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6040_cnc_machine

In February 2026, we acquired a 6040-ish form factor CNC router.

What it currently had:

  • PlanetCNC control board (ok, but proprietary and their control software isn't great) Removed.
  • VFD-driven spindle (ER11) with watercooling & pump

Motion control, spindle activity and pump were tested.

What we may will end up using:

  • LinuxCNC
  • Raspberry Pico-based driver with Remora firmware for LinuxCNC
  • TB6600-based Stepper Motor Drivers (we have a bunch of these on hand)

Parts needed:

Parts Ordered:

To-Do List:

  • Finish putting new electronics into box
    • Wiring Wiznet board to steppers
    • Do we want limit/homing switches? Z-axis toolsetter?
      • Maybe use 3.5mm audio jacks for the switches, and maybe use the parallel port cutout to expose them?
  • Do the ways need lubed? If so, what's the best choice?
    • Per a manual for a 6040: sewing machine oil applied with a clean cloth on the bearing ways, and white grease on the leadscrews, applied once a month.
    • White lithium for the leadscrews, and some tool-specific stuff for the bearings has been procured.
  • Configure LinuxCNC
    • Basic configuration is working. Could be tuned better
  • Start testing motion control with new electronics
    • get the config scientifically tuned for decent acceleration and velocity
  • Get some more tools installed on the LinuxCNC computer
    • Some sort of FOSS CAM solution - self-hosted Kiri:Moto, maybe?
      • Started looking at Kiri:Moto via web
  • Figure out spindle cooling
    • Manual for a similar 6040 machine suggested > 20L of water, with .5-2% “rust inhibitor suitable for automobile water tank”, whatever that means.
  • Deal with inside of cabinet - lots of surface rust inside - could use a paint job
    • Simpler solution - put sheet(s) of plywood on the shelf?
  • Storage inside cabinet for collets/endmills/accessories/etc.
    • Drawer(s) with some Gridfinity kinda stuff?
    • Bins with the various pieces (i.e. collets in one, bits in another)?

Stretch goals (not critical to operation, but would be nice):

  • Automated spindle control - seems do-able
  • Automated spindle pump control - would need a relay
  • Dust collection?

Lessons learned:

  • Pins 6&7 on the Pico aren't good for motor control

CAM Solutions - this is a very partial list of CAM solutions that may work for various folks in various ways. Preference is to FOSS products, and no Windows-only solutions - something that can run on the LinuxCNC machine is most preferred. At this point most of them have not been extensively tested (or even tested at all!)

  • Web-based
  • CAD-Integrated
    • Various CAD programs do have CAM implementations built-in or available as a plugin. Fusion 360 and FreeCAD do for sure. Blender may have a plugin?
  • GUI
    • ViaContructor (Linux/Mac, prefers DXF as input format)
    • LinuxCNC NativeCAM - this is probably not a great option - seems like it's gone unmaintained and doesn't run easily on current LinuxCNC.
  • CLI
6040_cnc_machine.txt · Last modified: by sdh7