Best upgrades to a DIY CNC machine

Upgrading my DIY CNC and rating all the upgrades I have added so far. 36V power supply, 1.5kW spindle, new dust shoe, new stepper motor drivers, coolant system and few other quite interesting things that you can add to IndyMill and any other CNC machine.

Instagram: nikodembartnik

[saviourpace]

Nikodem, you are simply a young genius engineer. As an old man that I am, I would say your parents must be really proud of you. The job you are doing is really a dream and wish you all the success you rightly deserve. Please keep it up. I will try to go into your list of parts to see if it is economically viable for me as at 73 years I can only do so much, but since I have been looking out for such a project for some time I would love to go for it. Best of luck to you and wish you great success in the future. Regards, Saviour from Malta

[amadeus]

For your own safety, I recommend you use a 4-wire cable as the yellow-green should be connected to ground on the spindle!
If it goes wrong, your whole machine can become live!

[aam]

Great video. The best upgrades I ever did to my CNC machine were a) a full enclosure which dramatically cuts down the noise b) closed loop steppers made the machine consistently accurate and c) a water-cooled spindle. Having said that, You’ve inspired me to try some of your ideas as well. Thanks.

[davidsoto]

Hi Niko, I have a recommendation for you. Based on my experience in building and using my CNC.
I found that the gantry, if you only use the aluminum extrusions and linear rails, is considerably strong, but when you use a heavy spindle or the spindle is under heavy loads, it tends to bow for the weight and twist under load (less than a milimiter, but translate in larger movements in the cutting tool).
This is not gona make imposible to use the machine, but it´s gona be a little bit more imprecise that what is capable. There is a lot of potencial solutions to this problem, but mine for speed and moneay was simply adding a backplate with M6 screws to the extrusions.
You can even screw it to the side panels for the other axis to make it more rigid.

[bandido]

You have a vision to make money but at the same time you are thinking about the rest of us that can't afford an expensive already built machine. Best wishes!!!

[thisoldman]

Loving your video’s. The “weird” drill bit that taper’s the top of screw holes you referred to is call a “counter sink”.

[psuter]

i had a good laugh when you started to explain the strange symptoms you experienced with the freshly installed spindle.. it was nice to see that I'm not alone with that mistake :)

[oldestnerd]

A lot of great ideas here. I'm glad YouTube suggested I watch this. Thank you for documented your CNC upgrades.

[arnabmusouwir]

Those 24 minutes were captivating <3

[Daniel-ursf]

Check if your VFD has Modbus digital interface terminals… most similar VFDs do. It will give you full digital control of the VFD using a cheap USB to RS485 dongle. Set RPM precisely, start/stop/reverse, you can even read the spindle amps in real time to give you a 0-100% spindle load display. Much nicer solution than PWM! Also, get some ferrite beads on those spindle cables, it will help reduce EMI which can erroneously trigger limit sensors etc.

[iLoveTheSyncButton]

Always Use a shielded cable with Inverter driven motors to avoid noise!

[quelixfenzer]

The biggest problem with the 500W Spindle (aside from some EMI issues) are the bearings. They are usually using 2 8mm skateboard bearings that are fittet in rubber caps in the motor lids to compensate for bad tolerances which result in too much give in the spindle. I made it better by making a separate spindle with better bearing system that then is driven by the motor over a belt. The 500W performannce is enough for most things in my experience.

[marklinton]

you're a clever young man. The Indymill project has inspired me to build my own Nema-23 based CNC. I've acquired all the C-Beam and v-slot extruded aluminum for the frame and gantry. The next step will be to 3D print all the braces. So excited to see how it turns out.

[norvillesdingus]

These are some of my favorite videos! Once I have the funds, I will be making one of these for myself.
I don't know how practical for at home machining this is, but I cut aluminum daily at work and we use alcohol for cooling. We get a 200 proof ethyl alcohol in 55gal barrels that we go through probably too fast, but we are full production producing over a million units a year.

[PiefacePete]

Another video packed with mouth-watering stuff, thanks Nikodem. It is a long way from Poland to my home in New Zealand, yet at 6:40 you are moving your machine on a folding work table identical to the two I have in my workshop! Our planet gets smaller every day. :o)

[Bartosz_PL]

Jak zwykle super! Przy maszynach małej sztywności obróbkę wykańczającą warto puścić przeciwbieżnie. Przy wykańczaniu ustawiam 2-4 krotnie mniejszy posuw i przybranie boczne około 0, 2mm i wychodziło niemal lusterko, oczywiście nie może podejść żaden wiór, bo przytrze powierzchnię i będzie matowa, ale jak masz mgłę olejową, to ona super usuwa wióry. Zwróć też uwagę, żeby frez był możliwie najkrótszy i jak najbardziej schowany w tulejkę, to zdecydowanie poprawia sztywność. U siebie ten falownik mam podłączony bezpośrednio do komputera przez konwerter USB-RS485 i przez plugin do Mach3 steruje włączaniem wyłaczaniem i prędkościami z poziomu Gcodu. Bardzo wygodne, tylko jak będziesz robił safety, to styki grzybka puść do falownika też.
Pozdrawiam i powodzenia

[MrBambus]

It’s super dangerous how you connected the new spindle

[joetkeshub]

One of the most valuable video you've posted. Thank you Nikodem! Instructive and helpful as usual.

[glrider]

Hello. After watching this, I have a suggestion. You should add the spindle controller circuit to a new model Indyshield.

The original Indyshield is great, but it has some limitations, and a minor flaw. I propose a larger more powerful version. It starts with the capabilities of the first, but with the following changes and additions.

1) Add the spindle controller circuit. Instead of a separate independent circuit board for spindle control. Add the circuit to a larger more capable Indyshield.

2) Additional "A" axis. I believe grbl also allows for a 4th axis. Adding a 4th axis would allow for more advanced milling.

3) Move the VIN and end stop posts. They interfere with the arduino USB and power terminals. There are ways to mitigate this, but consider moving them.

4) Additional end stop posts. I may be wrong, but I believe grbl allows for two independent circuits for end stops. This may be useful in some instances.

5) Do not limit the shield size, if the shield needs to be larger to accommodate the changes, so be it.

The original Indyshield is great for the DremelCNC, but your IndyMill has advanced beyond that, and while the Indyshield will drive the basic Indymill quite capably, a more capable shield will allow for more advanced milling.

[mrenrollment]

Two comments regarding your little pcb with the LM358.
1) add bypass capacitors to the +/- 12v rails. two caps each 0.1uf parallel with 4.7uf
2) do not leave the second op amp unconnected.
connect - input to the output, and
connect + input to ground.
If these things are not done even the simple circuit may mis-behave, oscillate, ...