CNC upgrade time :)
When I initially decided on a 4'x10' modular
machine from AvidCNC, I knew I wanted three main working areas. The middle area is the horizontal table for sheet goods and the majority of all CNC work. The front of the machine is for the vertical table for joinery. The rear of the machine was always dedicated to the 4th-axis rotary system. In this video, I'll cover installing it and a brief test to wrap my head around the concept of rotary work.
The 4th axis, or rotary, is essentially a CNC-controlled lathe. There is so much more that can be done than the brief test I gave it in this video. It can be controlled manually or via G-code from CAM software. The most popular that come to mind are Vectric Aspire or Fusion360. But you can also use VCarve Pro to do basic rotary options. Because I have already purchased VCarve Pro, that's my starting point.
There are a lot of tutorials out there, and I've already started research in that area. However, I like to live by my own words. I frequently tell my daughter to figure it out, as it's very powerful when you are able to do so. Of course, the obvious value of research is undeniable. But I wanted to see if I could come up with something basic for a long-time passion of mine: shooting pool. In this
video, I make a simple four-point forearm for a pool cue. Not built to the appropriate size. I just wanted to see if I could get a basic workflow figured out.
