Search the Community

I am looking to build a pc for my cnc plasma table. Does anyone know of any cases that work well in a metal shop. there will be sparks, lots of dust and it will be outdoors under a covered area. Do you think a rugged laptop would be a better choice? thanks

Has anyone been able to figure out how to get NetBEUI support on a Windows 10 machine? This seems to be an issue that commonly shows up with old CNC machines that still use NETBEUI for file sharing, and we have a printing press that has a similar problem. It's an old prepress computer running Windows Server 2000 and I've narrowed it down to Window 10's lack of support for NetBEUI protocol, which appears to have been removed since Windows 7. The press's computer appears to use this ancient protocol for its SMB traffic. Manually copying the netbdf.inf and nbf.sys (grabbed from the WIndows Server 2000 machine) into the Windows INF and System32/drivers folder respectively produces an error when attempting to manually install it as a feature in the Ethernet Properties of the NIC, being blocked by "group policy". I could probably enable TCP/IP on the old machine, but that would be an even bigger security risk in my opinion than enabling NETBEUI on a Windows 10 machine, given the press's computer is running Windows NT 4.0, so I think I'm best off getting netBEUI support on the replacement machine to work.

CNC Project: RC Scania SO finally the CNC is in the shape to make something Love Trucks , owning a RC scaled one has always been a dream. This is the first ever 3D model i made. New to fusion 360 as well. So took a lot of time and i learnt a lot. Being a little weak on the arts side modeling is difficult for me. The model made is while keeping in mind that i have to machine it as well. So the little details even which could have been easily included were ignored. The very prominent is, this cabin is fixed with the front and bumpers etc ... Biggest issue in copying was that i had no blue-print and of course, Amateur skills Next will be readying the cabin/ sanding painting and after that will start working on the electronics and mechanics. Finishing and stuff like that will be done in the end. P1 P2

I own a 60W C02 Laser from China. As the technology increases we see more of this technology becoming more affordable and widely available, like GlowForge. I know your team has some machinist and maybe they would love this idea. Im looking for alternative routes to keep my laser cool. It is already liquid cooled as most are, however, it is archaic tech. Most use "water chillers" some use a bucket with distilled water and freeze packs. I think maybe since water cooling PCs are hit or miss, maybe the gaming community can use PC parts on an industrial laser to keep it water cooled to spec. Would make for a great episode, plus your guys get something cool for the shop and then someone with proper equipment knowledge and ability to explain why or why not this would work can answer my question, it is possible? Or at least build an RGB GAMING *said in linus's gamer voice* c02 laser

New to the forum. Watching LTT youtube for years. A little bit background about myself: Electrical Engineer in the states that travels from work site to work site frequently. Has a ThinkPad E15 Gen2 issued by my current employer. I always enjoy working with 2 monitors when possible. So I started looking up cheap 15.6" portable USB-C monitors on Aliexpress. I end up got one for around $80. Nothing fancy, 1080p and supports single USB-C connection for both Video and power supply. The seller claims that the monitor supports reverse charging to my laptop if connected with the power brick came with my laptop. This is one of the most important feature for me. I don't want to connect seperate HDMI, USB power cable every time when I need to use the monitor. A signle USB-C cable solution is optimal for people processing cheap laptop that only came with one USBC/TB port and also need it for charging. Anyway. The monitor works ok for its major functions, the panel seemed to be even better then the 300nits junk came with my ThinkPad. But I don't like the cheap cover type stand that came with it, you know, like those cover stands for ipads. Not very stable, need a good surface, sometime would allow the monitor to slip etc. I want a foldable, stable, rigid stand for my cheap portable monitor, and it better looks cool! I found nothing existing based on these search criteria. Luckly, My monitor happens to have a VESA75 M4 bolt pattern at the back. So I can build one myself. First thing first, I chose to use some kind of friction hinge (Similar to the hinge in your laptop) to build any part of my stand that requires rotation. I found the following on Aliexpress, seemed to be easy to work with and has a lot of stiffness to keep my monitor stand straight. Then I fired up Fusion360 to create a design based on using 4 of these hinges. I chose to designed the components so that they can easly be laser cut out of 3 mm stainless steel or aluminum plates. Of course some features require drilling and tapping, and even CNC milling. The design will be mostly flat and stays within the projection footprint when folded behind my monitor. But will also unfold and become a more typical stand. People with sharp physics instinct probably already noticed that the base of the this stand is a bit too short to support the monitor from tilting in some daily angles. So I change the base design a little bit. Note that the part that will be on the front side of the monitor has been extended. This change of base design will make the overall footprint expand out of the projection area of the monitor when folded. Hense became less foldable and ugly. So I had to change the design of the VESA mount and center supporting bar. This also created some room of adaptability for different size portable monitors if needed. I also designed different size center support bars trying to accommodate different size monitors. I have sent drawings out for fabrication. If folks are interested in my little project I will keep posting updates. ----------------------------------------------------------------11/11/2022 Update---------------------------------------------------------------- The parts showed up in a DHL package yesterday. Of course being so cheap they had to miss a few features... They forgot to Drill and tap all the M2.5x0.45 mini screw holes! So I had to do it with a hand drill. I also had to file the Radius feature on the center support bar. But after all that. The thing assembles fine.

