Projects

My New Obsession!

It’s been a long time since I’ve put anything up in this category.  Not because I haven’t had my little projects, but because over the last couple years, I’ve been focusing my time and effort more into metal working.  It started with a small hobby mill from Harbor Freight, and then developed into something more advanced.  Like a lot of mechanical engineers, one of my main jobs is to design complex parts for various things.  These parts are usually made from metals such as aluminum and steel and are fabricated using advanced machines that operate under computer control.

Well, a few years back, I stumbled across some information on the web that talked about how you could convert a standard bench milling machine into a computer controlled (CNC) machine.  Since then, this has been my obsession…to build my own CNC machine that will allow me to make some really neat stuff out of both wood and metal.  In a way, I’m bringing what I do at work into my own garage, only now I’m the one doing everything from the design to the fabrication.

The only catch to all of this, and the reason why this has been over two years in the making, is because it’s expensive!!  But I’ve been able to piece-meal it a little at a time, and now have finally got it up and running!!!

This is the stock mill that I bought as an upgrade to my little Harbor Freight version. It's a good size and has a ton of good info on the net on how to convert it to CNC.
This is the stock mill that I bought as an upgrade to my little Harbor Freight version. It’s a good size and has a ton of good info on the net on how to convert it to CNC.
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Here’s a shot of it now…converted over to CNC and complete with a custom-made coolant/chip tray to catch all the debris from the machining process.
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A look at the milling head and column. I had to custom-machine an adapter (big black rectangular part between the head and column) that extended the head away from the column to provide more machining travel and capability.
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Here’s a shot of the custom mount for the lateral axis motor. It’s a belt drive version that allows me to mount the motor in more of a compact manner.
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Here’s the beefy Z-Axis motor, resting atop the column. Each motor is mounted to a corresponding ball screw that when rotating, moves either the table or the head.
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In addition to making mechanical modifications to my mill, I had to build a set of electronics to actually drive everything via computer. This is a custom circuit card that I designed and built based on some info I found on the web. It acts as a safety interface between the computer and mill such that if it detects an error, it cuts power to the mill. I made the CCA using stencils created from our vinyl cutter and etching away the un-needed copper…leaving the traces you see here behind.
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Here’s a shot of the custom electronics enclosure I built to house the computer, power supplies, CNC electronics, and custom circuit card. It’s a major rats nest, but allows me to have a single box to house everything.
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This is the front panel of the control box. It has an old LCD monitor, a small keyboard, a touch pad mouse from an old laptop, and a series of industrial buttons and indicators to help run the machine.

So given all that, it took me a few months to get everything wired up and working.  I even got it set up to run manually using an old joystick that I didn’t need anymore.  Maria about sh*t herself when I showed her how it worked for the first time!

To help motivate me to finish this project in a timely manner, as well as repay my wife for her patience as I spent hours and hours in the garage, I came up with an idea for the CNC’s maiden project: a 10 year anniversary gift for Maria.  I didn’t want to do something too complex, as I wasn’t sure if the rig would work that well, so I decided upon a custom set of wood grips for her little Kimber 1911.

I based the design off of some grim reaper grips I had got for her a long time ago for a different pistol, and found some really cool graphics to engrave into the grips after they were carved out of the wood.  I found a beautiful piece of tropical Bocote hardwood to use and decided to go for a white inlay on the engravings.  All in all, they turned out pretty good, but being the perfectionist I am, I plan on redoing them again some time in the future…maybe for our 20th anniversary :)!

Here’s a time-lapse video of a test piece I did.  The first step was a roughing-out of the general shape, followed by a fine cut of the rounded profile.  Next, the mounting holes were drilled, followed by the engraving of the graphics.

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Here’s a look at the freshly milled grips lying on top of the raw piece of Bocote.
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Here’s the finished product! It turned out pretty well, though the graphics could be a bit more crisp. The wood is gorgeous though, and goes great with the stainless steel of her 1911.

So all and all, it was a good project, and the CNC did great!  I’m really excited about this rig and can’t wait to dive into some metal projects…stay tuned!!!