It has long been noticed that many parts of the structures of machines for various purposes can be successfully replaced with plywood, while the performance of such a machine will not change at all, but the price component can go down sharply. Homemade plywood machines have beds and tables for cutting material, which can be easily made from plywood.
Covers, movable supports are also quite lifting products for plywood, so today we will talk about the machines and the possibilities of plywood.
Plywood, like wood, is a grateful, but capricious material, requires a special approach and does not like rough interference in its structure.
It must be remembered that, depending on the thickness of the material, the approach to working with it changes, namely:
Although speaking about the design of machine tools and the role of plywood in this process, one can immediately discard thin plywood, it is not used in this work.
We will be interested in two main instances:
So, here are the rules to remember when cutting plywood:
Advice!
Practice shows that it is not always possible to cut exactly along the fibers, often it is necessary to use cross-cut.
Considering modern designs machines, or their parts, then, for example, a CNC machine made of plywood with your own hands requires a large number of not only transverse but also curvilinear cuts.
Combined incisions are often needed.
In this case, the first layer of plywood is cut with a knife along the patterns, all other layers will be cut through the technical means of cutting.
A little practice!
When working with plywood, it is better to abandon canvases with large teeth altogether, a puff is not intended for them.
And yet, when working with this material, ordinary scotch tape can be glued to the place of the proposed cut.
The result will be free of chips and other defects.
We have already mentioned that plywood does not like rough mechanical influences on it, so if you decide to connect parts and assemble machines with your own hands from plywood, then you can forget about nails, by the way, and self-tapping screws too. In this case, there can only be thorns and grooves, while the thorn in the groove enters like a key in the lock, slots are not allowed, when fixing, PVA glue is used.
This applies equally to plywood cutting machines, and a CNC plywood machine, and all other units where plywood will be used. This is due to the fact that both moving and stationary parts experience vibration and can crumble at the most inopportune moment if other types of fasteners are used.
And a few words about drilling - a sharp wood drill will do.
For your information!
When drilling plywood at the level of the drill exit, the outer level of the veneer may chip.
In order to avoid this, it is necessary to put another piece of plywood under the plywood; it is possible to use waste from sawing the material.
Any instruction will tell you that at the final stage, plywood is subjected to grinding, priming, finishing. Special emphasis is placed on the processing of the edges.
Whether there is a need to paint plywood products, the question remains open, for the reason that the machine and its components experience a rather pronounced mechanical, vibration, temperature effect and even various cooling often do not cope with the task.
Cooling fluids for plywood units are not used, but air cooling works better than none.
Therefore, in principle, you can limit yourself to the following set of actions:
Plywood - quite suitable material for the production of machine tools for household use. The video in this article is also ready to cover the topic.
Similar materials
Perfect milling of plywood is an operation that requires precision and adherence to technology. For milling large volumes of sheet material with excellent quality, our company has all the necessary production facilities and areas.
| Thickness, mm: | Prices for plywood milling, rub / lm | |||
| up to 500 | up to 1000 | up to 3000 | up to 5000 | |
| 3-6 | 45 | 30 | 25 | 22 |
| 7-10 | 53 | 38 | 32 | 27 |
| 12-20 | 60 | 45 | 37 | 30 |
| 21-30 | 76 | 67 | 52 | 38 |
| 40 | 120 | 107 | 94 | 83 |
| Ask an expert: | |
+7 926-301-80-59 |
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Prices for CNC plywood milling are indicated in Russian rubles without VAT per linear meter, excluding the cost of the material. The cost of milling is calculated as the sum of the lengths of all cutting lines in the layout in meters, multiplied by the cost of 1 meter with the corresponding material thickness. |
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The company has two milling and engraving machines with working surfaces of 1300 * 2500 mm. In addition to the large area of work tables, the machines have the following characteristics and features:
We specialize in handling large volumes. For example, a wagon of 18 mm plywood is milled for no longer than four days. A proprietary unique technology has been developed for milling plywood with a laminated coating, which allows performing the operation on high speeds with an ideal result - an edge free of burning, chips and burrs. After passing through the production cycle, finished products are labeled and neatly packaged. The photo shows the loading of a ready-made kit for construction formwork made of coniferous plywood.
For milling, special configurations of cutters are used to avoid processing defects, both on the front and on the wrong side, and to obtain a perfect edge. Unlike laser cutting, our technology helps to obtain parts without burning marks on the wood and immediately ready for further processing stages: grinding and applying decorative coatings. The choice of a cutter is possible from 2 mm to 1.2 cm in diameter, the speed of milling, depending on the complexity, is from 150 to 5000 cm per minute.
When processing furniture parts for assembly using the thorn-and-groove method, adjustments should be taken into account in accordance with the thickness of the material, and, if necessary, adjust the drawings to compensate for the effect of radius.