An odd topic that I am unsure if something people would be interested in here. It's techy. It allows you to interface servo motors with your computer. It makes machines come alive with potentially hundreds of IO to interface with the real world. It up-cycles old computers too. I am posting here because it seems like something Linus Tech Tips would be interested in in some sort of brief discussion, but not something to seriously look at. If someone wanted to make a VR chair, a full servo 3D printer, a robot arm, or something similar, this would be a great tool to use. LinuxCNC* (http://linuxcnc.org/) is a DIY CNC program for CAD/CAM. People have used this program and equipment to rebuild CNC machines weighing tens of thousands of pounds to making their own custom 3D printer. It's capability is large and is (relatively) easy to use compared to other industrial cards and programs. I would hail it as one of the best open-source programs to come out of the community behind Blender and Inkscape. I will also say I am not an expert in the full details about LinuxCNC, but I have used it to rebuild a Hardinge Superslant CNC lathe. A true expert would be someone named AndyPugh on the LinuxCNC Forum. https://forum.linuxcnc.org/ The program runs on Linux, and has a ready-to-install CD running Debian. It can run on any old PC and if the computer has a parallel port it can be used to control a plotter, laser cutter, or XY gantry. If anyone has used GRBL on an Arduino, this is a massive step up. However, where LinuxCNC really shines is its interface with Mesa. Mesa cards are ~$300USD and connect via a PCI or PCIe port to allow rapid communication to perform closed loop controls on servo drives. You can custom program in Ladder, C, and other methods if required. Mesa cards are made by PCW, and he is also a big member of the LinuxCNC forum. My latest LinuxCNC project was a Hardinge Superlant 3 Axis. It is a production CNC lathe that I purchased for $3k, however I have seen similar CNC machines go for $1 as companies want you to pay for the rigging to get rid of it (rigging cost me $900) and the number of people capable of taking an old machine like this are rare. I learned a lot about how data and communication is performed, as well as how motion control is done in the production of this machine. I am also looking at swapping out our other machine, a Deckel FP50CC/T, with LinuxCNC as well. The control case. A nightmare, I know. And yes, the computer is held in with a shoelace. My CNC used a Mesa 7i77 and a 7i64 to have enough IO to control the machine, and even then, I have 0 spare. I should have gotten more. They were from here: http://store.mesanet.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=69_73&product_id=214 http://store.mesanet.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=120&search=7i77 http://store.mesanet.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=110&search=7i64 *used to be known as EMC and may be referred to as such

Has anyone had a lot of experience with CNC machines? Are there any recommendations? Price over performance and other questions like that. Just thinking about doing some CNC projects and want to make sure I start off on the right foot. Thanks for all input. EDIT: Realized as I was on some other forums, that I should include price. I am thinking $500 give or take. But I am all up for creativity.

