I’ve just gotten my XCarve setup to the point where it’s fully function and wanted to share a video I took of the sound enclosure I made for it. I live in an apartment with neighbors on all sides, so the idea of having a CNC wasn’t an easy one to follow through with. Overall, the sound is reduced to something I’m comfortable running at any hour. You can tell from the video that there is still some noise while the machine is cutting, but it is a bit less than what the microphone picks up.
There is work left to do with building an enclosure for the electronics and some organizing throughout the setup. However, after four months of planning and building I can finally use my XCarve. Very excited!
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The enclosure and electronics are now complete!
I went with the PlanetCNC controller with 3 Leadshine DM422 stepper drivers, from the advice of @Travelphotog. I also have an 0.8kW Chinese spindle with a 1.5kW 120V VFD. Along with that, I have an output board from PlanetCNC that controls the spindle on/off and spindle speed from the gcode automatically.
Off to the left side of the machine you can see a steel block that I made into a touch plate. The body of the spindle makes a conductive path to the cutting bits, so I soldered a piece of wire to the spindle body to act as part of the circuit for a touch plate. This way I don’t have to connect the touchplate to the endmill each time I want to use it.
I used a computer case to mount all of the electronics in, with switches and an e-stop on the front of the case to control things like the dust collector, VFD, interior lights, and some other things.
The new CNC controller board and software have been amazing and are the best upgrade I’ve done for the machine. It’s nice to have the touchplate feature, along with being able to adjust for backlash, among other things.
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Looks great! Glad to hear another mill is running the wonderful Planet CNC controller. It adds so many features and works perfectly everytime. I love mine for sure. I will post an update on the state of my mill shortly to show recent upgrades and such. You guys need to meet Fred also… The XC’s new big brother. But these days I am out of town every weekend covering sports assignments so i do not get to hit to forum as much. Every second I am home I am running the mill to keep up with orders. Once Fred comes online it should help a great deal. Anyhow glad to see anther happy planet CNC user on the XC. If you have any questions i will try to help on the planet CNC side if I can.
BTW this is Fred.
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The new machine looks great. I’m sure it will give you some impressive feeds and precision with how rigid the setup is. The enclosure is very nicely done, too. Great work!
He is almost finished. i will try to post new pics when i get home Monday. Put in the windows and door locks the other day. Working to finish up the wiring for the Planet CNC MK3 controller and limit switches and that fun stuff…
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Hi @BetaPrints
Can I ask what soundproofing materials you used on your enclosure? I’m in a similar situation and with my X-Carve on the way (Hooray!) I am busy planning/building my work surface and enclosure with the intention to make it as soundproof as possible.
Thanks in advance!
