I had the opportunity to tag along on a road trip with some members of the ShopBot team. They were headed to a shop in Wisconsin to help a customer with two ShopBot machines, a monster 16×5 3-axis machine and a brand new 5-axis machine. I have to admit I was there for the 5-axis. I had not seen their machine in action and I was excited to see it run.
3-axis: A machine that can move a tool (commonly a spinning cutter bit) along a horizontal plane (X-axis and Y-axis) such as a piece of plywood, as well as move vertically (Z-axis) to adjust the depth of cut and carve things such as a topographical map. The adage goes that a 3-axis machine can cut valleys and carve “mountains” but is not capable of creating “caves”. You could cut parts for plywood furniture or create 3D carved signs.
5-axis: A five axis machine starts with the same 3-axis movement as above. It adds two rotational axis by adding a “shoulder” and “wrist” or by allowing the actual workpiece to move in 2 axis. A 5-axis machine can carve a complete 3-dimensional object from a block of material. You could use a 5-axis machine to carve a bust of Beethoven for your piano.
One of the most important aspects to any cnc machining work is figuring out how to hold your material in place while the machine makes it’s cuts. Material holding even more critical with 5 axis machining especially when you consider you may be cutting away the bottom of your block of material. Material stiffness is also a concern since any flex in your material will degrade your cut quality. You can find out about Sliger Machineworks and learn all about this type of machining. In addition, one of the most essential things you can do to preserve your expensive equipment is to lubricate it properly. You will be rewarded with longer living and better performing equipment if you choose the right lubricant like Altemp and apply it properly. If you need an additional cnc machining equipment, purchasing used cnc machinery equipment is worth considering.
Many people employ jigs, screws, or adhesive to secure their material.
There are 2 flavors of 5-axis machining. “3+2” and full 5-axis.
During “3+2” machining, 2 of the axis are locked while the other 3 move to do the machining.
During 5-axis machining, all 5 axis are in motion while the cutting bit is in contact with the material.
This video shows an object being carved using both methods.
Amazing post! I initially found your blog a week or so ago, and I want to subscribe to your RSS feed.These machines have made the industrial tasks much easier and efficient. By eliminating the need of performing repetitive tasks again and again, these machines have replaced humans and have placed safety in the confines of these computer controlled machines.
Five axis CNC machining refers to the ability of the CNC machine to perform movement about five different axis simultaneously. Good introduction is given here to the 5-axis cnc-machining!
Great ‘Part 1’! Is there a ‘Part 2’?