Dust Shoe Retrofit, views and advice please?

[Martin Pearson]

What sort of chip extractor have you got fitted? if it has a decent flow rate then pretty much any dust shoe should do, not a great deal of difference between the various styles from what I have read.

If you have a very small space then you are probably going to have problems with dust, no matter how good your extraction system is you will never get 100% of the dust, I have to plan work quite carefully to avoid problems, I could really do with the cnc in a separate room but it’s not practical for me to build an enclosure around it.

[Michael Kalisperas]

Same here with practicality. The dust collector is 2hp not sure of name will get back to you when I’m back at unit. It’s a big green metal tub thing with yellow top lol if that helps.

the dust collector looks robust but is crap because the it seems to let too much air. Always liked axyz machines but could not afford. They have a sliding shoe that seems to collect every spec of Dust. I will also try on another forum too 😉 cheers for the reply much appreciated just realise I sound like a salesman for axyz and don’t even own one. One day 😉
Martin

[Robert Lambie]

i have an AXYZ router.
the pressure foot/shoe is good and collects the majority of waste. the pad on mine is a sort of teflon circle that glides across most things.
the router also came with a brush foot, i don’t like the brush foot though. looses allot of vacuum which means loss of debris.

[Michael Kalisperas]

Thanks Rob that’s what I wanted to hear I could tell from my research and the videos that the Teflon foot you mention was a better system. Exactly as stated it does lose loads of suction even with adding an extra surround of slit cut rubber. The vac is very powerful but just does not seem to do a good as job as the AXYZ. on the AXYZ The hose is smaller in diameter and located horizontally at the spindle tool end rather than the way it’s set up in mine with a large 4inch suction hole above and about 4 inches away from the spindle end. This together with the brushes make for a crap suction system. But the router is very good and for a 10ft model I snapped it up software vacs and extra bits for 7800 so a bargain and worth every penny. I just want to "hack" and improve it a little.

Without doubt AXYZ will be my next purchase they just seem to do things right!

I wondered on a seperate topic if anyone has tried to contour cut basic shapes without an optical eye and if they have been successful? I have a very small job that I will need to print then laminate then apply to composite then contour cut. I’m wondering if it’s worth my effort ? As a newcomer coming back into the game I guess I need every bit of work, but don’t want to lose more hair and waste more time if it’s a task riddled with issues? At the moment I’m playing rather than working and need to get things on the go as although small scale (very small scale) I will need to make this my living as it is becoming more of a hobbie at the minute with constant issues I have been having personal with hospital visits and then some with hardware headaches.

Any opinions greatly appreciated
Regards Mike

[Martin Pearson]

The AXYZ set up isn’t just a dust shoe, it’s a pressure foot as well so is aiding the substrate hold down as well, try doing a search on the forum I mentioned because someone made a dust shoe/pressure foot a few months ago as well as a good description of how he manufactured it he also posted the files he used to make it. Sorry can’t remember who it was.

Not sure what sort of opinions you are after, especially not knowing the problems you have had.

As for the contour cutting, if it’s just a small job & simple shapes then have you thought about cutting it out by hand, either with a scalpel or a pair of scissors. I can understand your desire to take on every job but if your not set up to do something or it is going to cause you problems it is better to side step the job rather than risk your reputation. You can always sub work out, might not make as much money on the job but at least you aren’t letting the customer down or sending them somewhere else & losing them to a competitor. :lol1:

[Michael Kalisperas]

Yes agree with reputation and subbing. I could cut by hand I was wondering possibilities with the cnc. In regards the the show I am so glad you mentioned the pressure foot point because I didn’t know this and would love to try find the files used to make this. My point with contour cutting is that without registration markers and optical eye if it was possible to contour cut just my positioning the head accurately in a X OR Y position etc. I’m guessing no and would rather sub out.

Thank you for your replies.
Mike

[Martin Pearson]

There are people who use a CNC for vinyl cutting but it isn’t something I would ever consider doing myself owning a plotter. You need a drag knife attachment fitted to the spindle & from what I have seen these are not cheap, this is one that has been mentioned on several CNC machining forums:

http://donektools.com/

As far as contour cutting goes you would need to set up a job in your CNC software & place the contour cut line precisely in the correct position which I am sure would be possible but might take a bit of practice to get right.

[Michael Kalisperas]

I would never use cnc for vinyl cutting either I use my Roland XR640 for that. Just wondered about citing around printer and mounted images on boards (wood,composites etc)
I just wondered if anyone has tried without a optical eye system.

I will try to have a play when full set up I guess it will be tricky. 😉 I may add a laser light to help like those cheap Chinese plotters use for registrating conour cuts.
Thanks guys

[Martin Pearson]

Sorry Michael, must have picked you up wrong, thought you were thinking about trying to contour cut on the CNC.
My unit has the CNC at one end & the plotter at the other, as far away from each other as is humanly possible, no matter how good your dust extraction system is I doubt it will ever capture 100% of the dust created. As I said before I won’t run the 2 machines at the same time & if I am applying vinyl then I won’t have the CNC running. I have a sand blast cabinet as well & that also causes problems with dust even though the dust extraction system for that is led outside the unit.

[Michael Kalisperas]

That’s ok Martin I appreciate your help. I don’t always explain myself properly and never check my spelling or autocorrects so half the time I sound like I can read or write 😉
Slowing getting my unit up to a position where I can earn some money but it’s slow process. I will send photos when done. I have a 10ft pool table taking up a lot of space but I can’t bring myself to get rid. It’s perfect for downtime!! I just upgraded all the electrics in the place to 32amp per unit. So should be up and running properly without heater cutting out as it use too.

Thank you again

[Martin Pearson]

Well you have to decide what you want to do, either run a business or sit & play games, no such thing as downtime for a small business, when you don’t physically have any work to do there are always plenty of things to keep you busy either working to get more work or generally improving your own business.

If your serious about running a business then get rid of the pool table, if you want to continue just as a hobby then just keep hold of it.

Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh but just spelling it out the way I see it personally.

What made you purchase the router if you don’t mind me asking? Have you got something in mind for it.

[Michael Kalisperas]

You are right but as the workshop is more games room this helps with business rates especially initially as it’s a startup that if it picks up situation allowing with my disabled son then I will move to a unit local to home.
IN regards to the router I purchased it mainly to be able to provide flat cut letters as I have been let down in the past. Also I like being able to cut boards down to size rather than ordering in cut and waiting or delaying a day or two.

The router doubles as table when not in use so it’s useful that way.
Pool table will go soon as it grows.

Fancy a game 😉
M

[Michael Kalisperas]

Also it’s hard making any business work when we get the hospital visits for my son which tend to be more often than not lately.

Hopefully when he is more settled we will be able to give the business a push but at the moment it is sadly more hobby than business or casual business until things are more stable. I appreciate everyone’s advise.

Thanks guys. mike