ERC TimSav - Cheap DIY CNC Foamboard Cutter

[Mr NCT]

Can any of us leave well enough alone? With the extra parts (cheaper to order 5 than 3 of something) I added a second Y axis motor.

 

[luvmy40]

Noice!

 

[Mr NCT]

Noice!

Thanks!

 

[skymaster]

Can any of us leave well enough alone? With the extra parts (cheaper to order 5 than 3 of something) I added a second Y axis motor.

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what is the range on this thing

 

[luvmy40]

what is the range on this thing

If by range you mean work area, the original design works with 20"x 30" foam board with a little spare room on both the X and Y axis. As with any CNC system, you are limited only by the area available. this could easily be built to work in a much larger area, but you then be wanting to use a four sided frame and dual X(or Y depending on your orientation) steppers for sure.

 

[skymaster]

If by range you mean work area, the original design works with 20"x 30" foam board with a little spare room on both the X and Y axis. As with any CNC system, you are limited only by the area available. this could easily be built to work in a much larger area, but you then be wanting to use a four sided frame and dual X(or Y depending on your orientation) steppers for sure.

can it be used with a pen instead of the needle cutter?

 

[Mr NCT]

can it be used with a pen instead of the needle cutter?

Yes, there are a number of pen add-ons available. I'm using this one that can mark and cut.

ERC TimSav ball bearing head by zero_o

ERC TimSav ball bearing head This a new head version for the ERC TimSav Foam board CNC cutter. It is based on linear rails and bearing and hence more sturdy. It also supports a drawing marker handling that can be operated with the same single servo. This way, cutting and drawing can be all done...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[skymaster]

Yes, there are a number of pen add-ons available. I'm using this one that can mark and cut.

ERC TimSav ball bearing head by zero_o

ERC TimSav ball bearing head This a new head version for the ERC TimSav Foam board CNC cutter. It is based on linear rails and bearing and hence more sturdy. It also supports a drawing marker handling that can be operated with the same single servo. This way, cutting and drawing can be all done...

www.thingiverse.com

So let's say that i have an old set up from a laser engraver that i bought a long while a go you think i can use that

 

[Mr NCT]

So let's say that i have an old set up from a laser engraver that i bought a long while a go you think i can use that

Probably with some modifications for mounting it. The up and down motion to determine depth of cut is done with a 9g servo motor. How is your laser head moved up and down?

 

[Mr NCT]

I just finished cutting the first 3 sheets of the FT Sportster and averaged about 13 minutes per sheet with modest speed settings. WOW! This thing is worth the time. Thanks @Edwardchew for the great design.

 

[SP0NZ]

I just finished cutting the first 3 sheets of the FT Sportster and averaged about 13 minutes per sheet with modest speed settings. WOW! This thing is worth the time. Thanks @Edwardchew for the great design.

I really really need to build mine.

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

Does anyone have the dxf files for Ben Harbers Stearman? I don't want to hand cut it again lol.
Thank you!

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

Can any of us leave well enough alone? With the extra parts (cheaper to order 5 than 3 of something) I added a second Y axis motor.

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Could you post the files that you used I would like to do that to mine.
Looks great by the way!

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

So let's say that i have an old set up from a laser engraver that i bought a long while a go you think i can use that

On the Facebook group there were people that mounted lasers to theirs.

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

I just finished cutting the first 3 sheets of the FT Sportster and averaged about 13 minutes per sheet with modest speed settings. WOW! This thing is worth the time. Thanks @Edwardchew for the great design.

What is the cutting rate for you. Mine is cutting at 700mm/s and travel is 1800mm/s

 

[Foamforce]

What is the cutting rate for you. Mine is cutting at 700mm/s and travel is 1800mm/s

I do 1500 and 3000 for travel. I found that too slow sometimes makes it cut worse. It might be because the end the needle doesn’t get over far enough to actually poke into the paper, so it’s just the tapered side of the needle doing the cutting. I have no idea if this is true, that’s just a guess.

 

[Mr NCT]

Could you post the files that you used I would like to do that to mine.
Looks great by the way!

Both tensioners are mash ups of the tensioner on thingiverse. I'll get them ready for release and post them here and on thingiverse. I got the biggest increase in speed by using laserweb to process the svg file, cut the time more than in half. I make 4 layers in inkscape - mark, score, internal cuts, cut out - and then have laserweb put them in that order.
Marking at 1400
Score at 1100
All cutting at 950
Cutting head ~ 10,000 rpm

I'm not an expert by any means. I've cut 6 successful sheets of production , but that's what worked for me after calibration & testing.

 

[Dudley1001]

On the Facebook group there were people that mounted lasers to theirs.

Yes I have made a laser only version for my neighbour and mine can switch between laser and needle. Just got it running FluidNC rather than GRBL and I am using a MKS Tinybee 32bit ESP32 mainboard with wifi and a webpage to control it. Yes, going a little overboard but the board is about the same price as an uno/cnc shield. My mount is here but I am going to get rid of the v-rollers for the laser mount and just use hammer nuts. The reason for switching to the Tinybee was so my MPCNC and the Timsav will be both running fluidnc as well as my neighbours Root 3 CNC

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

Both tensioners are mash ups of the tensioner on thingiverse. I'll get them ready for release and post them here and on thingiverse. I got the biggest increase in speed by using laserweb to process the svg file, cut the time more than in half. I make 4 layers in inkscape - mark, score, internal cuts, cut out - and then have laserweb put them in that order.
Marking at 1400
Score at 1100
All cutting at 950
Cutting head ~ 10,000 rpm

I'm not an expert by any means. I've cut 6 successful sheets of production , but that's what worked for me after calibration & test

Thanks That should make mine cut better when it is far away from home.

 

[Flying Farm Kid]

I do 1500 and 3000 for travel. I found that too slow sometimes makes it cut worse. It might be because the end the needle doesn’t get over far enough to actually poke into the paper, so it’s just the tapered side of the needle doing the cutting. I have no idea if this is true, that’s just a guess.

Ok I will try to up mu cutting speed. I get decent quality cuts right now it is just the fine tuning that it needs.