Cutting aluminum parts with 3018 Pro CNC, making an E3D V6 hotend mount for the Sapphire Plus CoreXY

[@fly-high-me]

She talks much better than most adults. Keep it up!

[@Edwilldesign]

Great structure and instructional style.

[@jannes351]

Thanks for the detailed and complete breakdown of the costs! Always annoys me when people use parts they have lying around, without giving a price range or source.

[@andyniemic4597]

Your KZbin channel is one of the most helpful channels I have seen. I like that you added things that went wrong (so we can learn from you), and pointers on what to do and not to do. I also like that you also add bloopers at end of the video. Keep up the great work and I cannot wait to see your next video next week.

[@russellmm]

Your presentation skills are excellent. You are going to go a long ways on KZbin if you keep at it.

[@DailyFrankPeter]

Or ouside youtube if you choose.

[@vikingsofvintageaudio7470]

100%

[@WesPeters]

I came looking for hints on cutting aluminum on a 3018. What a gem of a find! The other replies are right, your presentation skills are excellent. I'll be looking through the rest of your channel now, and thank you for the tips!

[@staticmin3]

I have learnt more about speed vs depth, spindle speed vs flutes than any other CNC vid on youtube, thank you.

[@retiredtom1654]

I was very impressed with this young business women. She was clear & completely explained what she was doing & what she had done. I wonder what her age was. Her brother looked even younger. I wish them both success!

[@GNU_Linux_for_good]

I second that. She (and her brother) will have a bright future.

[@cwalke32477]

Man, these kids are going to be captains of manufacturing,as adults. Look at all they can do with a cheap hoppy mill. And she is very well spoken too

[@souswodaem1]

Watching you two work and the knowledge you possess makes me feel wholly inadequate lmao. Keep up the great work, you two are going far in life for sure!

[@andymeenanvideos]

Fantastically detailed analysis with clear direct audio. The goto channel for Laser, 3d, and CNC machine reviews. I wish all reviewer's channels were this detailed, Well Done!

[@Aircraft_Fabricator]

This is amazing! I have watched a few of your videos now and hit that subscribe button. Please continue your journey with CAD/CAM and 3D printing and dont stop! You are unlocking skills that most people could only dream of having! They will be useful forever! Awesome to see two people as young as you both are delving into this stuff! Keep up the good work!

[@blatantmisconception]

Dang kid, this cnc video is great. I'm a dad aged guy and am learning a lot from these videos. Thank you.

[@strayblackcatsmeow]

You may be new to milling but you have the first successful aluminum run I've seen on a budget CNC. I put mine away without use when I could find no successful metal cut attempts. Mine is all aluminum built with a mid size motor so it should work. Pulling it out to try. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@joshuaberry4128]

I'm going to reiterate what others are saying. Your presentation skills are outstanding, let alone for someone your age. Keep it up!

[@guyrigby109]

It sounds like a well spoken older lady giving a board meeting presentation is talking. Then I stopped using the video as background and looked at who was talking. Suffice to say I was not expecting that. I'm still not sure this isn't dubbed over or something. The actual content being covered here and the detail is also really good, top tier.

[@greggschwabauer6241]

As a proud father of two daughters, I love seeing this!

[@greggschwabauer6241]

Go STEM!!!

[@cheeriomartinez]

I’m a cnc machinist, and You know how to program better than some other people I’ve seen.

[@clytle374]

LOL, oh wait you are 100% correct. Of course I was in machine tool repair for a long long time, so I got to see the worst of the worst.

[@crazychroniclez]

i want to learn how to program so I can use a CNC. Do you have any advise on what softwares and good tutorials I could use

[@returnnull3476]

I think the real cnc experts were the friends we made along the way.

[@cedricbauer2025]

This is the most helpful video about the CNC on the internet

[@chrisallan9819]

I think you are experts. You figured every every problem and got results. Very good channel - subscribed!

[@king-acumen1028]

I always wanted a 3018. Hope to see you guys cnc more. 3018 Tutorial videos are much needed. I would love to see you guys cnc some different materials like Wood, Brass, Bronze, Copper.

[@frequentlyfascinated]

I come back to your channel again and again for the clear and concise explanations. You do a great job!

[@johnr9896]

Great video !!! It is suggested that you ad tabs to the perimiter of the part so you can mill completely through the material. When clamping part to the table avaoid having any unsupported areas. Again great work !!

