CNC Shark Forum

Here are some small hints I have found helpful in using a CNC Piranha:

1. Rubber Finger – The touch screen is rather small for my big fingers. I bought a rubber tipped pin-like device from a computer store that lets me touch exactly what I want.
2. Foam Blocks – I like to test my programs by milling foam blocks before using expensive hardwoods. The foam is available in big sheets from Home Depot and smaller, thicker sheets from Amazon. It mills well but the dust generated is a mess and very electrostatic.
3. Glue Foam -- You can glue layers together to better match wood thicknesses using spray adhesive or a special white glue (Amazon, StyroGlue). The spray adhesive is fast but can gum up your router bits. The white glue is slow drying.
4. “P” is for “Proven” – When I successfully mill a design, usually in foam, I add a “P” to the toolpath file names so I will know that it has been proven.
5. Wooden Clamps – Metal clamp parts scare me. I prefer clamps made from scrap plywood and wooden blocks. I still use the metal T-bolts and mostly plastic handles. I have so far hit one plywood piece and one plastic handle.
6. Double Sided Tape – As the CNC Piranha has a very small table, something is needed near the font to aid in clamping. You can get a heavy-duty double sided tape that is used in woodworking to temporarily hold wooden parts together while working it with tools (Amazon but expensive). It holds hardwood blanks amazingly well and will stick to the aluminum table. It does not stick so well to sacrificial plywood or foam.
7. Top-Dead Center Mark – I always make the exact top-dead center as my reference point. I have marked the working center on the CNC table and mark each blank before milling. This minimizes the chance of going out of range and losing step counts.

I now have a detailed procedure for using the CNC Piranha on my Web site at:

“LRO Data to CNC Machine”
http://bigmoondig.com/Games/BMDCNC.pdf

I would welcome any input from this group.

Enjoy,
Tom Riley

Very helpful posts Tom. Thanks for your contributions,
Mike

We have a Shark HD 2.0, and after using double sided tape to stick a few parts down it took solvent and a week or so before the remnant of that tape would come off the aluminum.

Now I use a "tape board". It is 1/4" hardboard with a melamine surface, drilled for short bolts to screw into 1/4" nuts in the t-track on the out-of-bound areas. We then tape parts to it. I made 4, and if something is a struggle to get off one I loosen the bolts and slide it off so the Shark can be used for something else while that struggle ensues. Another tape board can be slid on if needed. have the CNC V-Bit score a perimeter line on the limits to help keeping the parts inside them when taping then down.

4D

A method I have used for a long time when using double sided tape, is to "sandwich" the double sided tape between packing tape.
I apply packing tape to both the workpiece and the table then apply double sided tape to the packing tape on the workpiece and bring both together.
When the job is complete it is much easier to seperate, and the double sided tape is stuck to the packing tape not the workpiece or the table.

4DThinker wrote:Now I use a "tape board".

Another brilliant innovative idea from 4D that I am going to steal and make my own.

Thanks 4D.

Gordon