Hi guys, I am about to purchase a Nomad and I would really like your expert advise on some of the questions/confusions I am having. Please be kind, it is going to be my first ever experience with a CNC machine.
I am cutting the necklaces using hacksaw (hand-made) - here is a picture of one of my works (https://i.imgur.com/kvG3RuO.jpg) and I will like to automate my work.
Some details:
Material used: Brass (0.8mm thick)
My question/confusions are:
Can Nomad cut Brass of 0.8mm thickness?
How long will it take to cut a pendant of 5x3cm (WxH)?
In future, I would also like to cut Sterling Silver of same thickness, is that achievable with Nomad?
think of the outline of what you want to cut as a length of road. the time it will take will depend somewhat on what size cutter you are using and what material you are cutting. the short answer here pick the smallest cutter you will use and figure for surface footage or inches per minute. then…not sure how but try to figure the total length of your cut…then toss that out the window because we will be slowing down just a smidge for turns and and breaking for coffee and chip removal. hope this helps. the great part about this is once you have done a few the set ups will come easier and in theory the machine will free you up to do other things. best of luck
should be doable sim post here:
I just cut my first silver, a bit thicker than yours, on the Nomad; it cuts like butter. What a joy after dealing with a homogenious material after the idiosyncracities of wood.
Be careful with the linked Nomad feeds & speeds chart, it is for 1/8" bits. You will likely want to use smaller diameter bits both for detail and to conserve silver. These smaller bits will need lower feed rates.
It was a mostly circular piece, 1.1 mm thick, a “moon” for an inlay. The bit was 0.787 mm, speed 9000, feed 130 and DOC was 0.10 mm (probably quite conservative). You can closely calculate the time from this.
16 mm diameter • pi = 55 mm circumference
11 passes • 55 mm/pass = 605 mm total travel
605 mm/ (130 mm/min) = 4.7 min
Add some time for other bit movements = a bit over five minutes.
Again, this was my first cut in metal, I’m no expert.
Awesome!!! Really appreciate your comments kind sir. I have a lot more questions before I make the final decision of buying a Nomad, and I am sure you’d have all my answers. Is it possible to have a chat on Skype if you don’t mind. You can add me. My Skype ID is aatify
I think your work is amazing!
I have had my machine for 3 months and really haven’t had the time to do the research that I really should have done before I got it but my husband bought it for me as a surprise.n:tired_face:
All I really have been doing is breaking bit after bit!
My goal is to cut shapes out of 24-26 gauge silver and gold for pendants and charms for bangles. I cant seem to get the feeds and speeds for the .125 endmill bit that I was told that would work best. I have been semi successful 1 time but the two way tape gave way and I had to quit. I have looked at many websites and have followed all kinds of directions and now I have been using wax. I broke over $500 in endmills in 2 weeks and now I’m just desperate as I tried using the cnccookbook and others and it’s so foreign. Could you share your endmill bits along with feeds and speeds to get though a sheet of 24 gauge silver??
Wow - that certainly sounds like trouble and alot of broken end mills! There certainly is some learning to using this tool well and I am sure with a little time and practice things will go smoother.
Lets start with some basics:
#1 - Just to make sure - you did the wrench tutorial and all went well?
#2 - You are doing your designing in Carbide Create?
#3 - can you describe how your endmills are breaking? Does it just go straight down and break or is it moving along the material and then breaking at some random point?
#4 - confirm you arent doing something like putting in feeds and speeds in metric when Carbide Create is using inches.
#5 - I havent cut silver but I am sure if you supply the range feed,speed,depth of cut you have been using one of the folks here will give you some feedback.
I did cut the wrench twice. First time my taping was not good. Second time it cut through the treading table leaving a scar. I did not change any settings. I canceled it to not continue to cut.
My Endmills snap at early stages of cutting. It will start to cut and then snap the tip off not even cutting for a few seconds.
I tried to make sure the with a level to see where I am going wrong with plunge and depth per pass. I’m literally at a loss of what to do.
I was wondering if nomad will do this job. Do yourself a favor, buy it and don’t loose more time. Was in the same thinking. Start easy jobs and learn. Take a little bit, not much. Carbide has created a system for people to be introduced to cnc in a fast track.
This isn’t an advertising. My experience.
My experience.