This is my newly-designed, nearly-completed, CNC electronics enclosure. I made this from a combination of 5mm and 6mm plywood that was sitting around the shop. The end-panels were cut to accept 60mm fans (one on each end of the machine) to keep the insides cool. I added the OpenBuilds and OX logos because it looked a little barren without anything on that side of the enclosure. ...
Baseball Plaque
I was trying to figure out the process for sign/plaque engraving, so I put together a little baseball plaque for my son. This is edge-glued spruce with a pecan stain and polyurethane. ...
Rounded Corner Jigs
I have been working with my router on some shop carts, and I needed a way to accurately round-off the corners on one of the cart tops I was making. I decided to use the CNC machine to cut some templates in varying sizes for the future. Pictured here are the “raw” templates that will have aluminum angle attached to two sides. Using these is super-simple! Simply hold the jig against the work piece and use a bearing-bit in the table-mount router to follow the corner – tada! I also used the CNC to engrave the corner radius engraved on each. There is nothing quite like having my tools make tools! ...
Ballerina Hanger
After seeing this on Pinterest, I decided that I needed to make one for my daughter in English. I designed a set of vector files for it, and then cut them out of basic plywood on my Ox CNC. ...
Halloween Napkin Holders
This is a set of napkin holders I designed for Halloween. These were inspired by this pin on Pinterest, but designed and cut by me on my Ox CNC. ...
TinyG to the rescue
After a whole lot of messing around with my Smoothieboard controller, I decided to give up on it. I had flashed the firmware, tried everything I could find to get it properly configured, and it just kept losing steps in the X and Y directions. I had done a bunch of troubleshooting and determined that when moving in a single axis, it was fine. However, whenever it tried to run the X- and Y-axis at the same time, it would lose steps in both directions. My internet research leads me to believe that my 2.0A stepper motors (single motor on X and dual motors on Y) are just too much for the board without external controllers. This is frustrating, because I know other people have working OX CNC machines with nearly identical specifications. But onward and upward. So, I purchased a TinyG controller board. The configuration is a LOT more friendly and straightforward than the Smoothie configuration, and I had it up and running successfully after a couple of hours of rewiring and configuration. I am happy to report that my CNC machine no longer loses steps (yay!) and I was able to run a few jobs in foam with no problem! My kids were interested in seeing if the machine would work, so I cut out something fun for my first trial run – Minions!! ...
CNC Hello World!
My CNC machine is finally alive! This “Hello” cut is my very first cut from a file on the machine. I have spent the past couple of weeks working on soldering, wiring, and configuring the machine. I just got the limit switches yesterday, so today was the first time I could really run a full program. ...
Ox-Cart
I just finished building a rolling cart for my workshop – nicknamed the “Ox-Cart.” I constructed this cabinet so that I have a place for my OpenBuilds Ox CNC machine. The CNC machine has a footprint of approximately 30-in by 40-in, so I built to cart to have a 31-in x 48-in top. It is on locking casters so that I can move it around my garage, and so that I can get to the built-in storage on both sides. The cart was made from two sheets of 3/4-in plywood and I used pocket screws to speed through assembly. You can download basic assembly instructions below. Assembly Instructions (PDF) SketchUp 2015 Model (SKP) ...
Spoilboard
The CNC “Ox in a box” kit that I purchased comes with everything except the electronics controller and a spoilboard. So that means that I needed to make my own spoilboard. I basically just followed the plans provided by OpenBuilds (link), but created my own drawings using imperial measurements. Instructions (PDF) SketchUp 2015 Model (SKP) ...