[@initialb123]

I really appreciate this upload, you've answered questions about the 3018 i've had for ages , thank you :)

[@claudelefebvre3076]

one thing that would help , it is to put some cutting oil on the tip of the cutter while cutting the parts, it will cool it down and help the cut , good work and you can tell your brother that he is doing a good job with the videos , you can also tell your parents that they are raising two great kids 👍 , and from what i saw in the comments lower , sois tu lis le français ou tu utilise translate , mais ta réponse en français me faire dire que que es une personne ouverte aux autres langues et c'est admirable de ta part, bravo ! merci de partager tes vidéos 🙂

[@Oriolsa]

I congratulate you for a magnificent explanation. From the proposal to modify the type of motor for 3018 for 500w as for the rest of the comments for the improvement of the 3D printer. It was great listening to you.

[@JonBergacs]

Being that i did this. I can confirm increase your speed, reduce feed and i have run up to .015" deep. Have you ever tried any coolants? And you should move your X and Y to start position then run rapid to .100" above. Start spindle and move Z last to start cutting. This prevents dragging over the stock. Lastly you really should spot the hole before drilling and use same spot drill to chamfer the edges after. To remove some machining marks using fine grit sandoaper can give you a nicer finish.

[@duncanmarks1590]

hi, very good presentation with good coverage of the limitations of small machines and the issues of using "cheap" tooling bits. bye Duncan

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

Aargh. I bought a "T8" desktop CNC engraver on the back of KZbin recommendations a few years ago. It's not rigid enough to accurately engrave plastic. Just ordered a 3018 engraver from another youtuber's recommendation and now I learn it's not very rigid either? fingers crossed it'll still be a big improvement. Thank for the excellent videos!

[@Bu5H84]

This girl has a great future ahead of her, keep them coming awesome informative videos

[@aps3000miki]

Fan-Tas-Tic. Amazing how much experience you show. If you want a job in the CNC industry, call me. You can start on Monday. Besides, here are a few tips for your cheap machine alu cutting: Always use single flute endmills for alu. Even cheap ones will do a good job and greatly reduce the stress on the spindle. Always use ramping (spiral ramp) to enter the material as well as for cutting and also try toroidal milling. These precautions will help your underpowered and flimsy machine to hopefully get useable results. You also need to be careful not to go too slow as your chips will get too hot. The plastic spindle mount is a bad idea as it retains the heat and supports heat build-up. Make one from alu, it will work much better. I just admire your videos, you have so much knowledge and your presentation skills are great. But even better, your video preparation and research are tops. Am sure your brother helps you a bit. You deserve 100000 views and you will get there.

[@cacaokingdom3122]

The actual mount that holds the spindle is aluminum and comes with the spindle. The issue in this case is the Z axis carriage that it attaches to. The one that comes with the system is integrated into the original spindle mount so has to be replaced in order to mount the more powerful spindle. The 3D printed option is pretty common since it is often readily available. However as they discovered using a lower temp plastic is bad. Most approachable initial option would be to use the system to mill a carriage from wood, perhaps in layers that can be stack laminated together. Using that, the system could run the higher power spindle and be used to mill an aluminum option. Another idea would be to add more active cooling to the spindle mount, maybe just in the form of a fan blowing on the spindle mount to help bleed off heat.

[@cacaokingdom3122]

I have one of those same CNCs and just purchased the 500W spindle. haven't mounted it yet though. Also have the limit switches and planning to get them installed. While the 3D printed option for the mount allows the most flexibility, one option is to mill a new mount using wood instead. You won't have it go soft from a little bit of heat! Maybe figuring out how to mill one later from aluminum would be best though even if done as a couple layers/pieces.

[@iandrake4683]

Thanks for the great 3018 information. Loved the giggles at the end. Not sure why cameras do that to us.

[@MFEeee]

You’re so smart! Keep up the good work!

[@peterplantec7911]

This was very well presented. You must be older than you look. Your approach is very adult and well organized.

[@user-kcrpine]

How old is this child? Exceptionally impressive. Kudos to her parents.

[@jeromesurffoil7033]

Howdy from Texas! Excellent work and production quality! Your information and the way you present it are top notch! I noticed your speech cadence is a little reminiscent of another excellent KZbinr GreatScott.

[@3dQRP]

A great and very informative video. Thanks for convincing me to try out a 3018 mill.

[@pen25]

wow. i have had a cnc sitting in my garage for over a year and a half and never made it past building it. great job!

