As posted about before, I’ve been assembling a ZTW 7×12 CNC router. It went together fairly smoothly using the 7×7 manual, but there are a few differences. I’ll outline those differences in each step after the break. The mechanical assembly will also be reviewed. Before all that though, here’s a video of it coming together in not-quite-stop motion:
The 7×7 manual is organized into three sections, Y, X, and Z – in that order. If it doesn’t jump out at you immediately, Read more »
So an Aqua Teen Hunger Force Mooninite mosaic will probably not appeal to 99% of the general internet. However, if you find this blog appealing, I’d be willing to bet that only 80% of those reading will have no idea what an “Err” is. Without further ado, here is my “Err” Mosaic:
So that’s what the final result looks like. I happened to walk by a TV that had something about mosaics on it, and thought it looks worth trying. If you’d like to see how this was done, read on:
People sometimes wonder what will be in the package that they ordered. Per this curiosity, I’ve recorded the unboxing of the ZTW 7×12 kit with the associated electronics that I purchased (servo controller and some buttons). Keep in mind that the standard kit does come with servo motors, but none of the other electronics. According to ZTW, these motors are used, but they appear to be in excellent condition. Here is what comes in the box when you get one of these units:
The box it comes in.
Zen toolworks 7x12 3D model
A CNC router is a machine that is able to cut complex shapes like a milling machine. Unlike the milling machine I have now, allowing something to be computer controlled would allow one to cut out complex arcs and, if needed, make the same cutout over and over without any human interaction.
Unfortunately, these machines run in the tens of thousands of dollars for a professionally built one. Since this was out of my budget, the two other options would be to build one myself or build one from a kit. As I have little experience with routers, I opted for the second one.
I have read quite a few reviews on routers, and decided that a good cost-effective model would be the Zen Toolworks 7×12 router frame along with the associated control board, power supply, and switches. The kit itself runs for $399.99, which is only $70 more than the 7×7 inch model. The extra 5 inches should give this machine quite a bit of extra capacity, so it seems like a good place to start. Although this is an incredible price for a CNC machine frame, keep in mind that you will need to purchase software and other electronics, which will probably run around $800 without a computer.
Over the next couple of days/weeks I’ll be outlining my experience building this machine and when my impressions are of it starting with an “unboxing” section. I’ve started the build, and so far it seems to be a solid machine, but check back for the full review/assembly outline.
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Update 10/13/2011: This CNC machine is up and running. Check out the mechanical assembly, or the latest post on cutting out a “random tree” model. All of the posts are found in the CNC section of jcopro.
I was cleaning my workbench today, and decided to do a stop motion animation video of it. Not the best quality video in the world, but check it out if you want.
Like some other stop motion videos that I’ve made, its produced with GIMP layers. Originally these layers came out reversed (and a little out of order), but after renaming the files and using the “reverse layers” (select layer – stack – reverse order) function in GIMP, everything came out correctly. See my tutorial on creating .gif animations in GIMP which can be dragged into Windows Movie maker. Read more »
