I am looking for recommendations on materials and suppliers for use with the Snapmaker Rotary Module – something nicer than the starter materials supplied with the Rotary Module. For example, what types of wood are recommended for CNC, and what are good suppliers? Are there any plastics that are suitable for CNC?
What about wood or plastic or other materials for Laser Engraving using the Rotary Module?
I imagine https://www.thingiverse.com has some good models for Rotary Module CNC, but are there any particular models from there or other sources that work well for CNC? How about designs for Rotary Module laser engraving?
Finally, is there a good source for replacement CNC bits that are compatible with SnapMaker for both 3 axis (traditional) and 4 axis (Rotary Module) CNC? There are so many CNC bits out there, I’m not sure what to order that would be compatible.
For CNC bits I recently bought a set of er11 collets that range from 1mm to 7mm also with a 1/4 and 1/8 bit from amazon:
From there it is just a matter of selecting or searching for the right sized bit, for example, I purchased an R0.5x30.5xD6x75 from Ali Express as a finishing bit for carving:
And also a 6x6x62 for my rough cuts:
Both of those bits diameters are 6mm so they would go in the 6mm collet, there are a plethora of choices as you have found out, it also depends on the job you are trying to do, as the examples above are what I would use for relief carving with the flat end mill as the rough, and the tapered ball nose end mill for the finishing pass. If you have anymore questions feel free to DM me.
Thank you Edwin. I was hoping to find something a bit larger (in diameter) than the rods or dowels you have suggested. This screen capture from the video The Rotary Module - How to Use Rotary Laser Engraving seems to imply that it is possible to mount square materials for Rotary Module CNC. Is this accessory available? Square material is much more readily available than round material. If not, is it possible to obtain round wood with a diameter larger than the rods or dowels you have suggested?
It may need some patience to carve the square materials with the rotary module. You need to calculate the diameter of the outer circle of the square. The whole workflow is the same as the one with the cylinder material.
Please let me know if you need any help from us.
Edwin
@herbweiner Yes I am using them for the 3-axis, for the 4-axis I am a little new on, it would be great if you could do a rough pass then a finish pass for the 4-axis don’t know if it is possible as I only have the free version of Fusion360 and I believe to be waiting on the files for importation to Fusion360. For the bits I seem to have tracked down a couple however if I am not mistaken they would require the collet pack mentioned above.
I now have a customizable Round to Square adapter on Thingiverse. As an alternative to glue, you can screw the material to the adapter. Or, you can use a second adapter with the tailstock to avoid glueing or screwing the material: Snapmaker 4-axis CNC Round to Square Adapter by herbw - Thingiverse.
Thank you for sharing this Round to Square adapter here.
As for the question you raised about the difference between the STL and the process image in Luban, our software engineer said this is a bug in the ‘Linkage’ mode.
The simulation image of the BallInCase (left image) is not accurate enough, and the rotary module can carve the rectangular block according to toolpath, showing in the G-code.
But, there is a bug with “Linkage” mode, which means the model will be sliced in a different. This is the reason why you get a strange result.
Basic CNC Viewer can help you view and check how the model will be carved, I’ve found it very helpful and now use it to check the gcode produced by other software too.
@albutch this is where Luban suffers. I use Aspire (full version, get to that in a sec) and some people that also use Aspire trial version found that if imported into Luban (unnecessary but they didn’t know) it is all screwed up, the reverse is also true. When importing one generated by Luban, it is also all screwed up in Aspire. Yet Aspire has absolutely zero issues when the same is done between other CNC software. Aspire is professional software and was never intended for any one machine, as such they are always increasing prebuilt compatibility for different workflows.
Now to the full version that I purchased and mentioned, Luban will completely crash if I had used certain gadgets (trial version difference: can’t save toolpaths, can’t use downloadable gadgets) and it just locks up Luban and throws a critical exception. Yet the Snapmaker is perfectly capable of doing all the gadgets so it’s something in Luban that isn’t right.
Perhaps Snapmaker should provide a proper process for accepting bug reports, I know that can be done via GitHub but something more accessable to all users would be a good thing, most 3rd party software costs as much as the machine if not more. With a little effort Luban could become a very usable product, e.g. Linking toolpaths for use with the rotary module, known in the outside world I believe as Continuous or Real 4th axis. As far as I know Aspire cannot do that yet (tell me if I’m wrong) maybe Fusion 360 can, I don’t know as my license ran out 2 weeks before my delivery from Snapmaker.
Incidentally, I created toolpaths for roughing and finishing an STL file in Aspire and the two didn’t get on at all. The upshot was that the finishing toolpath drove the tool 25mm into a part of my stock that it thought had been removed and then turned the B axis snapping the bit. Maybe I should have been acle to see the problem before running the job but I went back to Aspire and I could not. It wasn’t until I loaded the gcode file into Basic CNC Viewer that I could see the issue. My point is that software has bugs and they get ironed out over a period of time and Aspire is a very mature product.
I can’t find it, I can only see wrapped rotary and a couple of people on the forum are saying they’re disappointed that v11 has not improved on 4th axis. Where did you find the functionality?
I don’t know that the problem with slicing the BallInCage model is a bug in the Linkage slicing mode.
I believe that the problem starts from when the STL file is opened, and unrolled as a 2d picture. It is not possible to open a model with undercuts as a grayscale 2d image in the first place, because for a given location there would be two “colours”.
Unless what we see is a mere presentation into 2d space, but the full 3d model is actually what is used when slicing.
@albutch i apologize for the late reply, for some reason I didn’t get a notification. I need to clarify it’s not able to do it without some modifications. But they are easy to learn how to do and once learned you can turn it into a continuous rotary. But seeing as how I don’t own any rotary other than Snapmaker’s, I didn’t bother learning about it, but I’ve seen a ton of videos that explain Aspire doing continuous rotary. I believe it takes modification of toolpaths as well as the post processor. Snapmaker’s rotary is not capable of this, the continuous rotary terminology tends to confuse people, it’s easier to describe it as lathe operation. You have to have the proper machinery (obviously) to make Vectric work with high speed unidirectional lathes. Because Vectric is designed for CNC and not specifically turn milling, it’s an obscure and unintended feature but can still be done. Hence the need to modify toolpaths and post processors.
My comment about v11 was meant to be separate from the rotary functionality so I apologize for not clarifying that. It only came out a week ago, you should see all the new features. It now has sculpting brushes, and 3D modeling features including splitting an imported model (stl included) into multiple parts.