[@VinceOConnor]

Great video! Your channel was recommended by several people on Twitter, and I’m glad they did. I subscribed and am looking forward to watching your previous videos.

[@BleuCollarFndryMTL]

You do a great job, I love you tell us how you to cut aluminum. I have two mini cncs

[@davepaturno4290]

You can also use an edge finder to locate the part sides. It is purely mechanical and is spring-loaded.

[@bigwendigo2253]

You’re awesome! With the spindle heating up, I’m surprised you didn’t use any cutting oil. Anyways I really want to get one of these and slap linear rails and a larger spindle (I’ve seen some people use dremels or makita drills for the spindles and get really good results) Yeah, there are a lot of upgrades you can do on this.

[@HyroDaily]

Your channel is wrecking my bank account, 😄 I didn't realize I could get a mill for that cheap!

[@stephan.scharf]

Thank you for 9:34, meanwhile best diy maker channel on yt.

[@scottwood9181]

You wouldn't be the only one to cry about breaking expensive bits. I get carbide burrs for cleaning up welding projects and occasionally need to grind an inside corner. On a high speed rotary, that's dangerous and you have to be very careful as any 'skip' will quickly multiply as it careens off the inside walls and usually breaks the carbide burr sometimes sending pieces of it or the stock flying. But if you manage to escape flying bits, you still have to sit and cry over a $30-70 burr laying in pieces across the garage floor.

[@AndrewSink]

Awesome work! Naomi Wu sent me here, and I’m glad she did! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

[@jeffsauer2198]

Nicely done Aurora... always look forward to your new videos. Fun to see you getting in to CNC...

[@arthurmorgan8966]

I came here looking for the CNC but saw that we have the exact same Sapphire version. I cut the Z lead screw tops with bolt cutter and printed a plastic hotend mount and fan shroud for v6+volcano (again same choice.) Otherwise for Sapphire Plus, if you have the version with Z screws on sides, volcano block collides with the screws.

[@SHINdanny]

thanks for adding the bloopers :D (a perfect presentation is for robots ;)

[@CrazyLegsBigOlHead]

Awesome video and great instructions. Little advice... make sure your tool is as short as possible. Get a shorter endmill and put it in the spindle as far as you can. If the Tool can't reach the desired depth, just move the whole spinbdle motor down in Z and your finish will be a lot better.

[@pmsilvei]

This video made my day. Keep up the good work. This was amazing to watch 😁👌🏻

[@cornelisachtenzestig5533]

Great video, just what hobbyists need. Very professionally made. Thanks a lot. This was very usefull information.

[@lavague7648]

Congrats. Very nice video and very educative. I also end up with 0.2 doc for my poorly rigid diy cnc. I need linear rails to boost rigidy. It would be great to see milling brass with this machine.

[@JBERGALIEN]

Great learning to get from your awesome work

[@fjdelahoz]

Keep up the great job that you and your brother are doing. Well done !!

[@davepaturno4290]

Also, you may be able to use a shorter windmill and increase depth of cuts.

[@limeyrock]

Great video. I recently upgraded to a V6 too. I ended up just getting the optional blue aluminium threaded heatsink to avoid having to clamp entirely.

[@avejst]

Great walkthrough as always 👍 Good points with the speed and quality cut on aluminium Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us 👍😀

[@avejst]

I Had problems with the Sapphire plus printhed fixture too. I have moved to a EVA2 design, in hope for a squere printhead configuration

[@svakagaur]

Great video, lots of information for me to check out further. I have a 3018 myself and was having problems with skipping steps. I upgraded to bigtreetech B42C closed loop driver on the standard steppers that came with the machine and all skipping problems stopped.

[@RailyardProductions]

Is that why she has lines in the final product?

[@mtz3843]

thinking about getting this, same setup, but just for wood

[@djstraylight]

Great work! I can see you doing a few more upgrades to your CNC to make it more accurate and able to run longer without issues.

[@davidvannorsdall4128]

That was freaking awesome super cool

[@jamdigital9530]

Nice video.. Love the bloopers at the end.. Keep smiling.

[@vinmurphy777]

Well done you did a great job

[@KeirMurphy]

Impressive stuff! Thanks for the video.

[@felderup]

yah, the spindle, i live in an apartment, so noise is my concern, next option up is bloody expensive, but really quiet, water cooled with a vfd, too big to fit the 3018, though a counterbalance and willingness to reduce capacity would allow someone to cut parts for a bigger machine..

