The main structure of CNC router machine includes the spindle, machine body bed, gantry, servo motor and driver, CNC operating system, CNC software, rack guide, screw, worktable, power supply, limit switch, dust remover and so on.
CNC router machine includes CNC wood router, CNC foam cutter, CNC acrylic cutter, stone engraving machine, moulding machine, laser engraving machine, etc.
CNC Router is also called CNC machine, CNC milling machine, CNC router machine, CNC engraving machine, CNC router table, CNC engraver, CNC table, CNC machining centre, CNC drilling machine, 3d router, 3d CNC machine, CNC carving machine.
How does the CNC Router work?
When the CNC router machine is connected to the computer, the computer will tell it where to move. The location of the machine is determined by the computer. The computer will tell the motor how much it moves in each direction. The location method can be used to define any location in the machine workspace. The machine can move in space.
Before the machine works, the CNC operator should create the tool path. The operator uses software programs to draw shapes and create the tool path to follow.
A CNC router machine needs at least 3 axes to complete linear motion, namely X, Y and Z axis.
The X-axis is horizontal, and gantry’s horizontal (from left to right) removable stroke, the Y-axis is vertical, and the longitudinal (formerly backward) distance of gantry and the Z-axis are perpendicular to the other two axes, and the height of gantry (from top to bottom). The computer controller reads G code or other machine language instructions and drives the machine. The spindle clamping tool moves along the X, Y and Z axis according to the path generated by CNC software.
The three-axis CNC router is mainly used in parts of the plane, 2D and 2.5D processing. It can be equipped with a table rotating shaft and applied to the carving and cutting of cylinders.
The four-axis CNC Router has an additional axis. The axis represents x-y-z-a, x-y-z-b and x-y-z-c., and the four axes are linked together to work at the same time.
The five-axis CNC Router has two additional axes, which refer to x-y-z-a-b, x-y-z-a-c and x-y-z-b-c.. The machine also moves tools on five different axes. The spindle can rotate around 180 degrees. These additional axes can sculpt five edges of the material at the same time, so that time cost can be reduced.
So when you have the CNC router machine purchase plan, which configuration should you choose? It all depends on your requirements and budget.
How is a CNC Router used?
All kinds of timber (solid wood, cork, hardwood, bamboo, plywood, fiberboard, etc.), foam (EPS, EVA, PU, PF, EPE, EPP, etc.), stone (marble, granite, bluestone, black stone, jade, artificial stone, etc.), plastic (acrylic, plexiglass, resin, ABS, PE, PP, PVC, PS, etc.), soft metal (aluminium, brass, copper, titanium, etc.), crystal, glass, ceramics and other materials.
<1> Furniture Making:
It produces all kinds of customized furniture, including doors and windows, beds, dining tables, chairs, staircases, windows, modern furniture, office furniture and so on.
<2> Cabinet Production:
Cabinet door, cabinet, shelf, curtain wall and other integral cabinet production.
<3> Woodworking Industry:
Three-dimensional wave plate processing, wooden musical instrument processing, decoration materials processing, decoration processing, etc.
<4> Mold Industry:
It can router all kinds of mould effects, such as plane carving, relief, intaglio, cameo, engraving, cutting, bottom milling and so on.
<5> Advertising Industry:
Advertising signs, PVC board, Teflon board, double colour plate, logo making, acrylic cutting, plastic moulding, big word cutting, sign production, cutting PVC, crystal board, acrylic, LED/ neon groove, hole type font cutting, Blister light box mould production.
<6> Stone Carving:
Three-dimensional relief and line carving, cutting, reverse edge and borehole two-dimensional carving of floor tiles, curtain walls, monuments, tombstones, milestones, tiles, glass and other materials.
<7> Crafts Industry:
Pen, photo frame, pendulum, souvenir, custom gifts, vases, water cups and other crafts and gifts processing.
<8> Foam Carving:
lost foam, large decorative items, handicrafts and so on.
<9> cylindrical engraving: table legs, dragon pillars, escalator posts, stone lions, etc.
What’s the worktable size of the CNC Router?
2×2, 2×3, 2×4, 4×4, 4×6, 4×8, 5×10 and 6×12 in feet;
16×16, 16×24, 24×24, 24×36, 24×48, 48×48, 48×96, 60×120, 80×120, and 80×160 in inch;
4040, 6040, 6060, 6090, 1212, 1218, 1224, 1325, 1530, 2030 and 2040 in milometer.
Of course, the worktable size can be customized as your requirements.
How to choose a suitable CNC Router?
- Working table size:
The dimension of the worktable is very important because it is related to the size of the raw material and/or the number of parts that must be cut in a certain time.