To obtain high quality products, the right choice of material is essential. Depending on the purpose and required properties of the future product, certain types and grades of plywood should be used. Rational choice of material will minimize processing losses and reduce costs.
Wood species
Plywood can be made from birch or softwood.
Impregnations, or plywood glue, are used of two types:
The main difference is that the formaldehydes present in the FSF are unsafe, therefore this type of plywood is undesirable for the manufacture of furniture or interior decoration of premises. In outdoor applications, FSF has proven itself excellent due to its higher resistance to moisture and deformation than that of FC. Plywood brand FK is used for the manufacture of furniture and household products. It is safe, and, if not exposed to aggressive environments, is quite durable.
By the type of processing, plywood can be sanded on one side - Ш1, on both sides - Ш2. Unsanded plywood is marked as NSh. Since milling usually takes place along the end plane, the type of processing of its front surface is almost not reflected in the quality of plywood milling.
The type of plywood depends on the quality of the veneer from which the plywood layers are made, as well as the number of inserts, knots or areas with color transitions (defects). The number of defects on the front and back sides of the plywood sheet may not coincide. To designate a variety, a double designation is used, if the numbers do not match, then the number of defects on the front and back sides is not the same.
For example, if you compare 2/4 and 2/2, this means that the first sheet has more defects on the back side than the front one, and the second sheet has the same texture on both sides. Low-grade plywood, grades 3-4, is more difficult to mill, there is a high risk of chipping and delamination. The sheets should be selected very carefully.
Film faced plywood is intended for the production of reusable formwork. She is not afraid of interaction with water and mortars. Temperature drops also do not change its properties. During production, the surfaces of the sheet are covered with a laminating layer, and after cutting the sheet, to prevent moisture penetration through the cut, the ends are treated with a special composition. Milling of film faced plywood is more difficult, it requires precise selection of machine settings.
Machine tools. Particularly appreciated are numerical control (CNC) machines, which allow high-precision machining. But all industrial designs are expensive. The way out is to make a CNC machine out of plywood.
The high price of industrial machines is due to the fact that power elements they are made of metal. This allows them to work with large power loads. But for a home workshop, this is not necessary. Therefore, household machines and accessories for them can be made of plywood, which will significantly reduce the cost and allow you to make it yourself.
Answering the question - how to do homemade machine, it is necessary to understand that the creation of any equipment begins with the development of drawings. This stage takes the most time, since all the nuances are provided for in the design of future equipment.
After the development of drawings, the stage of purchasing and manufacturing of parts begins. At this stage, plywood processing technology is of key importance. It must be selected in such a way that future parts have the required accuracy and do not have internal defects.
The third step is assembly. It is very important to carefully assemble a homemade machine, without using strong blows, as plywood parts can collapse.
The last step is setting up the CNC machine. At the same time, the initial position of the head with the tool is calibrated, the machine is tested against the written code and corrections are made to the machine settings.
When developing the drawings of the machine, you need to pay attention to the following points:
It is important, even at the design stage, to clearly understand which elements of the future machine tool to make on their own, and which ones are better to purchase. You need to make yourself parts that do not have a complex shape and complex technological processes are not used for their processing:
In some cases, plywood can be used to make pulleys. In order for the machine to work for a long time and not break down, it is necessary to choose the right thickness of plywood.
When designing the joints of plywood parts, it is necessary to minimize their fastening using bolts and studs. Ideal option is connected with a tenon and a groove. It is strictly forbidden to use nails and screws, as this can lead to plywood cracking at the connection points.
For people who have never made such units, the best option is to find ready-made drawings, and make only small changes to them. This will prevent serious mistakes, which can subsequently lead to a waste of effort and money.
For the manufacture of a CNC machine, in addition to parts that will be made of plywood, you will need to purchase the following items:
You also need a computer to program the controller. In addition, if the computer does not have the ability to control the unit, you will need a remote control on which the start and stop buttons will be displayed.
All parts that are not included in the list above must be made from plywood. Therefore, the question of correct processing is in the first place when.
Mechanical processing of plywood has a number of rules that must be strictly observed.
When cutting a plywood sheet, you must adhere to the following rules:
For making holes in plywood parts, it is best to use drilling machine... In this case, a high rotational speed of the drill and its minimum feed are selected.
It can also be used, which allows you to make a hole of any shape with a minimum error, as well as to obtain a tongue-and-groove connection.
But if there is no machine, then an ordinary drill is also suitable for drilling holes. The only thing is that the beating of the cartridge is minimal, otherwise the error will increase significantly.
Making holes on CNC machines
After sawing and drilling the holes, the workpiece must be sanded. For this, zero sandpaper is used. Grinding is done along the grain direction and starts from the corner. The corner itself is sanded at the end.
The holes are sanded with the same wood sandpaper.
After grinding, it is imperative to cover the entire surface of the part with special compounds that will prevent it from sticking and cracking. In some cases, the parts are covered with paints and varnishes, but if the unit is not located outside, then this is not necessary.
