DIY CNC 4th-Axis for Boss Laser! WW 200

Machining a 4th-Axis for our Boss Laser on the Tormach 440 & 1100! This is a 4th-Axis project with a 5th-Axis mentality. We want to complete as many ops in one set-up as possible for process reliability and accuracy. Let's machine the headstock, tailstock, bearing, endcaps, and add a stepper motor! We'll christen this 4th-Axis by customizing Jared's caffeinated beverage holder!
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Fusion 360 CAD & CAM Download | bit.ly/2KP0BjI
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[@TabletopMachineShop]

When I first started at my current job I got access to a lot more advanced mills and lathes than the ones I was previously using, but the one tool that really blew me away was the 90W laser cutter. You can make some really nice and fairly strong parts out of plain old acrylic sheet!

[@MrToolean]

Jared, thank you for your service!

[@harrelsontrumpets]

Love this video John! We bought our Boss laser 1.5 years ago and have made so many great projects with it. We didn't try either of the 4th axis rotary tools that came with the machine until last week and now we're considering modifying the cheap Boss setup with something homemade and much better. I may film our project and add it to the "Let's Make This..." channel as a follow-up to your great work here. Thanks again for the inspiration and clear outline of your work flow!

[@davidoleary2452]

Quality as always John, watching your videos for years now, learned so much and helps me keep motivated in my own welding and machining shop thanks again

[@AppleAssassin]

Any reason, other than you not liking lathes, for not using the lathe to make the bearing for the chuck?

[@jamesdavis2027]

AppleAssassin so he could do the radial holes in one setup.

[@jfpinkston1]

AppleAssassin I had the same thought.

[@JoeKlaas]

but the part isnt even going to be round when you do it in a mill

[@tldinh]

Depending on your application, the circularity of the part may not be critical. Also, the out of roundness using circular interpolation on the Tormach is very minimal when you're making round parts greater than 1". On higher end machines it's even harder to tell.

[@RobiSydney]

With the knurling, that concern is non existent...

[@xenonram]

Is making tape and super glue each going to have their own line item on this year's financial report? And no pic of the laser work? I take it that it didn't come out as good as you were hoping?

[@shiro-r4m]

Oh my word, a lathe. And a manual one at that!

[@CassioRogerioEskelsen]

Cool project! Thanks for sharing the building process and the Fusion 360 file :)

[@yeehawmckickass]

Watching your mill go is so oddly satisfying.

[@NitroRC]

Making a full blown lathe part... the hard way... on the mill 😂

[@meichler23]

We know you hate lathes but this seems like a very easy turn job haha!

[@daveanderson2316]

Mitch Eichler I was just thinking they should come up with a machine that makes round parts...

[@DenzilMakes]

This looks much better made than most of the 4th-Axis I have seen for laser cutters, I think Trotec's is the only one I have seen that is significantly better (and significantly more expensive).

[@dbd1317]

Really nice mating surface for bearing? Or just sloppy tolerances?

[@BioStuff415]

Best channel on youtube....

[@nodnarbthered6896]

Was that a bit of a clickspring reference I spotted there?

[@SamEEE12]

Needed the x-ray vision noise. :-D

[@Thefreakyfreek]

hmmm

[@jonwally2002]

Long time since I've seen you use a manual lathe, 11:24. Still remember how to use them? :P

[@razorworks9942]

John you are AMAZING at what you do! Based on where you started, to where your at now, all I can say is W-O-W!! Congratulations on your sucess, and I may be calling you to help with something I've got going on. Hope to see you at the "Bash" in a few days. Razor!

[@piccilos]

really happy with my 2 mod vises.

[@robpierce3914]

What kind of tolerance do you hold on the mdf? After it sits for a while moisture can cause it to change thickness.

[@TheMetalButcher]

Man however did people make round parts before CNC mills? If only someone could invent a machine to do that.

[@phutranquang3454]

Good and simple CNC skills. Greate job guy! :)

[@bcbloc02]

I could see the rods flex when you were assembling it, so what is the load capacity? :-)

[@nikoh4591]

We would liked more B-Roll footage from finished product...

[@TommiHonkonen]

The bearing part made no sense to me to make it with mill. But who am I to say.

