Sainsmart-CNC-Instructions

This is a walkthrough on how to use the Sainsmart CNC Mill in Mr. Yip's classroom. This will include all of the necessary files and instructions to operate the mill and start generating your own GCode.

Table of Contents

• Computer Operation
• Offline Controller Operation
• Editing GCode
• Making Your Own GCode
• Future Projects/Modifications

Operating with Computer

This will walk you throught the setup on a computer to start CNC milling!

Downloads

1. Download the Sainsmart Original Documentation & Files
2. Extract the CD.zip file with an extraction tool such as WinZip or 7-Zip
3. Open the extracted CD folder and navigate to CD > 3018-PROVer Tutorial_Software_Driver > Driver and run the Driver_CH340SER.EXE to install the drivers:

4. Close the window and navigate to CD > 3018-PROVer Tutorial_Software_Driver > Grblcontrol(Candle_1.1.7); run the Grblcontrol (Candle).exe file
5. Boom you now have everything you need to start the CNC mill!

Starting the CNC Mill

1. Plug in the computer that will be running the GCode with the attatched USB cable and power on the CNC
2. On your computer, press the Windows Key, search "Computer Management", and select the first option:

3. Under Device Manager, you will see a Ports (COM & LPT) dropdown; here you will see the COM number of the CNC... remember this

4. In the Candle program, navigate to Service > Settings in the top left
5. Input the COM number that you memorized earlier and press OK
6. Your computer is now connected! (in the console, you should see something like [CTRL + X] which indicates a connection)

Milling

1. To import GCode, press File > Open in the top left and select the GCode that you want to run

There is some test GCode in CD > 3018-PROVer Tutorial_Software_Driver > Gcode that you can try

You can also download more test files here

2. Now insert a drill bit into the chuck of the mill making sure that it is tightly secured with the included wrenches
3. You will now want to line up the bit using the on-screen buttons, to where you would like the GCode to start

When aligning the drill bit, you will want to put the bit touching the work surface

Step = how far the mill moves (for small movements use 1-10)

Feed = how fast the mill moves (1000 is fine)

4. Once aligned, home the mill with these two buttons:

5. You can now press send on the bottom of the window to start the milling process

Do not be afraid to press pause or abort because you think there is something wrong

6. Odds are you probably need to change the feed rate or the spindle speed of the mill after your initial run... To do this, you will want to click on the GCode where you see either F### or S###;

F = Feed Rate

S = Spindle Speed

Simply change the numbers after the corresponding letter to adjust the speeds and resend the GCode

6. Once you are happy with the settings then let the mill do its thing!

Offline Controller Operation

Using the offline controller is a lot easier than using the computer, but does not allow for as much flexibility when it comes to testing GCode and adjusting values

Importing GCode

To import GCode to the offline controller, either use the USB cable connected to the controller and the computer to drag over the files, or take out the SD card in the offline controller and put the files on that

Milling

1. Plug the offline controller into the CNC using the included ribbon cable and then power on the mill
2. On the offline controller, click control and there you can position the CNC to the starting home position

To change the step size, press the Exit/Step button

To exit the control interface, press and hold the Exit/Step button

3. Navigate to the File page and there you can select the GCode that you want to mill from
4. Press OK on the file that you want to mill and then press OK one more time
5. You should be milling!

Editing GCode

Nothing was provided with the mill to edit GCode so we found our own software

GCode Ripper

To use this, you simply launch the executable and import the GCode that you want to edit

You may have to hop back and forth between this and Candle to get your sizing right but it's the best solution that we found

Making Your Own GCode

We didn't get too much time trying to figure out how to make our own GCode, but here I can teach you what we learned :)

Easel

We ended up using Easel to make some of our own GCode which is a pretty straightforward program to use. Just make an account and once you are in you can start toying around with your own designs. If you do end up using easel, you will have to download easel drivers so that you can use the CNC straight from their program instead of Candle.

Fusion 360

We didn't get much of a chance to play around with Fusion, but it was something that we were looking at while setting up and using the mill.

If this is on a personal computer, you will want to download an educational lisence of Fusion 360, and make sure that you download the CAM package with it. Once in Fusion, you can start playing around with creating your own designs and starting to mill 3D objects. As stated before, we didn't really have enought time to explore this, so you will have to toy with it to learn how to use it or find your own resources elsewhere online.

Future Projects/Modifications

1. The clamping mechanism for the mill is quite jank, so 3D printing a vice for the mill or another method of clamping is a pretty good idea. You could also mill something made out of aluminum too to make something more robust
2. The cable management of the mill is a little... non-existant, so using some zipties or secureing the cable-wraps to the cables might be needed
3. There is a lot of vibration in the mill so the addition of rubber feet to the bottom of the mill may help with the vibration and the sound
4. The lead screws for the mill aren't lubricated so adding something like graphite or something else will reduce any stutters or squealing that comes from them
5. 3D printing something that can hold a vacuum so that you can blow or suck up any shavings/debris that come from the milling process