Grinding and aligning corners
It is necessary to assemble the finished product carefully, since plywood is still not metal and can crack. It is necessary to adhere to the following recommendations:
After the machine is assembled, its setup begins. At the same time, the free movement of all moving parts and the operation of the transmission mechanism are checked, the position of the limit switches and sensors is adjusted.
The adjustment of the made machine consists in setting the zero position of the tool, calibrating the exact movement of the support and table along the axes, as well as checking the correctness of processing information from the sensors.
The software for CNC machines is very difficult to create yourself, so it is purchased from specialists and installed on the unit.
And so, as part of this instructional article, I want you, together with the author of the project, a 21-year-old mechanic and designer, to make your own. The narration will be in the first person, but you should know that, to my great regret, I am not sharing my experience, but only freely retelling the author of this project.
There will be quite a lot of drawings in this article., notes to them are made at English language, but I'm sure that a real techie will understand everything without further ado. For ease of perception, I will break the story into "steps".
Already at the age of 12, I dreamed of building a machine that would be able to create various things. A machine that will enable me to make any household item. Two years later, I came across the phrase CNC or more precisely, the phrase "CNC milling machine"... After I found out that there are people who are able to make such a machine on their own for their own needs, in their own garage, I realized that I can do it too. I must do it! For three months I tried to put together the right parts, but I didn’t budge. So my obsession gradually faded away.
In August 2013, the idea to build a CNC milling machine captured me again. I had just graduated from an undergraduate degree from the University of Industrial Design, so I was quite confident in my capabilities. Now I clearly understood the difference between me today and me five years ago. I learned how to work with metal, mastered the techniques of working on manual metalworking machines, but most importantly, I learned how to use development tools. I hope this tutorial will inspire you to create your own CNC machine!
It all starts with thoughtful design. I made some sketches to get a better feel for the size and shape of the future machine. After that, I created a CAD model using SolidWorks. After I modeled all the parts and assemblies of the machine, I prepared the technical drawings. I used these drawings to make parts on manual metalworking machines: and.
Honestly, I love the good handy tools... That is why I tried to make sure that operations on maintenance and the adjustment of the machine was carried out as easy as possible. I placed the bearings in special blocks in order to be able to quickly change. The rails are serviceable so my machine will always be clean when finished.
dimensions
The bed provides the machine with the required rigidity. A movable portal, stepper motors, a Z-axis and a spindle, and later a work surface will be installed on it. To create the base frame, I used two 40x80mm Maytec aluminum profiles and two 10mm aluminum end plates. I connected all the elements to each other on aluminum corners. To reinforce the structure inside the main frame, I made an additional square frame from smaller sections.
In order to further avoid dust getting on the guides, I installed protective corners made of aluminum. The corner is mounted using T-nuts, which are installed in one of the grooves of the profile.
Bearing blocks are mounted on both end plates to accommodate the drive screw.
Carrying frame assembly
Angles to protect the guides
Drawings of the main elements of the bed
The movable gantry is the executive element of your machine, it moves along the X-axis and carries the milling spindle and the Z-axis support. The higher the gantry, the thicker the workpiece that you can machine. However, a high portal is less resistant to loads that arise during processing. High side gantry struts act as levers relative to linear rolling bearings.
The main task that I planned to solve on my CNC milling machine is the processing of aluminum parts. Since the maximum thickness of suitable aluminum blanks is 60 mm, I decided to make the portal clearance (distance from the working surface to the upper crossbeam) equal to 125 mm. In SolidWorks, I converted all of my measurements to model and technical drawings. Due to the complexity of the parts, I processed them on an industrial CNC machining center, this additionally allowed me to process chamfers, which would be very difficult to do on a manual metal milling machine.
In the Z-axis design, I used a front plate that attaches to the Y-axis travel bearings, two plates to reinforce the assembly, a plate to hold the stepper motor, and a plate to mount the milling spindle. On the front panel, I installed two profile guides along which the spindle will move along the Z axis. Please note that the Z axis screw does not have a counter support at the bottom.
The guides provide the ability to move in all directions, ensure smooth and precise movements. Any backlash in one of the directions can cause inaccuracies in the processing of your products. I chose the most expensive option - profiled hardened steel rails. This will allow the structure to withstand high loads and provide the positioning accuracy I need. To ensure that the guides are parallel, I used a special indicator during their installation. The maximum deviation relative to each other was no more than 0.01 mm.
The screws will transform rotary motion from stepper motors to linear. When designing your machine, you can choose several options for this unit: A pair of screw-nut or ball screw(Ball screw). A screw nut is generally more subject to frictional forces during operation and is also less accurate relative to a ball screw. If you need increased accuracy, then it is definitely necessary to opt for ball screws. But you should know that ball screws are quite expensive.