[@DiegoChavezActon]

Great video as always! might I ask what hardware and software you used to control the 4th axis?

[@LeRoyLincoln]

How much tinkering did you have to do with “circle pulse” to get your rotary aligned with the laser? Circle pulse is one issue that makes no sense on the Boss Lasers. Aside from having a test piece with all the specs per material I have started cutting out circles of the average diameter and recording the circle pulse due to it varying widely given differing diameters.

[@EnglishTurbines]

"Drills are a great way of making holes"...Really..?....lol....Amusing when the spindle pulled up drilling that little hole...

[@loganrose2791]

Off topic, but is your little air blow-off adjustable? It looks like it has a knob on it or something.

[@lavachemist]

Can you share the model number of the stepper that you used? I'm having trouble finding a three phase stepper that isn't super expensive.

[@cncit]

Next project..automatic 2 speed gear change for the Tormach ;-)

[@machineman7806]

Looks like a boring bar in the mill Going to have to try that

[@NazDonbass]

такое только в ютюбе можно увидеть, фрезеровать бобышку и накатать на токарном)) Станок конечно для обработки риса но в гараж пойдет)

[@banananarchy]

How did you make the laser communicate with the 4th axis, and run the software to match the diameter of the part?

[@skmetal7]

I really wish they would make a 2 sided tape with the same glue they use on the painters tape. Then, no more super glue.

[@Leejon57]

Thank you!

[@ianagos4276]

Sorry for Jared As a question how would you fixture large plates 12x12 that need all sides machined and several through holes? I thought about doing it on the vacuum plate but I don’t surface these plates and would have to surface the other side to remove the skin no? I make several of these but I have just thought the super glue was too much of a hassle. What do you suggest? Currently I do them in 3 ops by cutting all the center features and sides then turning 90degrees and doing the last two sides then flip and chamfer backside.

[@xenonram]

ian agostinho You could put it in a vise, drill a certain number of the holes and build a fixture to bolt it to, then you'll have access to the all the sides you need to have access to. (Flip once for the blind holes.)

[@ianagos4276]

Andrew Delashaw I do some plates like that but never built a fixture for these as while the plates are mostly similar they aren’t all identical so a fixture didn’t workout for me. Thankyou for the suggestion though

[@jeremiahhale5001]

Never seen a 4th on a laser. Nice!

[@garymilosovich3882]

Technically, not a 4th axis as most people think of it (independent and synchronized with the other three axes). You manually swap Y-axis control to the A-axis (rotary), usually by unplugging one stepper and plugging in the other. All the low end lasers are really only two axis machines...X and Y with coordinated motion control. Z stays fixed at the correct focal length above the engraving surface and does not move during operation. For rotary work your image is mapped onto the circumference of the engraved article and you have to make adjustments in your graphics software to account for the curved surface e.g. circles come out as ovals unless you compensate appropriately. Still a great project and better than most commercially available rotaries. Trotec makes a very nice unit for the their machines (but expensive), Epilog's is just OK (still expensive) and Full Spectrum's is pretty much crap. Chuck style rotaries (like this one) are better than friction drive for precision engraving, though the friction drive units are very useful for engraving tubular items like glasses, growlers, etc.

[@OriginalJetForMe]

Does the BOSS just easily accept some arbitrary 4th axis?

[@DenzilMakes]

Pretty much yes. It depends on the software you are using to control the laser cutter but many allow you to change the pulse unit so you can add a variety of different 4th-Axis, you just need to ensure the stepper motor is compatible.

[@lucasimark7992]

Why don’t you buy a decent cnc like a DMG or a Chiron or something like that? I mean having to change belts on a CNC is awful. At least for me it would be...

[@ollianddelphine]

I thought you were milling that because you didn't have a lathe. Then you put it in a lathe.......?

[@EnglishTurbines]

My thoughts exactly, interpolated diameters versus turned?...lol.

[@Hkmoulds]

What kind of tape is that? To glue aluminium??? Please share

[@nyccnc]

You can find everything you'll need on this page. www.nyccnc.com/super-glue-fixturing/

[@DRrandomman22]

"Gasp" john running a manual lathe

[@RF-yh3qh]

as a Pro menber ... would you give these files ... I would like to make one like that...