[@seanburke997]

Great walk thru, well done!

[@freedomofsci]

jaw dropping, just amazing. great work. very professional

[@jasoncox6245]

You are doing great work here! Thanks for your info, please keep at it!

[@PococraftOrg]

You mentioned skipped steps. Have you looked into closed-loop stepper motors? I recently bought some and a new controller from BigTreeTech, when they arrive I'm hoping those and my other upgrades to my DIY CNC engraver will make it a little more reliable. Would be interested if this is something you both have looked into or have tried.

[@lawrencecole6527]

Do you know about chatter? Chatter happens when there is not enough material for the cutter to cut so it pushes passed the material leaving a smudged/melted look. You can fix chatter by decreasing RPM or increasing Feed Rate. Also increasing rigidity will help prevent chatter. Hard deal for your situation. Try less tool stick out, better work holding, and less than 100% step over for your tool path. This is a make believe number but maybe with say 3% stepover the motors can handle full speed to utilize full rpm to avoid chatter. Maybe try a super short tool with insane number of flutes. Have fun!!

[@tiwanski1]

Great video !!! At 4:47 minutres into the video you go through a sensor probing routine to tell the CNC controller where the "Z" home; "X" and "Y" positions are relative to the piece which you are machining. Could you please provide the commands for the g-code sub-routine or macro that you used to accomplish this ? Also what software are you using with this CNC configuration ?? I'm new to dekstop CNC milling and 3D priniing and have found your videos to be a most valuable resource. Please continue producing these great videos !!!

[@AuroraTech]

You just need to install Universal GCode Sender (UGS) and use the probe plugin, which is free to download. winder.github.io/ugs_website/

[@StefanDembowski]

Nice analysis and walk through. 👏👏👏

[@cathyomalley2772]

Fantastic video, very good explanation and information.

[@kevinaub]

Good jobs kids. Actually really useful info and good presentation too!

[@lawrencecole6527]

You are kidding me with that using the tool as a probe!! Wow.

[@peerrucke2599]

you need to build some cooling apparatus for this thing, better cooling milk than air. You also want a real Wolfram-Carbid bit which is aboz 25-30 bucks for a standard size. I think this machine is amazing. trust me this thing can do more than 0.1mm depth in aluminum given a good bit and proper cooling. Everybody can be an engineer now.

[@tariqmirza3443]

Excellent explanations!!!

[@chadburnett8781]

I would think that using a slightly more heat-tolerant plastic to model the spindle mount which you could then use to machine the same mount out of aluminum would be better.

[@Kyokahnn]

I think you could've made an aluminum bracket for the spindle. Or even wood. For aluminum on a cheap CNC: carbide single flute endmill (cheap ones work ok, upgrade without breaking the bank: Yonico brand), adaptive cutting on fusion360, adapt an air assist with a cheap compressor or dust collection or both. Finally if you have some more of that nice aluminum, replace the plastic parts of the machine and upgrade the steppers to high torque n17 (the board allows a bit more amperage, just add a sticky heatsink on the drivers) I realized this is old, so just leaving this in case anyone else is getting one of these machines.

[@TheDarthhair]

Thank you for the outstanding video! I am interested in this cnc for small aluminum projects so your videos are a great help. Keep at it!

[@jmwetterene7459]

Super vidéo, vous formez un belle équipe avec ton frère continuez comme cela c'est très passionnant et instructif un grand merci

[@AuroraTech]

Je suis contente que ça te plaise, merci!

[@LostCloudx4]

LUBRICATION!!!! Cut alloy and even just water on the surface will help...

[@wwowly]

this is excellent content. really impressive work!

[@Kalvinjj]

0.1mm depth of cut, and I was here almost giving up on milling aluminum on my machine cause jee it can't handle it! ...At 1mm depth of cut... Damn! Back to trying it out now!

