I had a Roland Engraver years ago so not a complete Newbie.
2 issues I have is that the CNC function seems to engrave deeper on the left side than the right. Enough that it is cutting into the wooden bed and not cutting through the plastic I am using.
I decided to try using a thing piece of Lexan under the piece I was cutting hoping that I could go deeper and not have to destroy the bed.
During cutting the Bit broke. This was my third run so I hadn’t changed anything except putting the piece under the one I was working with.
My project is basically cutting 63 discs 24.5mm out of 2mm Lexan.
Same thing happens here. Uneven cut across the plane.
I have read others complaining about uneven bed and suggested Snapmaker add leveling feature to the menu for CNC like they did for 3D (when you attach the 3D head). Their reply was along the way of saying it’s user’s fault i.e. if you had installed everything correctly the bed should be perfectly parallel to the machine’s X&Y-axis rails. They went on to suggest that you re-assemble and check if debris got caught somewhere that in turn upsets the parallel
With that said, I guess you could tinker with the screws and adjust (by trial-and-error), run a test until you get it to an acceptable result. But that’s just brute force. A software leveling still makes a lot more sense. Fingers crossed, next update.
As for breaking bits, I had no experience with cutting Lexan, but just out of intuition a 2 mm Lexan should be pretty hard, harder that plywood that I’m used to cutting. While cutting the plywood I hear strange noise as if the bit is struggling to cut into. I’m thinking the spindle that comes with SM1 is not that powerful. In your case, I am guessing bit selection might be the key. Another, you could try lowering the feed rate, but that just slows things down.
The logic behind breaking bits it that the axis travel to fast, faster than the bit can cut. The bit doesn’t not cut fast enough because it’s not the right bit for the stock. I would try cutting your design on plywood first. Or, your project may call for a more powerful spindle.
Check the alignment of your z towers and if your x axis shows the same level as your bed. All the linear modules seated correctly in their cutouts? Is the bed frame installed correctly? (Nuts down) Although this usually is results in a center high level issue.
Software leveling doesn’t work for CNC the way it does with 3D printing. It’s not leveling the bed, it’s compensating for not being level. CNC you don’t want to be compensating for level, you need it to actually be level. While it would be nice if the bed was perfectly flat it isn’t. Whether it should be is another discussion.
If you want a perfectly level wasteboard you can do a milling pass on this one or make a new one, or mill one on top of this one. A lot of cnc machines use this as the best way to achieve level.
The bed is meant to be cut into, that’s why it’s called a wasteboard or spoilboard.
Milling the wasteboard is a good idea. I will do it.
Just for argument’s sake, on a 3-in-1 machine where you switch between 3D & CNC beds and between heads, would it still be level after all that?
I’m pretty confident it would be the same as long as you don’t change the orientation. Mine seems to be pretty consistent but i haven’t measured it to know for sure.
I haven’t needed that kind of precision and haven’t needed to mill the bed yet for anything I’ve done so far. But i will at some point.
Just make sure there’s no debris on the bed or frame.
-S
I just got my 350 last week and set it up and the first thing I wanted and needed to do on it was milling. I found it strange that in the whole of the Snapmaker manual there are no instructions on leveling anything for CNC milling. In 3D printing you can be a little off and still get quality. But not in milling especially when your talking 12” x 12”. I tried facing off an already milled piece of wood and and the left side was lower than the right side along the “X” axis. Then I tried milling front to back “Y” axis. Happy to say things were even on the “Y” but in both the X and Y axis I was still getting grooving when it should have been perfectly smooth as I had an 1/8” flat end mill bit in it. Meaning the milling head is not parallel with the bed. I had watched some videos of people putting together there SM 2.0 and saying the baseplate was heavy but I didn’t find it that heavy or they went to something lighter by the time mine was made. Without having machined surfaces I don’t see how they can achieve perfect level. My baseplate was spotless of any dirt but I didn’t check for manufacturing defects like metal that got stuck to it during powder coating or anodizing which ever process that was used. It just sucks now I’m going to have to tear the whole thing apart and figure out some way of tramming this thing giving that all the screws are on the underside. One last area of concern is the milling head it self. I can flex the head a little and wondering if that is where my unevenness is?? Wonder if I can face milling on a 45 degree if that will help any but when milling on the Y that play will still be there. From reading the above posts it sounds like others are having the same issue. Just wondering if anyone has found an easy solution?? I was thinking of buying a sacrificial feeler gauge set and start placing them under the Y rails to get the bed level to the milling head.
I haven’t had any problems with level on mine.
I’ve done up to 14 by 8.
Maybe I just got lucky.
Double check your assembly.
Is the frame installed with nuts down?
Have you checked that the base is flat? I can see where one might want to shim between the frame and the spoilboard but it sounds like something else is wrong if you think you need to shim the linear modules.
Are the Y-axis properly seated in their grooves? Same with z-towers?
-S