[@SzymonKowalski87]

what tape are you using?

[@ezerbiron1257]

would you be willing to sell this as a kit ?

[@stormbringermornblade8811]

well done :)

[@AdrianTache]

Isn't this essentially just a third axis? Since the laser just moves X, Y and what is that, A?

[@craazyy22]

Laser should also have a z axis or focusing lense running like a z axis.

[@AdrianTache]

I'm sure it does, but it's not an axis you can "use" and in their example the laser is printing on essentially a 2D surface.

[@wjimenez0883]

How fast were those drills running?

[@craazyy22]

pretty slow.

[@MrDaniell1234]

1 Bearing ???

[@marshalcraft]

I was thinking that, no slider bearings on the linear rail? Guess not important to need it, considering it lazer and can greese.

[@marshalcraft]

Could have turned a little teflon round stock into a press in insert though just cnc the aluminum part's hole a little bigger, then press in teflon and than insert rod/linear rail. Seen uh whats his name... The berkly guy who has bald head glasses and white beard? NYCNC did something with him too one time?

[@RobiSydney]

My guess is it's a double row bearing, looked thick enough.

[@marshalcraft]

He has cool channel too by the way. OXTOOLCO and it's tom lipton.

[@xenonram]

The sliding tail stock will not need bearings because it's move a few inches each time it is used, and it's not in constant motion, so it doesn't need bearings. The single bearing for the chuck back plate is also fine because the laser won't impart load onto it, and it turns very slowly and very minimally.

[@paximadisxevidotos]

Knurling for ball bearing:HUGE NO!Especialy in soft materials like alouminium

[@luisenrique1220]

Aluminium¿?

[@Thefreakyfreek]

at my work we mosly work white rvs and not aluminium rvs is so slow to machine compared to aluminium

[@Thefreakyfreek]

we always "fight" who gets to do the aluminium jop

[@swp466]

The Boss chuck rotary attachment is way overpriced (so is their roller attachment). You can buy the same Chinese rotary for hundreds less. Nonetheless, when I bought my laser, I made Boss throw in both the chuck style and roller rotary at no extra cost. These machines have such a huge profit margin to begin with.

[@timmieskills]

I think it's funny that where I work we use about the same feedrate for stainless steel😂

[@RaVeN85887]

Tim Dijkhuizen Yeah, but not on a tormach.

[@timmieskills]

RaVeN85 no, on a bridgeport

[@RaVeN85887]

Tim Dijkhuizen Sure you do.

[@timmieskills]

We really do, I guess you don't know about the new bridgeport machines

[@TheMetalButcher]

Wouldn't surprise me, those were baby cuts for aluminum. I guess when you tape all your work pieces down.

[@AS-3D]

Second!

[@phalanx3803]

15:28 those trumpets i thought a Ron Pratt video i had open in the other tab had started to play kzbin.info/www/bejne/qF65qKmllK2VbbM

[@robertschmitt9160]

You know the Haimer is supposed to return to zero. I noticed in this video its out .10mm.

[@outkast187]

Depends on what angle you view it at.

[@Cinnabuns2009]

I just don't understand you, John. You are constantly and adamantly trying to improve and learn which is always admirable, and THE most important and valuable thing in any shop is TIME and yet you do these 20min toolpaths when 2mins is all you need if you just freakin' SLOT and your depth cuts are honestly abhorred. You HAVE endmills that can cut what you're cutting in one single depth cut at identical radial step-over and you just refuse to use them and refuse to do it and save time, lots of time. When you think, "oh its only 10 more minutes or 5 more minutes, I'll do it the way I've been doing it" and then think about that, 5min per day x 261 days (365days - weekends), that's nearly 22hours a year of lost time. If its 10min or more its over a week of lost time. That's only 1 job per day 5min. If you're doing 4 jobs per day @5min lost (hopefully is way more) you are burying yourself is lost time. I guess money isn't the be-all-end-all but for any other human beings, time is. Time is everything. If you can make the same part in half the time at the same quality and aren't... that's just... well... a waste and poor instructor-hood.

[@JackFilmTube]

First