Anyone here run a cnc wood router?

[Pete.]

I need some parts cut from MDF. Should all come from half a sheet or thereabouts.

Is there any member here could cut me some bits then post them to me?
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[ride_to_die]

I'm a fair distance away from you but if you're really struggling and can get me the mdf and some dxfs, I'll cut it depending on the complexity. I've access to a couple of cnc machines.
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I'm not here for a long time, I'm here for a good time.

[-]

Without hijacking the thread, I'll soon be needing something similar but on a larger scale.
I'm converting a VW Transporter into a camervan. As it was a T5 LWB Shuttle the standard flat pack furniture will need doctoring to fit, so I want to make my own out of Superva or Vohringer gloss ply.

My plan is to mock up templetes in Correx plastic sheeting then use them to create a CAD or similar file that a CNC machine can use.

The question I'm a bit stuck about is how to convert the templates into a file that the CNC machine can use. Is there a way to scan the pieces in somehow?
If not, I'll have to draw out the cad files manually by contless measurements around each curved profile.
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TZR250 2MA road, TZR250 1KT road, TZR250 2MA race, TDR250, YZF-750R Boost colours.
Jaguar S Type 3.0 V6 Sport R, VW Transporter T5 GP LWB Shuttle 140ps DSG.

[nowhere.elysium]

How big are the pieces? I'm fairly close to Pete, so can get them to him without too much hassle. However, there are three things to consider:
One, the size of the machine - it's a 1200*1200 cutting bed, although I usually run it with a sacrificial bed of 900*900
Two, whether MDF is really the best material, because
Three, I've been signed of work for a month as a result of poor fume extraction from the laser cutters I also operate.

I also have a tiny baby CNC router at home (with a 4th axis spindle) that I'm in the process of retrofitting with USB-compliant control electronics, that can probably be pressed into doing small parts sooner than I'd originally planned for.

mpd72 - the only real way of getting the templates into a file that the CNC machines will understand is by measuring them, lots. Personally, I'd run with doing a crude measurement pass, blocking out the shape in some CAD software, and then refining it progressively - it means that you're guaranteed to have something to work from at all points in the transcription process.

As a final caveat to all of this, once I'm back at work, I'm trying to get them to buy a proper 3000*2000 CNC router, so it can process whole sheets in a single pass, as opposed to the limited scope I have at my disposal at the moment.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[Pete.]

Biggest piece would be 200x1100mm, so not that large or heavy. MDF because it has a good smooth finish and easy to hand-finish to shape.

I can't draw 3d models in CAD but I can in sketchup. Are they difficult to convert?
____________________
a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[nowhere.elysium]

Sketchup produces some really shonky 3D geometry. It'll work, if what you're after doesn't have any fine details in it, but it's the 3D equivalent of designing on the back of a napkin.
Provided you can save the 3D file as an .stl or .obj it should work fine, although I'd appreciate having the 2D CAD drawings to go with them, just in case there are any weird scaling artefacts to contend with.

What's the thickness?
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[Pete.]

12mm and 18mm I think. I can draw 2d cad just not 3d, or at least I haven't learned to yet.
____________________
a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[BTTD]

[Pete.]

[BTTD]

I was replying to mpd72 who seemed to be asking something different to your opening post. Sorry, thread derail over.
Out of curiosity, what is it you're making?

[ScottT]

Guess i'm getting old, get some wood and a saw measure and cut them out.

Measure, make templates, convert into computer files then get a playstation to cut them out wtf!!!


This is why two 20 something lads that worked for me couldnt replace a lightbulb in the mens toilet recently, but they can do allsorts of thing on minecraft!!!!! No wonder Halfords can get away with charging to change light bulbs or wiperblades because a computer cant do it.

[duhawkz]

[BTTD]

That's why I asked what Pete was making.
It sounds like a somewhat complex 3D shape and its mirror image.
CNC is the way to go, especially if you're doing multiple items.


mpd72 was talking about fitting out a van. Seemed to me that if you're making full size templates that job would be quicker with a router using the templates and maybe a few jigs unless you're going full production of van conversion kits.

[MarJay]

[-]

[nowhere.elysium]

[ScottT]

[Jewlio Rides Again LLB]

[Pete.]

Ironic isn't it, that you're denegrating the use of technology in favour of a manual skill when the part I want to make is a casting pattern for a cast iron straight edge, which I need to hand-finish some parts flat, straight and parallel to better than a hundredth of a millimeter. I can't buy the tool I need so I'm going to have one cast for me and make it.

I have no woodworking skills to speak of and I can't afford to have that airborne sawdust in my workshop in amongst precision instruments that can register the bend in my workshop floor slab as I walk around, so I'm looking for the easiest way to get a pattern cut and a CNC router fits the bill.
____________________
a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[BTTD]

[duhawkz]

[Pete.]