3018 ROBO router/engraver

[Bernd]

After years of being on a couple of home shop machinist forums way back when and wondering why a modeler would want a production machine, I've wound up with two CNC tabletop machines. One I've already mentioned, a Sherline CNC. The second many have seen already, a router/engraver.

About a year ago I purchased the 3018 ROBO router/engraver from COMGROW for less than what an HO scale with top-of-the-line DCC equipped locomotive costs. Here's what the machine looks like:



The machine comes as a kit for you to assemble. Quite easy.







Once assembled and all the software is installed it's time for a test run. The software includes a file that will rout a square with several size circles inside the square.



I was working on a project making some new windows for a Suydam two stall engine house. I'll post a separate thread on that if there is interest.



In this project I needed to make some window frames for the outside of the building. My first attempt killed one of my 1/32" end mills.



Finishing up the part with a new end mill wasn't very successful either.



Something had moved, plus the machine vibrated quite a bit. Something was wrong here. No it wasn't feeds and speeds. I'll explain at the end of this thread about the machine a bit further.



Here was one of the culprits that caused the vibration. Notice where the arrow points. This caused the collet not to run true and caused the cutter to cut in a orbiting circle, for lack of a better explanation, instead of spinning on a true circle.





I replaced the collet. That seemed to work. Next I also came up with a sturdier work holding method. A aluminum bed to mount a fixture to hold the .010" thick sheet brass.

A dowel pin is used to be able to replace it in the exact location.







Once the fixture was finished I used a printed template to make sure I started the machine in the proper place. Plus I milled out under the area the mill would run when cutting the part out in hopes that it would have less vibration.







To get to this point there are a few steps before you can push the start cycle button. I use DraftSight 2023 for my CAD program. There is a yearly fee, and I don't mind paying for it. For me this program is excellent for what I want to design in CAD.



After the part is designed in the CAD program it gets exported in a DXF format and loaded into the CAM software. I use CamBam Plus 1.0. Again a paid for program.



The tool paths have been set as are the speeds and feeds. The "tabs" that hold the part to the full sheet have been manually added.



Once complete the program generates the G-codes necessary for the machine software to know what to do.



The router uses GRBL software to run the machine.



Five cutters gave up their lives to get theis project done.



At the end of the job I had a bakers dozen, although I only needed twelve.




In my opinion these machines are not designed for milling thick stock. They are not rigid enough for heavy cutting. The whole machine is made from aluminum and a plastic motor/spindle holder. The rods that carry the y axis table, x axis gantry and cutter/motor holder are 10mm dia. The motor serves also as the spindle holding the cutter. The motor has friction bearings for radial thrust but nothing for linear thrust. The machine should have a separate belt driven spindle. These machines are not rigid enough for heavy work. They were designed more for small projects such as I showed in this post. The machine can be used for small projects within its means.

After I bought this machine, I did more research on this type of machine to see what was out there. I wish I'd done more research because I found the ideal machine for me.

https://www.sainsmart.com/products/genmitsu-proverxl-4030-cnc-router-with-carveco-maker-subscription

Much more rigid but a bit high in price. So, I'll have to make the best of what I have and save my pennies in hopes of getting one someday or see what I can improve on with what I have.

Bernd

[finescalerr]

I'm glad I'm not the only one whose tools cause problems! Thanks for showing us your router/engraver and the your adventures with it. -- Russ

[Bernd]

More to come Russ.

Bernd

[Bernhard]

It proves true once again: what costs nothing is good for nothing. This type of machine is absolutely not suitable for machining metal.
At best, I would recommend working with a larger milling cutter, e.g. with a diameter of 2 mm. This is a bit more stable and tends to vibrate less. In addition, I would glue the sheet with double-sided adhesive film on the base. This prevents the sheet from being lifted off by the milling cutter.

Bernhard

[Bernd]

It proves true once again: what costs nothing is good for nothing. This type of machine is absolutely not suitable for machining metal.
At best, I would recommend working with a larger milling cutter, e.g. with a diameter of 2 mm. This is a bit more stable and tends to vibrate less. In addition, I would glue the sheet with double-sided adhesive film on the base. This prevents the sheet from being lifted off by the milling cutter.

Bernhard

I do have three other mills.

A Grizzly mini mill.



A Sherline CNC mill



And my large mill, a Bridgeport.



So, I think I'm quite set for machining. The router/engraver can do more than just mill. I'll post more on this machine when I get some time.

Bernd

[Bernd]

It proves true once again: what costs nothing is good for nothing. This type of machine is absolutely not suitable for machining metal.

Bernhard

I've worked in the machine tool industry for over 30 years. The company I worked for is a major producer of gear cutting, grinding and lapping machines for the automotive, aero-space, marine and hand tools industries. I have worked on the smallest gear cutter made for cutting gears for Singer Sewing Machines to machines that cut 10-foot gears for the oil drill rigs. So, I know about ridged machines. I didn't buy this machine strictly for milling metal. As noted, it's a router/engraver, not a milling machine. That's what the Sherline and Bridgeport is for.

I bought this machine to convert it to what a Cricut/Silhouette Cameo can do. Here's what I did. Anybody with a lathe can do the same thing.

I first purchased a Cricut deep cut knife.





Next I made a holder for the knife that would fit in the motor holder.



The first job I did was to make windows for the Suydam Engine house windows. First a CAD drawing.



Once all the CAD work was done it was time to scribe the individual windows. Machine is ready for pushing the cycle start.



The end result. The little squares are easy to break at the scribe lines.



192 windows installed.



Next was a project that started with a challenge on another forum. I built two critter sheds for my HOn30 quarry railroad. I wanted to test out 1/16" thick birch plywood and 1/8" thick Plexiglas. The Plexiglas turned out to be only .100" thick.



This was my first test with double sided carpet tape.



Removing the cut parts.



Same for the Plexiglas parts.



The end products.



Next I tested out the Green Frog tape for the first time.



Apply ACC adhesive on one side.



And Insta-Set on the other side. Sorry for the blurry picture.



Cut your parts out and peel off.



Next I cut 12" HO scale width balsa boards to sheath the sides of the building.






They were then stained with denatured alcohol and powdered chalk.



Double sided 3M adhesive tape was used to attach the boards to the buildings.



I used a heavy grade of craft paper. I got it at Wally World. it's called Neenhah - creative Collection. It's 65lb paper lighter tan in color.





The clapboards were attached using the 3M transfer adhesive.





Denatured alcohol and red powder was used to color the boards.



Next up was to shingle the roof. I cut strips of varying width's of cedar wrap at 3", 6", 9" and 12" HO scale width.







They were chopped to length on my home made chopper.





The end result.



So this proves that the router/engraver can emulate a Cricut/Silhouette Cameo. The other nice thing is this is not a cloud driven machine and doesn't have proprietary software. You can cut the same material as one of these cutting machines and more buy using a mill bit or router bit.

There is one more item that can be used on this machine and that is a laser cutter. I have not yet set this up and used it. I'll need to evacuate the smoke somehow. I have some ideas.



To me this is a versatile machine even though it's lacks rigidity. It only weighs in at around 14lbs.



That's it for now.

Bernd

[Bernhard]

Bernd, I probably judged this too much from the point of view of my requirements. The decisive factor in choosing a machine is always the question of what you want to do with it and what you expect from the results.

Bernhard

[Hauk]

Thanks for sharing!