Ski Builders Forum

MontuckyMadman wrote:The SB3 shopbot control software is free and you can download and run in preview mode to see if it works.
Or I can test it for you.

Yea, I've downloaded it. The programs without circles sim properly, but I've found with my controller that there are sometimes issues even with programs that sim properly. This may or may not be a problem with other controllers... I'm mostly looking to see if people get smooth motion during the ascents and descents in the core profiling program.

The issue with ShopBot and circles appears to be that they only take the I,J form of G02, not the R form. I'll work around that weak sauce sometime soon

twizzstyle wrote:I use Mach3 on my router Mike, I'll try to get out to the shop sometime this week and give your test programs a run.

Sweet, thanks man!

Hi Mike, I'm no programmer but would like to offer my help in any way possible. For those of us that are in the process of building a CNC but not there yet this is very exciting as it will speed up the process from design through to critical aspects of the construction and maybe take out some of the not so fun and very time consuming parts of getting started with CAD/CAM/CNC too. A user interface will be pretty handy too which I see you have on the drawing board, all in good time I know! Really appreciate the effort you are giving this and that you are prepared to share it. I like the idea of using a cloud based application and I wonder if a repository of designs could also be setup so people could share their designs if they want to? How do you plan to allow for users that want to use this commercially? I will be keen thats for sure.

Keep up the great work!

cheers
Rich

Head Monkey wrote:

twizzstyle wrote:I use Mach3 on my router Mike, I'll try to get out to the shop sometime this week and give your test programs a run.

Sweet, thanks man!

Same here. I should be able to do it tonight.

Okay... How do I download the G-code off the page so I can load it on my CNC? I'm stumped. Any help would be appreciated. thank you.

skimann20 wrote:Okay... How do I download the G-code off the page so I can load it on my CNC? I'm stumped. Any help would be appreciated. thank you.

https://github.com/mikemag/MonkeyCAM/tr ... ple-output

Click on a file, and you'll see it in the normal GitHub file viewer. At the top of the file, on the right, you'll see buttons for Edit, Raw, Blame, History, and Delete. Click on Raw, and save the file wherever you'd like.

Mike I will also demo this the second i have a moment to do so,
for now, I'm still working on getting my current configuration up and producing stuff for me.

Once I do that, I will spend some time on yours .

PS anyone considering CNC who has SOME money, I would recommend cncrouterparts!!

Excellent support, rugged machines, and if you can build skis/boards you can build a cnc no problem!

I've added programs to cut the core and nose/tail spacers which fit the core. Samples at the link above. All programs have been tested on my CNC machine with a scrap core blank (giant knot in the middle of it) and look good. One more program to go, which is the one that makes room in the core blank for sidewall material.

I've also had some reports that the top profile program moves smoothly for people using Mach3, which is great.

I know it's hard for most people to look at this stuff and understand what's being generated without a visualization. I'll work on that soon.

I hope to try this out by the end of the week. My ShopBot is now running Gecko540 with Mach3 so it wont be any help there.
COOL!!!

I was bored this evening, so here's a little bit of visualization: http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... iewer.html

Nothing interactive, I was just fooling around learning a bit about three.js. This is the shape I use for my daily driver board. Blue is the overall shape, the orange dashed lines are the core cutout shape and the profile. The later is a bit hard to see since there's no exaggeration on it and the numbers involved are relatively small.

Oh, and I should add that you'll need a browser made this century...

Head Monkey wrote:I was bored this evening, so here's a little bit of visualization: http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... iewer.html

Trippy man...

A little more work on visualization today: http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... iewer.html (You'll need Firefox or Chrome to view it.)

This shows all the paths currently generated. From top to bottom it's base cutout, core guide holes, core alignment marks, edge groove, insert holes, core cutout, nose & tail spacer cutout, and core profile.

You can get a feel for how these programs are used here: http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... re_Cutting

If you're interested the following two files control how these are generated:

https://github.com/mikemag/MonkeyCAM/bl ... l-def.json
https://github.com/mikemag/MonkeyCAM/bl ... d-def.json

I'm hoping that with the ability to see this stuff a bit you'll be able to get a feel for how I cut my cores. Eventually I'd like to make this flexible enough to handle the way others cut their cores, so feedback on differences would be awesome.

Just want to say thanks for sharing all of this hard work. I just put together our first CNC machine (CNC Mogul 24x80" cutting area) and got it moving last night.. exciting times. Happy to help on this project as I am sure it will help with more ski building and less time on the computer. Let me know what I can do to help.

Question (complete cnc noob here).. I see that you are using a 1.5" cutter for profiling your cores. Does your code need to use the same router bits that you use or can I use a different bit and change in Mach3?

you will have to change the toolpaths to generate the code applicable for a smaller or larger cutter head.

switzch wrote:Question (complete cnc noob here).. I see that you are using a 1.5" cutter for profiling your cores. Does your code need to use the same router bits that you use or can I use a different bit and change in Mach3?

This is completely configurable already. I take tool dimensions from a config file and use that when forming all of the paths. See here for what I built the samples with: https://github.com/mikemag/MonkeyCAM/bl ... on#L46-L72

You'll notice something important if you look at the info at that link: I'm using a 0.247" cutter on some of the parts, and a 1.496" cutter for the top profile. Not a 0.250", and not a 1.500". Always measure your router bits carefully with calipers; they're rarely exactly what they should be. They also change over time, especially if you buy nice ones that you can have sharpened. I've got a 1 1/2" head as a backup that's a lot closer to 1.470" since it's been sharpened once