Congrats on your buy!

My cnc has been a ton of fun to use and has expanded the flourish for my woodworking projects. Hope it's as much fun for you.

You need to set some time to learn either CAD or 3d modeling to really get the most out of it if you don't know it already.

 

Congrats on your buy!

My cnc has been a ton of fun to use and has expanded the flourish for my woodworking projects. Hope it's as much fun for you.

You need to set some time to learn either CAD or 3d modeling to really get the most out of it if you don't know it already.

What CAD/CAM sequence do you go through to generate gcode to drive the router? I am a competent SketchUp user but it needs some extensions to generate gcode.

 

Congrats! Depending on what you hope to make with it you might include with your plans to add a way to clamp boards vertically at minimum within the X/Y travel area. Even better would be a way to adjust the angle of what is clamped. For furniture fabrication especially.
4D

 

Congrats on your buy!

My cnc has been a ton of fun to use and has expanded the flourish for my woodworking projects. Hope it's as much fun for you.

You need to set some time to learn either CAD or 3d modeling to really get the most out of it if you don't know it already.

Thanks for the encouragement. Looking forward to all the possibilities. I'm getting jigs ready to start wood flag production so my first application for my new machine will be along these lines. I've become somewhat accustomed to hiring out complicated design tasks, etc, on Upwork, so hopefully that'll continue to be a good resource for me.

Any suggestions for a CAD or 3D modeling program to start learning?

Congrats! Depending on what you hope to make with it you might include with your plans to add a way to clamp boards vertically at minimum within the X/Y travel area. Even better would be a way to adjust the angle of what is clamped. For furniture fabrication especially.
4D

Sounds like I need to get my 4D thinking cap on. I've seen a rotisserie-like cnc setup before, but I can't quite picture the vertical board clamp up. Is there a term I can google that would illustrate this?

 

Sounds like I need to get my 4D thinking cap on. I've seen a rotisserie-like cnc setup before, but I can't quite picture the vertical board clamp up. Is there a term I can google that would illustrate this?

Your CNC frame isn't ideal for the task, but the table it mounts on might be where such a fixture can mount. Have a look at: Clamping Fixture
For reference, I taught furniture design and fabrication for 4.5 decades before I retired recently. I've tried to document many of the tips and tricks I came up with using a CNC on that blog. At the bottom of the linked page are links to move to newer or older posts of mine.
4D

 

Good choice. A friend in the neighborhood and in our local woodworking club has a OneFinity and really speaks highly of how it performs.

 

Here is the link to a YouTube video that might be of interest to you. He incorporates a vertical clamping station into the rolling cabinet and also shows how it can be used to make CNC joints. You can design your own joints for boxes like teddy bear heads for a children's box or crosses for a bible box.

I also suggest joining the Onefinity Forum, there are a lot of helpful people ready to help you out. https://forum.onefinitycnc.com

By the way I have a Onefinity Elite Journeyman CNC (still in the boxes at the moment) that I need to get setup but I need the CNC that is where it needs to go for 2 projects before I get it out of the way to set up the Onefinity.

 

Congrats on your purchase. Now, before you set up a permanent spot for your machine, give this some thought. I see your 'Y" axis is open, so by using some form of "tiling" software, you can create signs or other things that are longer than your machine working area. You are not limited to 32 inches or what ever it is. I use VCarve Pro, have had it for years. My machine has 24 x 36 inches of actual working area. BUT, today I used it to "drill 12 holes in a 1/2 inch thick event backdrop that is 32" x 60". The holes are for "hanger bolts" that will be attached to shelves and bolt through the backdrop. The CNC did nothing but use a 1/8th dia end mill to create 12 pockets 5/16 inch dia for the 1/4 inch bolts to fit through. VCarve has the "tiling" feature that creates multiple files that allow me to create a file with 24 inches of "Y" cutting area, so I ended up with 2 files. Run the first one and cut the holes for the lower 24 inches of the board, then relocate the board so the new xy, 0 is where the 24 inch mark is and run the second file. Using this feature, you can make a project that is only limited by your ability to support the longer piece with stands. So, save a little extra room for that long piece. My table is on casters so I can move it around a little. For a better understanding, check out YT videos for Vectric software "Tiling" feature.
Here are a couple of pics showing how I cut material longer than 24 inches. These marquee letters are 48 inches long and vary in width from 32 - 36 inches. In both pics, I have a roller stand under the part that has already been cut as the CNC is working on the last file.

Oh, don't forget to build a boom for your dust collection. My DIY thing has been working great. Absolutely no issues.
Good luck. Post some pics when you get set up and going.

 

Thanks for helping me understand how this tiling feature works. I'm aware my machine can do this but didn't know what it was called. Its place in my shop will definitely allow for some good-sized pass-through pieces. I'm getting into making wood flags to fund another project of mine, and their dimensions are usually 37" x 19-1/2", so 5" larger than the 32"x32" cut field of my CNC. Exploring this tile feature is one of the first things I want to learn as it applies to my venture into flag making.

I'd love to learn and use Vetric, but from what I've been told, it's not cheap, so hopefully there's another design platform that will let me tile.

 

Just a friendly tip... When I got my new CNC, I was so happy and eager to start. Even though I didn't know much about it, I forged ahead. Got my first file ready and loaded into the machine, thought it all over and hit the start button. The software program promptly started the router, then plunged the 1/4 inch End Mill bit straight down into the board and started left. That broke the bit! No way I could react quick enough to hit the Emergency Stop button. DANGIT! I forgot to set my Z=0. Don't be like Mike! Set your Z=0 for the board you are going to use.

 

Such a simple but amazingly important procedural step...zero yo machine. I fully expect to make all the rookie mistakes, so at least I won't be in bad company.

 

I'll add to the list; after I built my machine the very first thing I did was to cut a simple path with a 1/8" bit (cheap set of 12 for $10). I didn't realize my Z zero was set wrong so the machine moved about 15" to start the cut and plunged about 1/2" deep where it started to cut and made it about 1/8" before it snapped. I just laughed, rewrote my program, and inserted another bit where it cut perfectly the second time.

 

I forgot to zero one time right after I got my first CNC and buried a 0.25 end mill in the spoil board and it was still trying to go down with the collet nut spinning against the spoil board. That makes a lot of smoke in a hurry and fills up a small shop in a hurry. It also leaves a reminder in plain sight to ZERO THAT BIT.

 

That makes a lot of smoke in a hurry and fills up a small shop in a hurry.

Yes, it does!!!