I am working on building my own custom case I have a design in cad but I need a machine shop that could cut out/mill the aluminum sheets. I can assemble it myself anyone know of a good cheap place on a fairly tight budget for a custom case. does protocase do this kind of stuff?

Hi! I was wondering, what is it when you have a air cooler AND a liquid cooler working together? I was looking into this, http://www.bequiet.com/en/watercooler/732 It looks like a air cooler, but with a mix on liquid cooling, but it's not full on liquid cooling, so what do you call a mix of it?

First thing first. I cant afford a CNC machine by any means at the moment ( i am talking about the Pre-built ones ). But if i could, i would have gone with x-carve ( I really wish i had seen x-carve before i started my project i could have save some money and time and would have build something better then i have ) I love CNCs. I started making one only because i found dirt cheap stepper motors in a junk yard ( aprox 2.6$/ motor and these were NEMA 17 ). At that time i knew what a CNC is but have absolutely no knowledge about torque, power, Voltage or controller of a stepper motor. So i brought em home n did hours n hours of reading to get the basics. I tested em with Arduino UNO directly first and was happy that all three of em were spinning at-least. If you are buying used motors from a store or from a junkyard here are some of the steps that can help in testing and making em run for long time. Make sure that the rotor rotates by hand. If it doesn't then most likely the motor is already dead. ( If the rotor doesn't rotate and power is given then it will die most probably anyways reason high current n heat resulting in damaging the coils ) this trick is if u are buying it from a junkyard with a 50 50 chance that it will work or not. If it rotates the second thing to check are the coils. So here's how i check if the coils are okay. I short all the motor wires ( off course the one that are outside that require driver or deliver power to motor )and then try to rotate the rotor by hand if its hard to move with shorted wires it means that the coils are good ( or at-least there is above 70% chance that the motor is alive ) Reconditioning If u have bought the motor from a junk yard i will really recommend to take it apart oil it n clean it just to make sure that rust or dirt aint stressing the motor. Most of the stepper motors are really easy to open like the one i bought had 8 screws that i had to un-screw to take it apart. Once opened clean all the dirt, check if the bearings are spinning fine give it some oil and close it back. Also you can paint the outer shell for aesthetics or to prevent it from rusting just in case its in bad shape. Dont forget to change the motor wires too as u dnt know their internal condition ( I am taking about wires not the winding here ) Now instead of 16 wires going from every stepper driver to the arduino UNO one should either buy a shield or make one. There was none available near me or affordable enough thats why i made my own. But if u can get a cheap one surely go for that. Making a PCB at home is really fun I designed my pcb in EasyEDA ( an online free to use software with huge component library and easy to use ) Printed it on a glaze paper Ironed that printed paper on the copper board ( ironed 3-4 min to make sure each and ever circuit line is transferred) Put it in warm water and peeled the glaze paper. Then i put it in the ferric chloride solution to etch In the last step i used petrol to clean of the black printer ink. Drilled holes with a 1mm drill bit Placed and soldered the components I tried to put the circuit on single side but its impossible. So used jumper wires. Also i changed some of the pins too, to make the circuit fit on single side. Later i found that the GRBL software doesnt allow remapping of all the pins so the end result PCB had some more jumper wires then i thought of. I really recommend to use jumper wires instead changing the pin numbers/re-mapping. Remapping the GRBL pins is really hectic. After you Arduino shield is ready burn in the GRBL code into your Arduino UNO and you will be ready to go. Tips In the step where u use iron to transfer the ink from paper to copper board, if u see that after peeling some circuit line is missed you can use permanent marker to draw that line and it will mend your circuit just fine. If the transfer step doesnt work out well you can repeat that step by cleaning it with petrol and using a newly printed glaze paper circuit. Once the board is completed make sure to test it. ( Its really a fun step too, that feeling when every thing is going according to plan ) The Y axis test The X axis test 2D drawing Test I will be back with the second version of this very same machine or you can say an upgraded version of this machine. I am not going to give up to make it better stable and accurate while keeping the cost as low as possible. Current total amount spend is around 65 USD($) up til this far. Nothing was bought from online stores.

