Revision as of 03:40, 8 April 2013

THIS IS A NON-FINAL DRAFT VERSION
THE CONTENTS IS WORK IN PROGRESS AND LIKELY INCORRECT AND SHOULD BE IGNORED UNTIL THIS HEADER IS REMOVED

Equipment / CNC Model Mill

A model mill for 3D subtractive prototyping, 3D scanning and PCB milling.

Our Roland MDX-40A Model Mill

Summary

The MDX-40A is a full-featured CNC (computer numerical control) mill capable of cutting jeweler's wax, resins, chemical wood, acrylic and wood. It is ideal for quickly and easily creating high-quality prototypes, parts and models.

http://www.rolanddga.com/products/milling/mdx40/

Capacity: 305 x 305 x 105mm
Rate (X,Y): 50mm/sec
Rate (Z): 30mm/sec
Spindle Speed: 4500 to 15000rpm
Resolution: 0.01mm
Materials: Plastics (ABS, Delrin/Acetal, Nylon, Acrylic), tooling board, wood, and modeling wax, PCBs
Includes scanning head

Here are some examples we've made on the Model Mill (please add a photo of yours any time you do a job!)

Using the Mill

Owners

The Owners are those who have volunteered to be in charge of the equipment, organising maintenance, training others to use it, and generally being a point of contact. The current Owners of this item are:

If you have any questions, problems or concerns around the laser cutter, please use the mailing list thread:

Log : MDX40 Model Mill

Training

YOU CAN ONLY USE THE MODEL MILL IF YOU HAVE BEEN TRAINED
and have been added to the Trained Users list by one of the Owners

To get trained on the model mill and be added to the qualified user list, you will need to arrange for a training session with one of the Model Mill Owners.

If you'd like to arrange training, please see:

Model Mill Training

Health and Safety

COMMING SOON

Instructions

Software

vPanel

ClickMill

ClickMILL is a program that lets you perform simple milling operations without a model (3D shape data). It allows you to perform drilling, chamfering and surface levelling and to cut flat panels to size in rectangular or circular shapes.

SRP Player

Cut2D

Manufactures product page

Cut2D is easy to use. The software automatically compensates for the cutter diameter and geometry when calculating toolpaths, so you simply select the shapes to machine and Cut2D takes care of the rest.

Cut2D opens CAD drawings and vector designs from most drawing packages and includes filters for the following industry standard file formats: DXF, DWG, EPS, AI & PDF files

Very simple projects can also be drawn directly in Cut2D.

Multiple designs can be imported and combined.

Cut2D allows the you to preview the calculated tool paths in a 3D window to see exactly what the machined part will look like.

Cut2D Tutorials These tutorials are very good and are your best resource for learning how to use this software.

CopperCAM

Manufacture's site for CopperCAM

An essential part of producing milled printed circuit boards is the ability to convert the Gerber photoplot files produced by most PCB layout tools to a format readable by CNC mill software to either isolate traces and pads or to "rub out" all copper on a board except traces and pads. You also need a tool to convert the common Excellon drill files to CNC language to drill the through holes and vias in the circuit board.

CopperCAM is a program for engraving and isolation routing. It only provides the Gerber and drill file conversion and does not provide any machine control. The exported files should be loaded and run via the vPanel software for download to the mill.

Tips & Tricks

COMMING SOON

Maintenance

The maintenance of the Model Mill is carried out by the Owners, with some basic maintenance being carried out by Users on every job.

Maintenance Schedule

Continuous Maintenance (Every job, done by all Model Mill Users)

Hover all the inside of the mill, and under it. Do not blow the dust, it goes everywhere!
Clean the mill with a
Clean any debris off laser bed and surround using soft brush

Basic Maintenance (done by Model Mill Maintainers)

STUFF TO GO HERE

Maintenance Log

Installed on 21st March 2013.

Maintenance Shopping List

Further Information

Installation

Purchase

MP-ROTO-MDX40AE (mill - £4,695)
RL-ROTO-TS30SCAN (scanner head - £295)
Selection of tooling (???)
Sample selection of materials (???)

Repairs

Expected on-going maintenance costs are expected to be very low if maintained correctly. Two areas that will need watching for repair are:

Spindle drive belt expected life 1000's of Hours (Supplier holds in stock) ~£10
Spindle assembly (bearings fail) 10000 Hours MTBF (Supplier holds in stock) £195. It is suggest that when this starts to fail we buy a second spindle assembly and then repair the first, the bearings can be had for <£20.

Material Suppliers

Related Machines

Here are other machines available in this class:

Machine	URL	Price (UKP)	Size - X	Size - Y	Size - Z	Notes
iModela	link	500	80	55	26
Heiz S400	link	1595	400	300	110
Modela Pro MDX-540	link	13995	500	400	155	Plastic resin and light metal, 400 to 12,000 rpm,
Modela MDX-20	link	2799	200	150	60	Wood, Plaster, Resin (modeling wax, styrenform), Chemical wood, Aluminum (A5052 according to JIS),Brass, 6500 rpm, includes scanning head

@@ Line 71: / Line 71: @@
 ===ClickMill===
+ClickMILL is a program that lets you perform simple milling operations without a model (3D shape data). It allows you to perform drilling, chamfering and surface levelling and to cut flat panels to size in rectangular or circular shapes.
 ===SRP Player===

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