grip frame. No matter what I do they look a little too modern for a six shooter... which can be done charmingly, but which I'll have to stumble into through trial and error, I feel.

The grips pictured look decent if you like the angular look I experimentally added, but they are thin and insubstantial, and when I make them chunkier they end up losing the look I want.
 

mkepke

Mark
Senior User
Hey JD951 - might be too late for you now but Onefinity has a ‘bring your own controller’ option as of several months ago.

Ps who’s making replica Whitworth rifles?

-Mark
 

JD951

New User
dusty
Hey JD951 - might be too late for you now but Onefinity has a ‘bring your own controller’ option as of several months ago.

Ps who’s making replica Whitworth rifles?

-Mark
IIRC you can order the Onefinity without a controller but I'm pretty much settled on the Longmill at the moment. Like I said, I like open source stuff. The Carvewright ended any desire for proprietary equipment. I think what most woodworkers miss and/or don't understand about CNC is that there is no software out there that does it all for what we want. You'll have to be able to manipulate files in a couple packages to get to the final product quite often.

Whitworth repops- only current maker is Pedersoli and it's not quite a repop of what the Confederate Army bought. It's closer to what was sold commercially to civilians in England at the time. The one I'm working with is a Parker Hale. Guy who owns it does shoot it with the correct paper patch hexagonal twist bullets. He also has two Parker Hale Volunteers, one is NIB. I've shot both the Whitworth and Volunteer and they certainly have some quirks from Civil War muskets.
 

mkepke

Mark
Senior User
The Onefinity has some proprietary parts like the ‘feet’ and z carriage but the wear parts are industry standard I think: steppers, ballscrews/nuts, rails, wiring, monitor. Already discussed the controller.

Software-wise I’m using Carveco Maker, Inkscape (for 2d) and blender (for 3D). Probably will switch to VCarve shortly because there is no affordable hobbyist perpetual licensing for Carveco products.

-Mark
 

JD951

New User
dusty
The Onefinity has some proprietary parts like the ‘feet’ and z carriage but the wear parts are industry standard I think: steppers, ballscrews/nuts, rails, wiring, monitor. Already discussed the controller.

Software-wise I’m using Carveco Maker, Inkscape (for 2d) and blender (for 3D). Probably will switch to VCarve shortly because there is no affordable hobbyist perpetual licensing for Carveco products.

-Mark
And that's another reason I like the Onefinity.

On software, I need to take a look at Blender. I'm liking Inkscape more and more as a substitute for Corel. When I started evaluating what software I wanted to run with, I looked at Carveco but quickly dismissed them as I'm not a fan of not owning the software and being tagged every month so I can keep using my machines.
 

mkepke

Mark
Senior User
Agree on software subscriptions but thought I’d trial Carveco before committing to Vectric ‘just in case’.

Will have to take a leap of faith on VCarve since the trial version is fairly crippled.

-Mark
 

jaustin

john
Corporate Member
I went from carvewright to the onefinity.
One thing I wish they would let you do is manually change the feed while running. Once it programed you can not change it while its running.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
IIRC you can order the Onefinity without a controller but I'm pretty much settled on the Longmill at the moment. Like I said, I like open source stuff. The Carvewright ended any desire for proprietary equipment. I think what most woodworkers miss and/or don't understand about CNC is that there is no software out there that does it all for what we want. You'll have to be able to manipulate files in a couple packages to get to the final product quite often.

Whitworth repops- only current maker is Pedersoli and it's not quite a repop of what the Confederate Army bought. It's closer to what was sold commercially to civilians in England at the time. The one I'm working with is a Parker Hale. Guy who owns it does shoot it with the correct paper patch hexagonal twist bullets. He also has two Parker Hale Volunteers, one is NIB. I've shot both the Whitworth and Volunteer and they certainly have some quirks from Civil War muskets.
I agree the CAM software will not do it all, but thats the part that people who get into CNC dont understand. CAM software is designed for programming. While many have some rudimentary modeling tools, they are not design tools (CAD). To use a CNC to its potential (and possibly up to the users expectations, you need to be fluent in both) . This is why many people who get CNC machines end up letting them sit in the corner, unused. I use Aspire and it has some very good design capability but pales in comparison to a real 3D CAD systems capabilities and ease of use.
 

SJWiehe

Steve
Corporate Member
I went from carvewright to the onefinity.
One thing I wish they would let you do is manually change the feed while running. Once it programed you can not change it while its running.
I don't know what software you are using to drive the CNC. On Mach 3/Mach 4 you can change the feedrate while the G-code is running. I would think that would also be the case with other cnc controller software but I don't have any experience with them.
 

mkepke

Mark
Senior User
I don't know what software you are using to drive the CNC. On Mach 3/Mach 4 you can change the feedrate while the G-code is running. I would think that would also be the case with other cnc controller software but I don't have any experience with them.
It's a limitation of the default controller used with the Onefinity that you can't change the feedrate while running. The gcode runs in some sort of 'pre-compiled' form, so its not possible to make changes on the fly.

If one opts to source a controller other than the default, then of course, the sky's the limit.

-Mark
 

jaustin

john
Corporate Member
It's a limitation of the default controller used with the Onefinity that you can't change the feedrate while running. The gcode runs in some sort of 'pre-compiled' form, so its not possible to make changes on the fly.

If one opts to source a controller other than the default, then of course, the sky's the limit.

-Mark
I have the controller with the software to control it from onefinity, With my cnc mill I run it with mach3 and like their version alot better.

I didn't want to go through building a controller for the Onefinity, hope one day they can make the changes to controll the speed.
 

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