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convert robo3d into cnc

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by pat sommer, Feb 16, 2016.

  1. pat sommer

    pat sommer New Member

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    hi everyone,
    love my robo3d! :D
    im curious if anyone has tried to convert it into a CNC router to make PCBs with.
    Essentially, everything is there, besides the holder for a dremel. im wondering if its feasible to remove the 3d printer print head, and replace it with a holder for the dremel.

    any thoughts?

    Thanks!
     
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  2. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    I would imagine its no where near sturdy enough for that. That would be a lot of extra weight and force, and its already not the most solid assembly without having the head digging into things.
     
  3. pat sommer

    pat sommer New Member

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    hm I didn't quite think of the extra weight and force, thanks for your input!
     
  4. cdsl810

    cdsl810 Member

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    It's definitely not rigid enough for any type of milling, but a laser diode may be fun to experiment with.
     
  5. Captain McGillacutty

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    You could use a Dremel and slow the speed. The best way is print the parts needed, check out novice experts vids for arduino and do to instructables.com. You will be flooded with information.
     
  6. pat sommer

    pat sommer New Member

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    @cdsl810 do u know of any laser diodes that will cut copper? this sounds like an expensive experiment haha but yes would be awesome and wouldn't have to deal with Dremel tips going dull.

    @Captain McGillacutty I've seen a lot of inscrutables but was just hoping to reuse the robo3d so I wouldn't have to invest too much time making my own
     
  7. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    Robo could do some VERY light cnc cutting. Like enough to mill through some PCB on copper with a lightweight rotary tool/dremel
     
  8. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

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  9. pat sommer

    pat sommer New Member

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    to be more specific I'd probably only want to do pcbs with it, so how much torque would that require? a very small lightweight dremel thinger that I'm not sure if exists yet might work? lol I can have it not do through holes it would basically just have to scrape the copper away.

    the inscrutables is definitely a fair practice but I'm trying to basically use exact parts on my final board and those parts require higher resolution then what the printer can do (or maybe I should invest in some larger development size Lego bricks since that's all these boards will ever be) .

    I also may try to print a sharpy holder and have it draw the footprint, I just wanted to try the cnc idea because id like to experiment with non chemical methods, and I can almost never get a good toner transfer with an iron :/
     
  10. cdsl810

    cdsl810 Member

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    I think the ROBO may ultimately not be rigid enough for the uber-precise movements required for PCB milling while handling the torque of a rotary cutting tool. The other problem is that the runout of a Dremmel will only add to the inaccuracy... I don't think anything else would fit.
     
  11. janot928

    janot928 Active Member

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    If i remember correctly there a hand held extension to the dremel that is quite light weight might work with very slow speeds and stuff (do not know the exact english vocabulary for machining). But what you could do is just fix a marker to the print head to cover certain parts and then desolve the rest away, a bit like that
     
  12. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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