Hi guys. My first post here so I thought I'd make it a good one. It's been a dream of mine to build a reservoir and integrate it into the window of a case for some time. I initially went down the path of having someone else (A very well known custom PC builder with a huge Youtube presence) do all of the design work and production for me, but after waiting nine months with no communication from them except to sometimes reply to an email giving me excuses as to why we'd blown out the initial six-week timeframe, I decided to do it myself. Here is where it all started. This was done up in paint hastily as a way to try and visualise what I was going for. Now, I have some design experience and could have done the next step myself, but as a high school teacher I rarely find the time and since we were in the middle of marking season, I decided to outsource the designing to a fantastic case modder in Italy, FlowMods. He was absolutely fantastic, and offered me a more than reasonable price. From top to bottom it measures at 570mm. Go measure that. YOU SEE THAT?! That's absolutely huge! So, now I had to source the case and acrylic block for machining. The block itself was actually quite cheap, but the shipping. Good lord. It was more than the damn block! And yet, it was still the cheapest option I had. From Sydney to Canberra it cost me $57 to ship it. The block itself was only $45. Here it is, and where it'll be sitting on the case window. My next job was to find a CNC shop with the equipment to machine acrylic this size. I eventually came across a shop called "Devilish Racing", who despite the name mostly built custom equipment for the Australian Defence Force. Naturally, Defence work took priority, so after about two and a half months I dropped by and picked up the freshly machined reservoir, threaded for M4 bolts to hold it to the window and G1/4 for the water cooling connections. He even cut the holes in the window for me, which was nice of him. So that was the easy part. Next came the polishing. This stage took about six hours in total. I needed a few things. 600 and 1200 grit sandpaper. Kerosene. Most people wet sand acrylic with water, but kerosene is more viscous than water, so I drowned my sandpaper in that instead. Learn from my mistakes and work in a well-ventilated area, because I started seeing my cat Naan Bread (Yes that's her name) talk to me about half an hour in. A drill and polishing attachments (Reasonably cheap). Brasso. WD-40. Plastx headlight polish. FW1 cleaning wax. As you can see, the reservoir was quite cloudy from the CNC process. So my first step was to hit it with my kerosene drenched 600 grit sandpaper. This took about an hour. As you can see, it looks much clearer already. Next step, 1200 grit sandpaper and even more kerosene. Another hour :'( The improvement was a bit harder to see this time, but it felt MUCH smoother. After this came the brasso and drill polishing kit. Thankfully this was nowhere near as physically taxing as the sanding and significantly faster. So it looks much clearer now. Brasso is fantastic stuff and was recommended to me by Ross at Devilish Racing (the CNC shop that produced the reservoir). The only problem was that it gunked up the threads. This was something I would have to deal with a little later on. So, this is where I used the Plastx. The reservoir was much clearer already, but still cloudy in some areas, especially those the polishing attachments couldn't reach. I neglected to take a photo of the reservoir immediately after hitting it with the Plastx, but you can see the impact it had in this photo where I'm cleaning out the threads with WD-40. So I found that even though I was doing this part by hand, I couldn't quite clear up the internal corners. I grabbed my Dremel kit and attached the small polishing tools to finish that job. Something I once again forgot to take a photo of. But here is the reservoir after, about to get another hit from some Plastx. As you can see, it's already very clean at this point. Following this, I gave it a final polish with some FW1 cleaning wax. Naturally, I only applied this to the outside. You don't want wax residue flowing through your loop. Here she is, looking crystal clean. Polishing is now complete, thank god. So with the polishing out of the way I now had to measure and cut the O-Ring cord to fit. Please ignore my pyjamas. You can usually use superglue for this bit, but I opted for an O-Ring connecting specific glue (Sureloc SL406 Cyanoacrylate). Here it is fused together. Looks good, hey? Nearly done now. The first step of sealing it up was to bolt down a select few of the screws so that everything was lined up. This is the part where I had to be most careful. If I overtightened a single bolt, the entire thing would be ruined. I set my electric screwdriver to its lowest torque setting so that at the slightest touch of resistance it would automatically stop. I lightly tightened each bolt three times after they had been fully inserted so ensure that there would be no leaks. I cannot stress enough how careful you have to be here. As soon as you feel resistance, move on and come back around to it. After tightening every single bolt in the first pass I found that the bolts I'd first done now needed additional tightening. Here it is all fastened and ready to begin filling for the leak test. SUCCESS! Here she is! Finished at last.

