— Downloads —

For a sample of a few pages from the comprehensive Build Manual, please click on the image. For copyright reasons the full manual is available only to purchasers of the kit. Sorry.

A couple of other documents are freely available for download in full, below. These are ideal beginner-guides for getting started with CNC milling. Much of the information contained in them is applicable to the construction, setup and use of any 3-axis CNC machine, not just SheetCNC. We hope you find them useful. Your feedback is always appreciated.

The file Spindle-Control-Power shows how to wire up a typical computer controller to a 3-axis CNC machine, how to set up LinuxCNC, wiring a spindle’s VFD to control the speed automatically, fitting emergency stop buttons, how to quickly build an effective budget dust extractor, some suggested cutters to choose for first trials of a machine, and choosing CAD and CAM software.

The file Clever-Cuts is a simple starter-guide to using a couple of popular CAD and CAM packages, together with notes on operating SheetCNC, choosing feeds and speeds, and how to build and program an automated electronic touch-off probe for a CNC machine. The document goes on to cover numerous 2.5D design tips and tricks including various types of rigid joint, how to incorporate ball-race bearings, how to cut PCBs, how to design gears and other intricate parts, and some tricks to save time when using SheetCNC for production-runs of your projects.

The Mk3 LinuxCNC settings – and some other useful files including the G-code used in our video tests of machine precision – can be downloaded in this zip.

A test TurboCAD drawing with corresponding SheetCAM job file and G-code files is available here. This object was used by us to fine-tune the LinuxCNC settings to achieve a good compromise between acceleration, speed, and resonances. It may be useful for beginners to aid their learning of TurboCAD and SheetCAM.