Introduction: CNC Router Intro Project to Improve Your 3D Printer Cleaning Area

About: Maker in Residence at Laney College

Hey y'all, this is a beginner project for the CNC router that can easily help improve your 3D printing area. One of my shop's printers is a Mojo, which requires a Stratasys Wave Wash cleaner that can create quite a mess (especially when it get's used by students).

I created this board using recycled ABS plastic from my school's cafeteria. It is inlaid to the foam counter top and backed with a single layer of cell-cast acrylic.

Step 1: Model

Measure your material and table area to determine how large you can maker your clean board.

Step 2: Cut It!

  • Lay out your material on your CNC milling table
  • Secure your stock on table
  • Set up your X and Y
  • Upload your file
  • Cut your part

Note: ABS cuts like butter.

Step 3: Round Over the Edges (aka Fillet)

This is an operation that could have been completed with the CNC router, but I decided to create the fillets manually with a router table. The reasons being is that I would need to use the manual router anyways to remove the tabs left behind from the CNC and so I could easily add my fillets on both sides of the material (if I had used the CNC router to get these results, then I would've needed to flip the material and relocate my X and Y position). Overall, I felt that using the router table to create fillets gave me more control over the out come as opposed to creating fillets with the CNC.

Step 4: Make a Home

The counter top of my 3D print cleaning station is covered with a protective foam. In order to create a space for my cleaning platform I cut out a space for it in the table.

Step 5: Create the Backboard

Underneath my cleaning platform I placed a piece of slick acrylic to catch any liquid that seep through the cracks.

Step 6:

In conclusion, I would say that this simple project has not only improved my CNC skills, but has also improved the appearance of overall cleanliness of the 3D printing area in my shop.

#LaneyFabLab

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