I admit I am a bit of a makergeek. Well in fact thats a great understatement. I already own 2 3d printers, and build all kind of things whenever i get the chance. If you have followed this account just a tiny bit I am sure you know that.
But there is still more machines that i dont have , than i have - time to do something about that. A little over a week ago a huge packet arrived. Something i have wanted to own for a very long time, but have also feared a bit because I know it is a rabbithole of the deepest kind.
It is indeed, as I now know, and you will too if you follow along for the next couple of posts.
The machine is a 3 axis CNC-machine. A shapeoko from the US of A. American ingenieurs make some amazing stuff. I have spent quite some times trying to find exactly the right kind of desktop machine. It had to sturdy enough to be able to handle aluminium and cheap enough that I could afford it. I also had to be able to get spare parts and especially milling bits, but much - much more on that later.
Shapeoko resellers in the EU comes down to very few. I found a homepage called robotshop which has a French department. I decided to order from them. It was very reasonably priced (for a cnc mill) at app 1200 Euros excluding the spindle(but with free shipping in EU).
Carbide3d who make the Shapeoko recommend buyind a Dewalt or Makita HandRouter that use the voltage in your local area(which I find to be a good advice). I bought mine at the danish equivalent of home-depot called Silvan. It cost me app.400 euros
I profoundly enjoy unboxing new toys and this was no exception. It is always fun to fill the living room with cardboard boxes and just stand there looking at all the parts. But is wont last forever. I had to start assembly.
I have found a space in my workshop, where i just managed to squeeze in a table that fits the dimensions of the Shapeoko. The work area is app. 40X40 cm but the machine is almost double that in both dimensions.
I got all the parts laid out, checked that nothing was missing, downloaded the instructions for assembly and got working (and forgot to take pictures because I got carried away)
the assembly was very easy and I experienced no major hickups. the parts fit well together and it took me only about an hour or so to get the machine assembled. then I downloaded the free cam software and tested the machine.
this first test was just "jogging" the machine (which apparently is cnc slang for moving manually along the axis) this worked well (which was a sign that I had gotten the wiring right) and so the next thing was to do the "hello world" run, but since my router hadnt arrived I had to call it a day and wait with that part , and so do you my reader.
I hope you enjoyed this post and want to follow me on what turned out to be a (mental) journey into unknown land. If so stay tuned for the coming posts
Im EvilHippie, a compulsive creative and jack o' trades. If you want to know more about me, check out my introduction post here
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