Secure Material to CNC Machine
- Properly securing your material to the CNC machine is required for both safety and model quality. Materials can bow and flex as they are being cut, resulting in undesirable effects.
Both The K2 and Forest Scientific Router have a vacuum table that may be sufficient to hold your part in place, depending on its size and geometry. Screws are sometimes necessary to secure the part. Brass screws are desirable over steel ones as they are softer and will be less likely to damage the cutting tool if it happens to make contact with it. However, every effort in preparing the file and setting up the machine should be made in order to prevent this from happening.More complex milling jobs, such as those milling from multiple sides and requiring the material to be flipped between milling operations, will require additional consideration in securing and locating the the material on the machine.
- Verify correct file is loaded onto the CNC machine
Set Up CNC Machine
A number of settings must be made on the CNC machine before a job can be started:
- The project origin must be located in relation to the machine origin.
- The surface height and depth must be set
- The tools must be qualified.
Monitor the Job
The student must stay with the job as it is being milled on the CNC machine. It is possible to pause and resume a job as it cuts, if necessary. There are emergency stops on all CNC machines should the pause function not be sufficient.
Tool changes may require that the student contact the TA for assistance.
Clean CNC Machine + Room
After the job has finished, the student is required to clean the CNC machine and its environs of dust and cut material.
It may be necessary to clean during the milling process if large amounts of material are cut away. It is advisable that the CNC machine be paused or wait until the present toolpath operation has completed before trying to vacuum the milled surface.
The dust created by some materials may be hazardous to breathe. There are masks available for your protection.
A shop vacuum is available for use.
Please leave the room cleaner than you found it.