For posterity, a thread discussing CAM & other software for the OMIO.
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Does the X8 only come with T slots or can I use an MDF waste board with washers + screws?
It comes with T slots
would a mist coolant need an enclosure?
It would certainly help unless you donāt mind the rest of the workstation getting messy. This wasnāt the final placement of our machine, just temporary
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How long does it typically take to set up an Omio (assembly + set up Mach3)?
It depends on where you are in your learning curve.
You need a space set up and sturdy table.
You need a computer to run the mach 3 software.
The actual assembly of the machine + electrical connection is a couple of hours.
Installation of software and testing is a couple of hours
So assuming the space is prepared, less than 4.
Having to figure things out and prepare the space, reading directions can take an undetermined amount of time
So for a moderately prepared first time 4-8 hours.
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Sorry if this has already been asked but I skimmed through and didnāt see anything on it, does anyone have a reliable X/Y/Z probing tool working with the omio? Weāve been manually zeroing it by lightly touching the material edges with the bit, but I donāt love doing that and it would be a lot easier to train students on it if we had a zeroing tool, or even an edgefinder. From what Iāve found online the minimum safe speed for the spindle is higher than most edgefinders can handle.
Also, does anyone use drill bits for making holes, or do you all just use a small endmill and a boring operation? Weāve been using the boring operations but Iām debating if we might want to swap to a drill bit to save time, but not sure if itāll be worth swapping tools. If weāre using an edgefinder anyway it may not matter though, I suppose.
The minimum USABLE speed is around 6k and anything slower than that has basically zero torque. An edge finder does not need any torque and you should be able to run the spindle at 2k RPM fine, Iāve done it before.
My bigger question is why do you need to actually tightly zero your X and Y?
For drill bits, buy Split Point drill bits that are stub length. 1678 drills our #11 holes and bores all larger sizes and anything too small to use a 4mm cutter in. We only switch tools when there are a lot of holes to make. One gusset isnāt worth it.
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Thanks, that all makes sense. As far as the zeroing goes, itās mostly for tubing. For gussets I usually just put it in a reasonable spot. Typically for the tubing I zero on the far (non-fixture) side when we flip the tubing 180 to keep the origin consistent; have you found that this is unnecessary with the tolerances on the tubing? There have been one or two times where the holes end up being slightly off center even when I try to keep the edge consistent, so I wonder if maybe Iām overcompensating and actually introducing more error because our zeroing methods arenāt the most precise. Do you typically just zero on your tubing fixture and run everything based on that?
Back when we did tube on our routers it was always zeroed to the fixture and the fixture was never moved. But you need to measure your tubes EVERY SINGLE TIME!!! Iāve seen 1x2 tubing that was 1.010x 2.020 and if you donāt compensate for the width you could end up with a misalignment of 0.020-0.040 and if that was a bearing holeā¦ well now your part is trash.
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Ah yeah, I guess accounting for the actual part size should have about the same effect. Itās a bit more annoying to program that way I guess, but could definitely be a good option and would avoid a lot of extra zeroing. Thank you 
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Having a funny issue with the CNC! Recently it started making very not circular holes, as shown in the photos. While this was in aluminum, it was making far undersized holes in polycarbonate a few weeks back. For the aluminum, on the test shown in the picture, spindle speed was 14000rpm and feed rate was 5 ipm. Itās odd because we were running these settings all last year with no issue- and this only started recently. This aluminum test was done with a brand new end mill, and I checked the shaft couplers, those are tight too. The other picture is the preview in mach 3, showing a perfect circle. No idea what this could be, any help is much appreciated!!
Edit: Iād also like to note that it deflects along straight lines, and did not hold a straight line. It drifts in a random manner.
Could you also post your G-code? That is downright bizarre. Are you noticing dimensional issues or is it only on holes?
Hereās a photo of Mach3. Iām puzzled. Could the steppers have failed in some way? Also, I just made an edit to the original post.
Sounds like you could be losing steps. Are there any noises associated with this happening? Usually if you lose a bunch of steps it makes a kind of grinding noise. Check your ways/guides and your axis screws. Citrus has seen bearings go bad and bind up the motion of our Z axis before and maybe our Y axis.
Iām going to run another straight path and see if I can see anything move
Try and move the gantry around via rapids a bunch and see if you stall out anywhere.
Make sure your servo couplings are tight.
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