- Spindle:
The spindle’s working mode and power are very important for the CNC milling machine. Generally, the spindle is divided into two parts. One is the water-cooled spindle and the other is the air-cooled spindle. The proper spindle is selected, depending on the temperature of your material and the weather in your country or region.
- Control system:
Different axis numbers and processing materials correspond to different control systems. Reliability, effectiveness, stability and user-friendliness should be considered.
- Rack guide rail:
According to the material quality of processing parts, four factors, speed, stiffness, bearing capacity and tool life, are considered.
How to maintain a CNC Router?
- Maintain a good running environment.
(1) Ensure the operating temperature of the workshop, especially in winter, it is best to let the machine reach room temperature.
(2) Check the applicable temperature of the refuelling standard, at least the lowest temperature.
(3) When the machine is not used, if the room temperature is low, the water in the tank should be poured out to prevent the rupture of the water tank and the water pipe. Although the effect of temperature on the engraving machine is not very large, many operators forget to clean in the winter because of the butter added by many operators, which makes the machine difficult to operate during start-up. The temperature of some workshops is very low. But it can still be frozen.
(4) The humidity of the chassis should not be too high, otherwise, the electrical accessories of the machine will wear easily.
(5) The CNC router machine can not be installed in high humidity, dusty and polluted places. Otherwise, the performance of electronic components may decrease and cause bad electrical contact or short circuit faults. Therefore, if the environment of NC machine tools is not good, it will directly affect the normal operation of machine tools.
(6) Attention must be paid to electromagnetic interference in the operation room. If interference is too large, it is easy to affect the machining accuracy and should be kept away from equipment with high vibration to avoid interference.
- Keep CNC machine tools clean.
(1) Every time the work is completed, the workbench is cleaned in time. The dust on the machine is blown away by the air gun. Lack of cleanliness may cause dust and debris accumulation. Besides, some debris will enter the lubrication system, so that the machine will stop working. Cleaning the machine every day can prevent the sawdust from stacking up.
(2) Clean up the chip around the guide rail and the guide block of the linear bearing to prevent the machine from jamming due to debris interference during operation and damaging the slider.
(3) Regularly clean the lead screw to prevent foreign matter sticking on the screw. The screw is very important in the equipment. It determines the accuracy of the machine and plays an important role in the transmission process.
(4) Regularly clean the chassis. Dust will kill the circuit boards. When the circuit boards are too dirty, they may cause short circuit faults. Every time you use the machine, please pay attention to cleaning to ensure the dust on the cleaning platform and transmission system.
(5) Chassis and machine tool fan filters should be regularly inspected and cleaned and replaced when necessary. When the filter screen is too dirty, it may cause poor heat dissipation and malfunction.
(6) Clean knife holders, chucks and spindles are also important. They must be rustproof and clean.
(7) Check the spindle surface. You can wipe it with a clean soft cloth.
- Regular lubrication.
CNC machines need regular lubrication for normal operation and prevent premature wear. These components (such as spindles, lead screws, guideways, bearings, tool holders and sliders) need regular lubrication to slow down the wear rate. Please ensure that manufacturers follow the advice and use grease. Improper lubrication causes machine parts to be viscous or abnormal, or even cause more serious problems.
(1) Clean the slideway and lead screw first. Wipe the dirt and debris on the slideway and the lead screw with a piece of cloth. If the temperature is low, please fill the slide rail and the guide screw, preferably the antifreeze oil.
(2) The fuel cycle is two times a month.
(3) If the machine is not used for a long time, it should be regularly refuelling to ensure the flexibility of the transmission system.
(4) Slowly move forward and backward after refuelling to ensure that the lubricating oil can be evenly applied to the guide rail and the lead screw.
(5) Regular (weekly) lubrication transmission system (X, Y, Z three-axis).
- Check computers regularly.
Computer anomalies can also cause a lot of problems, especially for computers connected to CNC routers.
(1) Regularly clean the chassis dust, pay attention to the chassis heat dissipation, pay attention to too much dust will lead to industrial control card failure.
(2) Regularly defragment the disk and optimize the computer system.
(3) Check and kill viruses regularly.
- Cooling water for the spindle motor.
(1) Cooling water is very important for the water-cooled spindle motor. If the cooling water is too dirty, it will seriously damage the motor. So please ensure that the cooling water is clean. The spindle motor must not dehydrate. It’s better to replace the cooling water regularly, to prevent the water temperature is too high. In winter, if the working environment temperature is too low, the water can be replaced by antifreeze.
(2) Pay attention to water level, do not make water-cooled spindle motor lack of water, to avoid the timely release of motor heat.
(3) Pay attention to the ambient temperature and pay attention to it, because the water temperature is too cold will cause the water tank and the water pipe to freeze.
(4) Antifreeze can be used for cooling.
- Follow the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule.
