Mechanical
Steel

STLCutter 2

A while ago, I (along with Aeon Sportscars) started to make a 5D CNC milling machine to make the buck for the mould for my car design. It was going to mill the whole car in one go - however, since we had no idea if it would work, it was scaled down quite dramatically after construction (smaller cutting sizes, and 2.5D instead of 5D), and it was too weak for proper operation. So, a new design was called for using the proper parts.

This chronicles the build - which is hoped to take 10 days.

Preliminary work

Preliminary work for STL Cutter 2

Published: 26 Oct 2019, 19:07

Parts list

Parts list for STL Cutter 2

Published: 26 Oct 2019, 19:13

Day 1

Starting the Z-axis

Published: 27 Jul 2009, 19:15

Day 2

Finishing the Z-axis, and starting the Y-axis

Published: 28 Jul 2009, 19:25

Day 3

Making the Y-axis beam

Published: 29 Jul 2009, 19:33

Day 4

Continuing with the Y-axis beam

Published: 30 Jul 2009, 19:37

Day 5

Mounting the Y-axis beam on the frame

Published: 31 Jul 2009, 19:42

STL Software

The software I'm developing

Published: 2 Aug 2009, 19:48

Day 6

Mounting the X-axis rails

Published: 3 Aug 2009, 19:50

Day 7

Tidying up and starting the wiring

Published: 4 Aug 2009, 19:55

Day 8

Wiring and mounting the stepper motor drivers

Published: 5 Aug 2009, 19:58

Day 9

More wiring

Published: 6 Aug 2009, 20:06

Day 10

Putting it all together - and some cutting!

Published: 7 Aug 2009, 20:09

Aftermath

What I've learnt in the 10 days of building the STL Cutter 2

Published: 8 Aug 2009, 20:16

Day 11

Continuing a bit later on

Published: 26 Sept 2009, 20:18

Day 12

Replacing parts with laser cut brackets

Published: 13 Oct 2009, 20:22

Day 13

Increasing structural integrity

Published: 14 Oct 2009, 20:28

Day 14

Tidying the wiring with cable guides

Published: 7 Nov 2009, 20:32

Day 15

More work on the guides

Published: 21 Nov 2009, 20:42

Day 16

Adding a laser, and yet more work on the guides

Published: 29 Mar 2010, 20:42

Day 17

Making sure it all works - in theory!

Published: 30 Mar 2010, 20:46

Day 18

Painting the machine

Published: 31 Mar 2010, 21:01

Day 19

Selling the machine.

Published: 21 Oct 2012, 21:04

Date last modified: 2019-10-26 20:21:17