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Ghost Gunner

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 10:52 am
by waverace
Hi new to the forum , was wondering if anyone had any experience with the ghost gunner mini cnc machine ? for those that don't know its a mini cnc mill that is being touted for making firearm parts , but can be programmed for all kinds of small parts out of aluminum plastic or wood. https://www.ghostgunner.net/
Anybody's input on usefulness , ease of use etc would be much appreciated .
Thanks

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 10:59 pm
by redneckalbertan
I stumbled accross it a few weeks ago. It looks interesting! Welcome to the forum, it's nice to know the where abouts the people are from with whom you are talking. You can add your location in your profile by clicking on user control panel in the upper right corner then profile in the box on the left, add the appropiate information then click in submit to save the information. We aren't looking for a street address, just what you are comfortable with. City state or county is nice.

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 5:33 am
by magic9r
Nothing on their blog since 2014

https://www.ghostgunner.net/blog.html

Nothing at all on their Forums, which I believe is a bit of a worry

Machine specific code for individual jobs, see answer here -

https://www.ghostgunner.net/faq.html

Stating it only machines 80% lowers for which they have produced the code

It's a job-specific, 80% lower finishing machine, not a little CNC machine, a shame really

- Nick

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 7:23 am
by hammermill
Drill g
Jigs for 80 percent lowers are available from many sources for under a couple 100 bucks

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 3:36 am
by magic9r
hammermill wrote:Drill g
Jigs for 80 percent lowers are available from many sources for under a couple 100 bucks
Which is nice but then the machine is still a One Trick Pony, they haven't implemented a conventional G-Code driven system so anyone buying one is dependent upon the manufacturer to produce the proprietary code for any other job, unless the manufacturer authors and distributes a CAD/CAM system compatible with their hardware.

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 1:24 pm
by waverace
Actually it is fully programmable , mine is now on order , it is being shipped with the one job pre-programmed but it runs on regular tinyg code , should be here in about 12 weeks so we will see how good it really is , I only need it for small jobs , prototypes , fit tests etc , the only downside that I see is that it needs non conductive holding jigs to auto probe which could be made from nylon blocks or 3d printed if you had such a machine , the way I see it if it helps me to learn cnc programming and turns out the small parts I need it will be worth it.

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 1:42 pm
by magic9r
waverace wrote: it runs on regular tinyg code
Which CAD/CAM systems support that?

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 2:16 pm
by waverace
as far as I can tell Autodesk will work , but I am not even close to knowing any of that yet , still a huge learning curve going on here , all the programming I have done so far has been manual not using cad/cam I have a copy of Autodesk , but have not started to learn how to use it yet , will probably have to take a course at community college to get the basics on that then go from there .
If anyone has the easy answers to this let us know.

Just to add this is all supposed to be "open source" which means that with some searching everything you need should be out there freely available .

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:13 pm
by magic9r
I read the FAQ page -

https://www.ghostgunner.net/faq.html

I've obviously missed the bit where they tell you how you might make anything other than their pre-programmed part.

Any CAM package will need a Post Processor to generate machine specific G-Code, presumably they provide one?

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:45 pm
by waverace
Here's what the website says so pick out what is relevant and educate me as to what is what .

"Ghost Gunner is a general purpose CNC mill, built upon a large body of open source work, including the gshield 3 axis motion hardware, the grbl g-code parser and motion controller, and popular microcontrollers. All Ghost Gunner schematics and design files will be published into the public domain, and anyone can program anything for the machine."

"Open Source
Beyond files of our own .DD format, Ghost Gunner is meant to accept TinyG code from any CAM program. The platform is open and the plans and files will be disclosed to the public domain."

"What Open Source parts did Defense Distributed design?
The entire machine is Open Source. For other Open Source designs, Defense Distributed developed a custom spindle that exceeds the quality, accuracy, and cutting capabilities of any sub-$400 spindle we've tested. We also developed a custom signal conditioning PCB called GrbIO that reduces RF noise generated by the several stepper motors used on the machine. GrbIO includes screw-posts for easy wiring, including separate analog, digital, power supply and chassis grounds, which internally isolate noisy components from sensitive ground planes. The plug-and-play PCB connects between existing Arduino and gshield boards, requires zero software changes, and should resolve many headaches on other derivative designs. "

As I said I am very new to cnc cad/cam so I am not conversant with all the jargon yet , please put the relevant parts of the puzzle in order for myself and others to understand.

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 4:11 pm
by magic9r
"will be" ;-)
Until that becomes "Have Been" along with links and downloads what you have is "Vapourware"

Re: Ghost Gunner

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 4:17 pm
by waverace
I already have the software

http://www.ghostgunner.net/downloads.html