9 replies to this topic

[Greg Luckett]

I am wondering if any of our boat builders have built a CNC machine?

[PAR]

I have, what do you want to know? There are several videos and blogs available showing some unique assemblies.

[Greg Luckett]

PAR, thanks for asking.
Personal opinions, experiences with the building and operating, expectations vs hind sight evaluations, that sort of thing PAR. I have been watching videos online and there is a wealth of information but it is mostly by places wanting to sell CNC related plans, parts, etc. I have been trying to sift through lots of postings too but am finding it difficult to determine what is valid for my searching. I do not want to build a machine and then find that if I had chosen a different one that it would work better. I wonder about software, accuracy of the tooling, vibration that adversely affects the tooling, noise levels, etc. I want a CNC for carving into wood and plastic, for making pictures in those materials. I currently use a Carvewright machine but it has many problems with keeping it running. I want a CNC that I can easily repair, does not often need repairs, and that will complete a carving without BS shutdowns and material losses.

[Greg Luckett]

I do not know this for sure but I think the one Graham built is primarily for cutting out shapes from panels. The purpose of the CNC will play a major part of deciding which one is right. I want to do signs, furniture, boxes, etc., with custom carvings on them. This is some very detailed types of carving.

[Oyster]

If you doing this for resale, there are numerous wholesale outlets that are set up to do just that in just about anything you want. I have a friend in the business that has just sold his because of the amount of time to set the machine up for his return on the effort. He had one of the newer Shop Bot ones too. Just a thought...
By the way good to see you surface again. Hope things are getting back to normal from your recent events down south.

[goyousalukis]

I have a CNC shark from Rockler and I am pretty happy with it. I too considered making one, but I think my accuracy would not end up being great. I am very happy with the software that comes with the Shark - V-Carve. After around 2.5 years of use, I think I need to replace the bearings. The x & y axis is not 100% perpendicular anymore. It was perfect when I first set it up. The support person seemed to think I haven't lubricated it enough. That may be possible. I use it mostly for engraving, and it does fine for that. I have also done some prototyping for robot components and other things.

Here is an example of a simple carving.

 FlagCase.jpg   110.23K   7 downloads

Regards,
Justin

[Greg Luckett]

Thanks Justin. I have wondered about those Sharks. Can it carve graphics and logos as well as the letters?

I used my Carvewright machine a few years ago to carve dolphins and seahorses which then became part of the Spindrift 12s build. I think a flat bed cnc would be handy for making boat details too. It is interesting that you are making robotic parts. I would like to know more about that but this forum is probably not the right place for that discussion. You might email me if you like.
Thanks again.

[goyousalukis]

Greg,

Yes, you can do logos and such. I have attached a photo of a plaque I made out of Corian solid surface material. In this case, I routed out the Army patch and then spray painted it with "rock" textured paint and sanded the paint off the top surface. It does take some work to get from a black and white logo to the point where you are ready to start. There is free software called inkscape. I use that to take a b&w logo and convert it to vectors. Then I use either VCarve, or a CAD software to clean it up.

A great place to check out is Vectric's forum: http://www.vectric.com/forum/ . Look in the VCarve section and you will see some great examples. Many of those guys are running high end Shop bots and such, but it is the same software that comes with the shark. Laguna also makes a smaller CNC now, but I think it is in the $6K range.

Another great technique is to rout a recess for a logo, then fill the recess with tinted epoxy. Then after it cures, you sand it flush, and it looks like a perfectly fitted inlay.

I just recieved plans for a Spindrift 11N, and I plan on using the CNC for some details like that. (There, I tied my post to boat-building!).

Feel free to email me at Justin AT Ahrens.net if you have questions.

Regards,
Justin

Attached Files

•  2012-09-13 13.52.39.jpg   111.94K   2 downloads

[Greg Luckett]

I am most interested in hearing from those who have built a CNC machine, such as and I thought someone had posted about it on this thread but now I cannot find it. My Carvewright does some very remarkable work but I would like a larger flat bed CNC that would allow me to take my CAD drawing and use CAM for creating repetitive products. Labor is my most expensive and least available item. The right CNC should fix a lot of that problem.

[m.marino]

Have designed and helped in my own build and would gladly help others in the process.

Michael