Manufacturers can provide manuals to tell you when and how to maintain machines. Therefore, please read them carefully and strictly follow them. This helps to identify potential problems before failure, especially for inexperienced operators.
- Check
(1) Check the moving parts (drive and motor) and fixed screws of the machine reliably and reliably every month. If the connection is lost, tighten the screws.
(2) When checking the machine, be sure to turn off the power and wait until the monitor does not show and the main circuit power indicator is extinguished.
(3) Inspect the tools and parts of CNC cutting machine before cutting.
Damaged CNC tools and parts will affect the accuracy and quality of cutting, and eventually lead to more problems. Therefore, please check the status of tools and parts, such as CNC cutting tools, tool carrier, chuck, tool carrier fork, worktable gasket, CNC suction cup, jig, and replace it when necessary.
- There are fast wearing parts at hand.
Keep some easily damaged parts, such as CNC milling cutters, CNC knife clamps, chuck and stock, which can save a lot of time and extra transportation costs. You don’t have to wait for spare parts to be delivered and delivered. You just need to find them in your warehouse and replace them. Moreover, these spare parts will not cost you too much. First, start with the CNC milling machine parts list, and then find a reliable supplier of parts.
CNC Router operation guide.
- Preparations before work:
(1) Before work begins to work, we should warm up and check carefully whether the lubrication system works normally.
(2) If the engraving machine does not start for a long time, oil can be supplied to all parts manually.
(3) Before carving and carving, we must check and confirm whether the cooling system (water pump) and lubricating system (oil pump) are working normally.
(4) The tools used should be by the specifications permitted by machine tools, and tools with serious breakage should be replaced in time.
(5) Do not forget the tools used to adjust the cutting tools in the machine tools.
(6) After the cutters are installed, there should be one or two trial cutting.
(7) Check the chuck clamping status before and during the operation.
(8) When clamping the workpiece, we must follow the principle of “loading, levelling and loading”, and strictly prohibit carving on suspended materials. To prevent deformation of materials, the thickness of materials is more than 2mm of the depth of carving.
(9) Before installing the card tool, clean up the impurities in the card head.
(10) When the tool is installed, it must first rotate the card head into the lock nut and put it on the motor shaft, then insert the cutter into the card head, then slowly lock the nut with the upper knife wrench. When loading and unloading the cutter, the elastic nut can be disconnected and pushed by the rotation mode.
(11) The length of the tool exposed head must be determined according to the depth of carving, whether the workpiece and the fixture interfere or not.
(12) Before machining, we must correctly define the starting point of X, y and Z axis. After changing the tool, we must immediately redefine the starting point of the Z-axis, and the starting point of X and Y axis can not be changed.
(13) When using the toolset to define the tool point, the spindle rotation must be strictly prohibited, to prevent the tool from being broken.
(14) Before starting the processing (bottom knife), you must place your hands on the red emergency switch button and press immediately when there is an accident.
- Safety precautions in the course of work:
(1) Prohibit the use of hand contact with the tip and iron scrap, iron scrap must be cleaned with iron hook or brush.
(2) Prohibit the use of hand or any other means of contact with rotating spindles, workpieces or other moving parts.
(3) It is forbidden to measure workpiece and speed change during processing, and can not wipe the workpiece with cotton wire or clean the machine.
(4) In the milling machine operation, the operator can not leave the post, the machine tool finds an unusual phenomenon immediately stops.
(5) Check the bearing temperature frequently.
(6) In the process of processing, it is not allowed to open the machine door.
(7) Strictly abide by the post responsibility system, the machine tool is used by the special person, others need to use my consent.
(8) It is strictly prohibited to put anything on the crossbeam and stall of the machine tool to avoid falling and hurting people.
(9) During the operation, it is strictly prohibited to lie on the machine tool, nor is it allowed to sit or lean on the machine tool rack.
(10) After the machine is operated, the power must be cut off before the machine stops completely.
- Matters needing attention after completion of work:
(1) Remove chips and wipe machine tools to keep machine tools and environment clean.
(2) Check the status of lubricating oil and coolant, add or replace it in time.
(3) Do not use the wrench to hit the card when unloading.
(4) After processing, we must turn off the power of the machine tools, inspect the workpieces, clean up the workpieces, measure the tools, clean the machine tools and the ground.
(5) Turn off the power supply and the total power supply of machine tool operation panel in turn.
(6) The machine needs regular maintenance, adjustment and maintenance, and no compulsory use is strictly prohibited.
The wearing parts of a CNC Router.
Including but not limited in the vacuum tube, vacuum brush, cylinder connector, bits and so on.
iGOLDENCNC provides all kinds of CNC router parts at the same time.
Please contact us directly for more router machine ideas, projects, and plans.
