3D Printing 101: Part 3: Electronics

This week’s 3D Printing 101 post focuses on the electronics aspect of 3D printers. The electronics required for motion control will be familiar to CNC machinists (but even that has a few new twists) and some other areas are unique to 3D filament extrusion printing.
 
3D Printing 101: Part 1: 3D Printer Basics
3D Printing 101: Part 2: Mechanics
3D Printing 101: Part 2a: Delta Robot Mechanics
>> 3D Printing 101: Part 3: Electronics
3D Printing 101: Part 4: Software
 
Electronic Subsystems
Although most 3D printing aficionados use the term “electronics” to refer to the hardware controller that operates the printer, for the purposes of this post I am using the term to refer to all electronic components necessary to operate a 3D printer.… Read the rest

3D Printing 101: Part 2: Mechanics

 
In this installment of 3D Printing 101 I am going to look at the mechanical aspect of a typical 3D printer. Before I jump in, I should say that there are many different additive manufacturing technologies (i.e. 3D printers) but this series will focus on plastic filament extrusion printers that are the most familiar to hobbyists. After this initial series, I’ll follow-up with a post on some alternative technologies and point our their similarities and pluses and minus as compared to filament extrusion printers.
3D Printing 101: Part 1: 3D Printer Basics
>> 3D Printing 101: Part 2: Mechanics
3D Printing 101: Part 3: Electronics
3D Printing 101: Part 4: Software

A Little Math
Most readers of the CNCCookbook are familiar with CNC routers and milling machines that typically feature 3 axes of movement.… Read the rest

3D Printing 101: Part 1: 3D Printer Basics

Since the CNCCookbook Blog is frequented by CNC machinists, I thought it would be useful to provide an overview on 3D printing from the perspective of someone familiar with CNC machining. I have four parts planned, and in this first part I’ll present a little history, describe why I (and many others) believe 3D printing is here to stay, discuss some terminology, and generally set the stage for future posts in the 3D Printing 101 series:
3D Printing 101: Part 1: 3D Printer Basics
3D Printing 101: Part 2: Mechanics
3D Printing 101: Part 3: Electronics
3D Printing 101: Part 4: Software
So, let’s get started!… Read the rest

Introducing Michael Hackney: Our New 3D Printing Guru

I’m very pleased to announce that Michael Hackney will be contributing to the CNCCookbook blog on a long-term basis every week with new articles about 3D printing.  I’ve known Michael for quite some time and enjoyed his work, so when I heard he was going big into 3D printing I didn’t waste a minute inviting him to start contributing to CNCCookbook.  We’re fascinated by all things CNC here, but I think it is especially important for a new area like 3D printing that we can benefit from having someone writing who knows all about it and has some experience there.  … Read the rest

The 15 Best Web Sites for CNC Job Search

Times are tough, no doubt about it, and I wanted to do something to help others find work.  I get a lot of notes from folks who are using the G-Wizard Editor and our G-Code Tutorial to increase their CNC skills before setting out to find a new job, so that’s one way we try to help.  More directly, we spent time in conjunction with a guest blogger putting together the research on the 15 best web sites for CNC job search.  For each site we give a quick overview of what kind of site it is, some links for sample searches that bring up CNC jobs on the site, and a sample search result that shows how a job is listed on that site.… Read the rest

CNC Chuck Maintenance: A Kitagawa Guest Post

We’re pleased to offer this guest posting from Kitagawa Europe on the importance of proper chuck maintenance for CNC lathes.
It is important to undertake regular maintenance on your CNC equipment to ensure maximum levels of performance and uptime.  Of all your equipment, it is your power chucks that require the most attention and the majority of machine shops will grease them on a regular basis.  Unfortunately, not every machinist understands the basics of chuck lubrication.
Below we ask (and answer) the four salient questions surrounding chuck greasing, so that you can keep your operation working to the highest possible standards.… Read the rest

3D CAM Toolpath Fundamentals: Awesome Robert Grzesek Guest Post

Please join me in thanking Robert Grzesek, founder of GRZSoftware and author of MeshCAM for this guest post on the fundamentals of 3D toolpaths in CAM. Robert’s forte, aside from creating wonderful software like MeshCAM, is making very complex topics easy to understand. In fact, that’s one of the great strengths of his software too. He’s gone out of his way to create super simple user interfaces that ensure his users succeed in their CNC projects. If you’ve never tried MeshCAM, give it a shot.  His first guest post, How to Choose a Stepover, was on our most popular list for weeks and I expect this one will be too.… Read the rest

Guest Blogging Guidelines

CNCCookbook loves to get pitches for guest posts on this site.  While we’ll always have a lot to say ourselves (hey quit chuckling out there in the audience!), we realize we’re not the only ones with something to contribute. We have a large and engaged audience of machinists from all walks who interested in what you might have to contribute.  In fact, we’ve even created a special blog category for our Guest Posts.  And, we’ve had some wonderful guest posters including Art Fenerty, the Father of Mach3, and Robert Grzesek, founder of Grzsoftware and creator of the excellent MeshCAM 3D CAM software.  … Read the rest

Welcome to Gearotic Motion

This is a guest blog post by Art Fenerty, father of Mach3 and now the Gearotic Motion software.  I asked Art to tell us in his own words what was really great about Gearotic Motion and that’s what he’s done.  If it sounds interesting, please check out the various deals we’re offering on Gearotic Motion.
Enjoy!
Hi, my name is Art Fenerty, and Bob (your host here) has asked me to introduce Gearotic Motion to you and will be offering it here from this site. Its Bob’s thought that an introduction may help explain what Gearotic is all about and give you an idea as to my background.… Read the rest

How To Choose a Stepover

This is a guest post by Robert Grzesek, founder of Grzsoftware and creator of the excellent MeshCAM 3D CAM software. This post originally appeared on the Grzsoftware Blog, and I will be incorporating Robert’s excellent article on stepover for 3D profiling into the Milling Feeds and Speeds Cookbook, but I wanted to post it to the CNCCookbook Blog to make sure everyone sees it. It’s a very clear explanation of how to choose a stepover and I particularly like his analysis of the “sweet spot” for stepover. Very useful knowledge to have!… Read the rest