first things first:
i’ve just ordered my very first desktop-CNC It’s going to be an X50 Journeyman.
I live in Switzerland and have owned and worked with a Shaper Origin for a couple of designs i’ve created but i need to free up time and therefore switch now to this machine.
As a beginner and with no experience in 3-D printing i’m looking for a good first installation with the machine, especially with a stable table, sound"proof" housing, a working vac-system and good cable management.
I’ve spent hours watching videos and reading posts here, looking on etsy for parts but there are just so many options an possibilities. I’d rather invest that time in upping my software skills and building a nice table and housing than getting lost in dragchain-sizes, attachments etc.
I trust that pretty much everyone here has more knowledge and experience than i do, so i turn to you guys for a “buyers-guide” solution Has anyone a list of parts (preferably with links) to what i have to buy to get a complete set in cable management for the x50 journeyman?
I appreciate your help to free up some space in my mind
I made the mistake thinking building a table would be the best idea. Ha No. That didn’t turn out, at all like I’d planned. What I’ve learned is that I have zero idea on what I’m doing. So, I too could use some help.
Keep it simple. You dont need much to get started.
I have had my onefinity since july 2021. My cable management is a 1 inch diameter piece of dowel between two joists over which my 4 inch dust pipe and spindle/router cable hang down.
I will improve the situation, but not sure when.
My first “table” was two sheets of 18mm plywood glued togather and placed on the floor. I have a torsion box table now.
My bear minimum shopping list:
Peripherals
1:3 oil
ear defenders
eye protection
Endmills:
I started with the two moose set and an Armana 1.5 inch surface bit.
Dust Extraction:
initially a rolling on the floor diy vacuum. Veey noisy
Sheet Material:
Table: 2No. 8x4 sheets of 18mm plywood
Wasteboard: 1No 4x4 sheets of 25 mm.
Work holding:
blue tape and CA glue&spray
screws.
Software:
Fusion 360 and/or Vectric PRO… (lots of others, but they’re what i use - i started with F360 because it is free)
I already have Protection for eyes and ears, will have to buy some more Endmills in the metric system (i already have some from the shaper i used) and use for my workshop a Festool Vac and a Fine Vac. One of them will be installed below the CNC and the whole table will be enclosed to reduce noise.
As a software i use Fusion360 for all my designs so i’m lucky i won’t have to change that.
Now i guess i’ll start a new topic on spindle/router with some questions just to make sure we don’t get too much off topic here
As for cable management: What i’ve seen is that there are kind of 2 options:
the Hose Boom from RowdyRoman for Router and Vac but that’s not a solution for the rest of the cables from the Y axis.
Drag chain for Y and X Axis but that’s no solution for the Vac.
Is the idea to combine the two or would that be overkill? do i need a cable management solution for the Y and X axis or does it work perfectly fine without anything?
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Besides of this, I second Andy @AndyP and @bob01dog, usually you only really know what you finally want to build or to buy as accessories when you know the machine.
This particularly applies to the decision on your individual cable management. There is more than one solution. If you ask me, I would say do it the serious way and install a drag chain system with cables used in machinery industry. You can find files for 3D parts for free in the www or here in the forum. But others have other solutions, e.g. this user built a simple solution if you find drag chains too complicated. Regarding cable management, you may also want to know what you need to make your own stepper cables or even think of retrofitting better connectors.
thank you very much for all this information!
I do realize that first installing the machine and then creating a solution would be the best way to go about this problem.
My only thing is, that i’d like to prepare as much as possible in advance so that when the CNC arrives, i can get to the projects i really want to make with it I see the Onefinitiy really just as a tool to help me get things done. That’s why soldering cables, 3D printing parts etc. is nothing for me. A. i don’t have the tools B. i don’t have the time to get into it. I’d prefer a final solution available on the market and then, if needed, adapt my enclosure to it.
Could you recommend specific drag chains, ready to use cables and fixtures?
…oh and everything else that would be considered essential in cable-management
I know the video of Mitz’ enclosure, the advantage is clearly he thought of reaching any part of the work area, also from behind, and the enclosure slides back on the front so you don’t knock your head. But I don’t think it will do much noise reduction
That’s a problem. The Onefinity CNC is a machine that does not come with everything. It comes with the stepper cables and a power cable, but without a serious cable management, so everything’s got to be custom made. You can buy an extension cable set for the Onefinity for a drag chain from this seller here at etsy, which extends the Onefinity stock cables, but it’s only for the stepper motors, not for milling motor / spindle or other things. You can get a drag chain from the same seller, but only for 30 mm wide chain segments.
