DIY CNC Accessories (Dust Collector, Heatsinks, Feet, Pendant)

I thought I'd share the accessories that I've made for my CNC machine.

They get plenty of use and most are easy to make. I used a Dremel 3D printer and a Printrbot Metal to make the 3D printed parts.

The CNC is a 3040 machine but I also used a Harbor Freight (Seig) Mini Mill and, of course, I threw in an Arduino "just becasue".

I started with simple feet for my table clamps.

Using the socket head screws would scar the table. So I just flipped over the screws and put little feet on the ends modeled after some painters points I had made earlier.

Never scratched the table again. They work well from any angle and can even span the T slots.

These worked so well I used the idea to make feet for a candle holder. You can check that out in another instructable soon.

I noticed the motors on the CNC were getting a bit warm after a few hours. Not too bad but uncomfortable to touch for more than a few seconds….

I ordered a bunch of 60mm X 60mm X 10mm heatsinks off ebay and got a bag of 4in clamps from Lowes.

I just had to mill clearance for the motor wires and for the spindle fan. I started with the spindle since that’s the hardest to do.

I just cutoff the center fins. I was tempted to mount it vertically and mill a curve that matched the fan diameter but that’s too much effort for me.

The wire slots were easy. Then a shot of paint and they’re done.

I clamped it up temporarily while a bent the hose clamps into a matching square shape.

The end result is pretty good.

I used a dab of heatsink grease on each one. Yes, I used a saw blade for a squeegee….

I removed one to be sure I had good contact with the motor.

How would I know how good those heatsinks are working without temperature gauges?

I found these in my PC parts spare pile…

Very simple to use. Just supply 5V. There is a switch on the back for
Celsius or Fahrenheit. If you happen to get ones with out the switch and don’t like Celsius just open the back and look for the pads on the board. Solder them together and it will change to Fahrenheit.

There are two varieties on eBay. One has the sensor encased in Kapton
tape and the other has it epoxied into a small steel pill. This is the one I used. Since these were meant for use with PC’s and the heat sinks are also PC parts the sensor snapped right into the channel without any effort.

Now I just have to mill a fancy panel to hold them……

I Finally got around to testing the code. I wired up a matrix keypad to a Leonardo.

I used this cheat sheet of Mach3 keyboard shortcuts.

I mapped the X Y Z axis jog keys and tried it on Mach3. It seemed to
work fine. Now I just have to decide what other keys I want. I’ll finish the 15 key pendant soon. UI haven’t been in a rush since using the keyboard really hasn’t been to much trouble.

I put the updated code here:

https://github.com/rjkorn/CNC_Pendant

It still needs some work but I may just use a baby joystick instead and mount it on the corner of the machine near the E-Stop button. I know I have a couple of these lying around somewhere…

I found some nice cases in Radio Shack on closing day. They even come with a printable button overlay.

But before I got to use it I found a real CNC pendant in a surplus shop. I added a small I2C adapter to the LCD and this will soon be the pendant. Sorry but there's a lot of work to go on this one....

Next I wanted a dust collector. A quick survey with a caliper yields all the measurements of the spindle motor I would need.

Lets start with the Vacuum Hose Adapter. I used a universal dishwasher hose to connect to the vacuum since the tapered end was a perfect fit to my baby shop vac..

I pulled out the u shaped discharge pipe and measured it so I could mold a nipple to fit. That is attached with 3 #6 self tapping screws and a single screw and nut for the one hole in the open. I was going to add a bushing to the model so I could use all self tapping screws but a small nut is far less obstructive.

Here are the source and stl files for all four Parts

I made the sloped housing to fit under the spindle. I placed holes in opposite sides so I could use small springs to attach it to the spindle mount.

Then I made the cover. Flat and simple. Originally I sized it for an led ring light but that's not a priority. My workroom is very well lit. Lastly was a small collar on the lid to hold a rubber or vinyl dust skirt.

I glued this one in. I was real tempted to get my heat gun and roll over the lip on the inside to capture it.

Feel free to add what you like

I didn't account for screws to secure the cover since the printed layers give a natural snap fit

Turns out the hole for the nose of the spindle was such a good fit I didn't need the springs. I will add them anyway since if I do some heavy work the spindle may heat up enough to loosen the housings grip on it

I made it in four pieces so I wouldn't need any support structures. That makes it friendly for people with a Dremel printer or other proprietary software slicers.

Well since I don't want to just fix up the CNC I made a vacuum adapter for the Belt Sander and a Jig for drilling a hole centered in a sphere....