General Tutorial: Physical Connection

    If you wish to interface your own project with a CNC Machine, then you most likely wish to take advantage of the motion capabilities of a CNC Machine. Therefore, you must first establish which component of your project you require to directly interface with your CNC machine. That is, you must determine which component needs to be moved accurately and precisely. For example, if you wished to have a laser cut things by having that laser be guided by a CNC machine, then the laser would be the component that you would seek to attach to the CNC machine. Alternatively, if you wished to have your CNC machine function as a mechanical tester, you would attach a load cell to your CNC machine.

    After you have determined which component of your project you need to physically attach to your CNC machine, you must decide how to establish a connection between the two. The most effective way to do this is to connect your component to the spindle of the CNC machine. The spindle of your CNC machine will have a threaded hole through which tools are exchanged. You will have to measure the radius of that hole. Given the radius of the spindle and the dimensions of your project component, you will be able to design a screw attachment that will connect both your project component and the spindle of the CNC machine.

    We recommend that you refer to the "Physical Connection" section of our main tutorial regarding interfacing a CNC machine with a mechanical tester. Our project functions as an example in this regard and will help you gain a comprehension of what sort of design must be created in order to interface a project component with a CNC machine.

    Once you have established a physical connection between your project component and your CNC machine, you will be ready to proceed to the next phase of this tutorial: Programming your CNC machine.