Hy to all of you reading this. Im currently thinking about building my own 3D printer... anyone with experience want to help me? I will attach a file with the electronic gear I plan to use. The main problem im facing right now is the frame.... there are no premade solutions on the internet so I was wondering what would be the best solution for making one myself. links 3d printer.docx

So I have one of these on order. What do you want to see cut? And any other laser owners out there?

So I bought a budget case, some generic Chinese brand Sama, not sure of the model. But I never liked the plexi window or the lack of venting on the front. Decided to draw something up in Fusion 360 and send it out to get fabricated. $20 and a day later, I had my two panels. I need to do a better job with the paint, butti think it turned out OK.

After watching We Built a CPU Water Cooler! and getting triggered, I thought I should make a waterblock with the machines I have at home. But as most internet haters I was lazy, I thought it seemed like a lot of work and shelved the idea. As often happens, things changed and I had to cool a thing for my internship. Instead of going out and buying a stock one (for at least $50) or waiting for one from China I decided to pick up the idea of making my own. The design is a simple take on the fin style waterblock. Since I don’t want to cut “slots” (full width cuts with the endmill) I decided on 7 thick fins with relatively large gap between them. The fin arrangement gives about 3 times the surface area compared to the ones used in the video. To simplify the machining, I just went with a basic acrylic lid with some threads and a chamfer on the top edge. I don’t have the money or time to get real fittings so I just drilled some holes. I started off with some 10mm aluminum barstock. Yeah copper would have about double the performance but I didn’t have any lying around. The first operation was just machining the holes in the aluminum block. Operation 1_1.mp4 To hold down the barstock I used some clamps. This is how it looked after the first operation. For the second operation I added some screw to the model before generating the toolpaths. This assures no collisions as I would need screws to hold the piece down. Operation 2_2.mp4 I used a tapered ballnose with a 0.75radius and 4mm shank, originally I was going to use a 1mm radius but it got clogged and broke. The coating (TiAlN) isn’t optimal for aluminum. This was my setup. Since I mostly machine wood, and plastics I really lack the stuff needed to do it properly (cooling, airblast, waterproof buildsurface). I used a spray bottle with a mixture of oil, water and dish soap(20%, 75%, 5%). The whole thing took like 4h, I could have sped it up dramatically by first roughing out with a larger endmill before the tapered one. This is how it looked before the final cutout pass. And this is the aftermath. This is the surface finishing after machining. I left the rough surface because it gives a larger area in contact with the water (not because it would be a big pain in the ass to swap tool to make the bottom surface flat). The acrylic lid was easy to machine. I used a 2-flute 6mm endmill and relatively deep cut per tooth to minimize the heating and risk of gumming up. Operation 3_1.mp4 This is how it looked after machining. This is the end result. By the time the photos were taken it has been running for a few days (until my crappy little pump died). Since I don’t have any real fittings I don’t want to actually cool my pc with it but if there’s any interest I can probably make a new one for a raspberry pi. I had to varnish the outside surface (not the cold side) too keep the aluminum from oxidizing. Thanks for reading, if you have any questions feel free to ask them, i'll try to answer everything. 3D model and files: https://a360.co/2JxkbUB

