A second attempt at the tutorial from Penta was reasonably successful.

The first attempt was most definitely not: the collet I used didn’t tighten up on the workpiece enough and the workpiece moved towards the mill during the operation. As I looked on in awe at the increasing size of the chips without thinking to intervene, the mill eventually plunged into the workpiece which then moved and snapped the mill. I have video but won’t publish that… As I said: not successful, beginner chips 🥹

Over a long duration I finally constructed the Pocket NC enclosure. And now after an even longer period of time I am posting about it.

Features include:

• (reasonably) soft close/open with gas struts
• high visibility with clear perspex on four sides
• elevated mounting of Pocket NC to allow longer stock in the ER40 collet
• enclosure open signal integration with Pocket NC
• internal iPhone mount for video recording of CNC sessions 🤓
• integrated LED lighting
• lighting partially switches off when opening to avoid blinding the user 😎

Before getting serious with the Pocket NC V2-50CHK, I want to build an enclosure for it. Although there is one available to buy commercially, I wanted to build a custom one myself that has:

• more vertical clearance underneath the B axis so that I can use longer stock in the ER-40 collet
• excellent access to the machine when open
• excellent visibility of the machine when closed
• built-in LED lighting

The first chips have been produced on my new pride and joy, the Penta Machine’s Pocket NC V2-50CHK!