The Onefinity Elite Series have a cable management for the stepper motor cables.
Mmmh that actually might already be enough noise reduction for me. If i leave out some windows and use thicker and heavier materials like MDF, add some door rubber to the gaps it might just be what i’m looking for. At the end of his video he shows a noise reduction with his construction of already 20db!
Extending or replacing the router cable is something i can do. So that’s the good news
What’s the problem with 30mm wide chain segments? Too large or too small?
Aiph5u, i have to thank you very much for all your input and time.
As a start i’m going to build the enclosure as shown from Mitz’ video.
The drag chain and cables from etsy will be good enough for me to start with. I will start with a Makita router and if time has come to switch, i’ll have gathered enough experience to might wanna change a couple of things from my first setup. I think for a start, that’s just the way to go for me. danke schön!
1 Like
Aiph5u
(Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))
11
Hey Pascal,
always glad if I can help
In the other thread, with regard to possible later upgrades (including Elite Upgrade package), I just recommended to …
For a simple cable and dust hose setup I made this as one of my first projects. Just follow the link and scroll down to get the video. If your interested I can send model files of the parts.
It makes it easy to take the hose and cable off if you ever want to use the palm router as a palm router. My hose and cable management
i can’t find any information about the actual size of the Journeyman Elite or the Upgrade package. I’m designing my table and am pretty lost about the additional space to add to be on the safe side for a later upgrade while still keeping the dimensions to what’s needed.
My machine is beeing delivered in a week so i’m pretty excited and would like to start building that thing but even with the x50 Journeyman on hand i wouldn’t know how much extra space to add… Have you more information about that?
thx!
Aiph5u
(Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))
14
The Upgrade to Elite will have a stock drag chain at the left of probably 30 mm width. Note that this drag chain will not be enough for all future things like spindle coolant hoses, spindle motor cable etc., here 50 mm is a minimum, see (drag chain width computation), better reserve 60 mm (see space to reserve around the machine) for cable management at the left.
An other chapter is the height. Besides different stepper motor size, it depends on whether you buy the 3rd stiffy rail and the Z-20 Heavy Duty Z assembly. You may buy this with Elite Upgrade but you can buy both separately for the X-50 Series Journeyman right away.
Note that when you later buy a spindle, the additional weight may tempt you to retrofit a Z stepper with power-off brake (to prevent spindle coming down when powering the machine off by its own weight when holding torque is away) and those are very long (=tall) motors, so plan enough height in you machine enclosure. For an enclosure, I would recommend a good height anyway to not bump your head when leaning forward over the machine to clamp your workpieces.
perfect! That’s the information I was missing. I thought it was more but it looks like just about 1 cm to the side with the stepper motors and 3 cm to add in the back.
I ready about the larger drag chain and even larger one for water cooled spindles. i’ll take that into account but i guess i’ll never have a water cooles spindle - my workshop just get’s too cold in wintertimes to store it safely.
So I’m calculating the following when always rounding up to the next cm: length: 61.5" = 1570mm (minimum length footprint including standard motors) + 30mm Cables sticking out to the side + 10mm space for upgrade to better elite motors + 60mm for big drag chain upgrade
= 1670mm minimum length - to have everything covered for a later upgrade.
depth: 45.5" = 1160mm (minimum depth footprint including standard motors) + 30mm cables sticking out in the back + 15mm Z-20 upgrade + 30mm space for upgrade to better elite motors + 50mm dust boot clearance front
= 1285mm minimum depth
Now adding 20-30mm around those dimensions to have the walls of the enclosure should work fine or what would you guys think?
BTW: dust boot attached to the back does not stick out further than the stepper motor in the back, just the working area, right? Only the hose of the vac would if no 90° angle would be installed. At least that’s what it looks like one the pictures here
What’s missing in that calculation is display and controller. I’m thinking of attaching them below the table surface to keep the table as small as possible.
It’s going to be an X50 Journeyman.
Has anyone a list of parts (preferably with links) to what i have to buy to get a complete set in cable management for the x50 journeyman?