Hi All, Some background for those interested: Following on from a previous thread (forum link), I've been through a PCB revision, thrown out the NXP stuff and gone over to Microchip, and now have a second revision of my custom keypad project. This one consists of a dongle that does all the USB, and several keypads of different sizes. The keypads will all have CPLDs on them to talk to the dongle and handle the keypress events on the keypad. This allows me to keep costs down by only having a small 4-layer PCB, with all the keypads being cheap 2-layer ones. i.e. I'll plug the dongle into a full-sized keyboard and it will behave as a keyboard, or I could plug it into a smaller keypad and it will act as that. The dongle will have different profiles and such on some EEPROM on the dongle. The actual question: The first keypad I'm doing is a 4x5 switch layout, like a number pad, but with 20 keys instead of 17/18. I'm getting a friend with a 3D printer to do a proper encolsure, but need a plate to mount the keyswitches on. See attached photo for a rough idea of this. I know there's pre-made plates for standard keyboard layouts: https://mechboards.co.uk/product/universal-alu-plate/ but they don't give thicknesses, drawings, or other useful info. In order of preference, does anyone know: If anyone makes exactly what I'm after (4x5 cherry keys with some border around the edge so I can mount it to something). Drawings, dimensions, or any info I could use to speed up designing a plate myself. Specifically the thickness of plate required, as I already have the switch dimensions since having done the PCBs. A product like this that I could buy and then measure myself. It would also be helpful if anyone knows of any places in the UK that do cheap sheet metal machining if I can't find a COTS part. Thanks in advance. When all this is done I'll post code and build log stuff on the forum if anyone else is interested. The final version will have macro functionality and other fun bits.

Greetings fellow humans. I've got a build coming up in which money isn't really an issue so I want to do something special with the case. Can anyone recommend any 3d modeling software that is user friendly which I can use to draft up some ideas for cases, or side panels? Ideally that outputs files and data which can be used by a business that operates CNC machinery or does engravings etc. I have no prior experience with software like this which is why I'm looking for something not too difficult to use. -Eve

This might be wishful thinking but i have a block of aluminium and was wanting to get it cut to the rough shape of a ps4 controller. Anyone know if its possible to do it though machining? Drawing1.pdf Drawing2.pdf Drawing3.pdf

We build a CNC Router from CNC Router Parts! Check out CNC Router Parts: https://www.cncrouterparts.com/ Buy end mills: On Amazon: http://geni.us/8wIBq On Newegg: http://geni.us/DNYoA

Hey guys I have this very annoying issue. I have CNC machine and work station next to it. The CNC machine has its own built in computer Windows XP. The issue is that the CNC machine does not want to connect to internet so every time I wanna cut something I have to post an .nc file on a flash drive then unplug it from workstation and plug it in CNC machine and then open and send to cut. I tried several ways of direct connections with USB cables and stuff, but nothing worked. I wonder if there is some kind of USB hub where you can plug in your flash drive and plug in to two different computers at the same time and both of them to read the flash drive without any switch buttons. Or any kind of share system where I can post on 1 computer and then open in another one without extra work Hope somebody can help... Thanks in advance!

I seem to remember on some of the more custom and exotic cases on some LTT builds they sent out to a website that does custom machining for small batches such as a single case panel. I can't seem to find or remember what that site was. Can someone help me out?

Does anyone know if i could use the actual electronics from a all-in-one ink scanner printer, or you can't avoid making/buying a dedicated controller?

so i want/need to mill a water block out of tungsten for a project i am working on. does anyone have a good enough cnc machine to do this? thanks maybach123

Hello everyone, so I opened up my Blackwidow chroma today to clean it up, and I had this idea of what if I can instead of the enclosure that the blackwidow has, I can make my own with a CNC machine or even with hand work so I'm here to ask if there are any programs that I can use to model a blackwidow chroma frame and make an enclosure so I can use it to plan it out. I really don't want to spend a 100$+ on a new mechanical keyboard, and I regret my blackwidow choice, it was what I could buy before knowing that my country has any online computer shops.

Amazon: http://geni.us/39tX NCIX: http://bit.ly/1PFqMZ3 Is making your own water block feasible? Linus decided to test that out using his Scrapyard Wars 2 water block made on his neighbor's CNC machine.