[@jamalchahboun2477]

Thanks for these awesome videos. Great job 👍

[@JesusHernandez-mp5xz]

Hello, Love your Videos. My question is, What parts do I need for my CNC 3018 Pro in order to be able to cut Aluminum that is 2.5mm thick?? Thank You

[@leec2106]

Wow, very impressive young lady. You said you are going to 3D print that part for the CNC, would making it from aluminum be a better fix? I ask as I have a 3018 that I extended to be a 3040, I am still using the stock motor, and I plan on getting an upgrade motor, maybe even that one. Every thing I have done has been very short timed cuts, when using the spindle, all my others have been using a laser, all have been cutting wood or paper. I believe your skills are way past mine using the Spindle to cut with. Lee

[@erdepfel]

excellent

[@9thebear]

Thanks for the great video. I’d love it if you could buy one of those cheap rotary add ons for the 3018 much like the Snapmaker has but for a fraction of the price (not the roller type). Is it even possible? I’m assuming you’d have to raise the entire hight of the Z axis?

[@eurisko84]

As an engineer and hobbyist, bravo! Fantastic work the two of you. Excellent presentation method and writing. I would highly recommend using coolant/lubricant for cutting aluminium with this machine. Although technically not required DC for more expensive machines, this hobby cnc needs all the help it can get. Any lubricant is fine, but even just using something like water or ethanol mix helps dramatically. Just be careful and it will be a little more messy. Surface finish will be brilliant.

[@Thedamped]

Is it a reasonable concern that water ethanol would catch fire during use?

[@eurisko84]

@@Thedamped Usually the mix is around 60% water to 40% Ethanol, so no, the mix is not flammable. Also aluminium is a really good conductor of heat, and chips are not hot enough to create any risk of igniting the mix. Finally, these machines are cutting such small amounts with low feed and speed rates that the chips that are produced are more of a powder than actual chips.

[@Thedamped]

@@eurisko84 Thanks. Good to know. Though that mixture is definitely still flammable. I know from experience that 50% ABV will burn for quite some time while the ABV is constantly falling. I found a source that confirms flammability at least as low as 24% ABW: Flammable Liquids and Class 3 "...the dissolution of a miscible flammable liquid in water affects the flammability. For example, pure ethanol will flash at 12.7°C; a 70% mixture by weight in water will flash at 23°C; and a 24% mixture in water at 60.5°C." After reading a bit, it seems that fires are pretty common anyway so something you have to mindful of when CNC routing, especially when dry cutting wood. Which thinking now, seems obvious that the most common thing you cut is also flammable. I found other sources that back up your suggestion for using it as a coolant/lubricant on aluminum, but warn against using it in ferrous materials that can produce sparks. So also comports with what you're saying. So it's probably safer using ethanol to cut aluminum than dry cutting wood. I'm still getting my feet wet with this. It seems that CNC routers really need supervision. Apparently they are the most common cause of fires in machine shops. Have you ever had a fire? What all do you cut?

[@eurisko84]

@@Thedamped I should have been more clear, yes, it is still flammable, but less so than pure ethanol/methanol. Also do not aerosolise the mixture, only and use a direct jet or injection method onto the part. I use a small spray bottle on a single stream (not spray) directly at the part, whereas I have seen people use misters or the like, but I don't like this method at all. I cut 95% of my parts in aluminium and small templates in MDF, but you cannot use any lubricant on wood or MDF. But you are correct, it is a very dangerous machine to leave unattended, and as per all machines, shouldn't be left to run on its own without supervision.

[@Thedamped]

@@eurisko84 Oh okay, interesting. Thanks.

[@3DJapan]

Very good video. So clear and understable. Better than mine I think! Haha

[@animeeveryday5979]

Hello I was just wondering if you could make a video on how to use the online program kiri motto for using it on a cnc machine like this video that was about using fusion 360 on a cnc machine I have been watching all your videos and that video on kiri motto is hard to find a how to video on how to use it on cnc machines like the 3018 pro or the pro plus

[@classicmovieclips7264]

Wow, i hope my kid is this smart

[@GranjersGarage]

How did you use the touch probe to home x-y axis? Modified G code? My 3018 only probes z axis? Excellent video! 👍

[@AuroraTech]

I just use Universal GCode Sender which includes the XYZ probe plugin.

[@GranjersGarage]

@@AuroraTech I will have to research that. Thank you for your response.

[@whitneydesignlabs8738]

Great tips, thanks!!

[@so-qe3ll]

13:37 don't miss the NG clip

[@karimali7602]

OMG, as someone new to CNC who's been watching ALL the videos to figure out how to not break things, Speed Tiger is life!! Well, okay, Speed Tiger AND Spetool is the other comparable brand I found. Odd question, where did you find speeds/feeds for speed tiger end mills? I've been literally copying the ones from SpeTool, but I'd prefer to run slower if I'm supposed to or faster if I can