Helping students make a CNC Router Table

[Bill Griggs]

I was recently fortunate to be asked to advise a group of college students who were building a CNC Router Table. It was a fun project and a successful one. The students were from Morrisville College. We designed and built a 3 axis CNC Router table made from aluminum and steel. The router has a 54"x61"x6" cutting area and features a Gecko Drive controller. For software we used Mastercam and Mach3.

Bill

[Bill Griggs]

The first Cut with the machine.

[Keith Outten]

Congratulations to the students of Morrisville College who participated in this project. The fruit of their labor will provide others with a beautiful machine and each of the team members will take something with them that will last a lifetime.

Thanks for sharing the videos Bill, I enjoyed every minute.......

Keith

[Mike Heidrick]

Very Joes esque. What were your duties Bill? Pretty cool. Next semester - Team 5 - Dust collection.

[Bill Griggs]

Your welcome Keith. That is high praise from someone who takes so much time, effort and love to build up a great community like SawMillCreek.

Bill

[Bill Griggs]

Very Joes esque. What were your duties Bill? Pretty cool. Next semester - Team 5 - Dust collection.

Mike,

You are correct the machine does have quite a bit of Joe in it. The students used a set of plans for my Warp Drive Z axis (my design) and a set of plans from the Joescnc Hybrid. Base on their study of the plans they designed a new machine with similar but unique features of it's own.

Their machine featured a welded base that is different from the Joes. It featured a welded full length contact surface instead of s suspended rail set. It also had a dual 8020 X axis, fully trammable head and spoil boad. Lots of little details that are not apparent in the pictures. I would say this machine is Joes second cousin from Hollywood. All blinged out.

My duties were as an adviser. It started with a class trip to my workshop to study my highly modified joescnc router. Since I had changed my Z axis and Y carriages to my own design parts it was a good chance for the student to see some possibilities. I provided them with a pre-release version of my Warp Drive Project Plans. I also worked with each axis team and helped them iron out early problems. I was consulted on most of the purchases and suggested alternatives whenever needed. Since this was a class focused on manufacturing processes and machining skills the students didn't have to skimp like most of us garage builders do. Having access to Haas Machining centers, Bridgeport mills, rapid prototyping machines and an entire 3 workshops full of tools made this a very stout router.

It was a great project to be involved in. For me it was a two way learning experience. I shared what I knew and also got to try my hand at metalwork. I had used a Sieg minimill before but it is nothing compared to a Bridgeport or Haas machining center. I picked up quite a bit sitting through many of the classes along with the students. Never stop learning.

Bill


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