CNC Gantry Router "Portalfräsen"
Not in service — being rebuilt. Expected back within a few months.
Large CNC gantry router for wood, plastics and non-ferrous metals. Rebuilt with new servos, a stiffer frame and a polyethylene table with built-in workholding — see the upgrade project.
Portalfräsen with its table, gantry and spindle, and the dust vacuum and cyclone on the wall behind
Location | Machining room in the Metal workshop, next to the Carvera Air bench |
Status | Out of service — rebuild |
Access | No booking. Course/introduction requirement not yet decided. |
Materials | Wood, plastics, aluminium and other non-ferrous metals |
Work area | ~900 × 1000 × 200 mm |
Tools | ER20, max 12 mm shank |
Emergency stops | Three — front corner of the frame and each side of the gantry |
Help / faults | Slack |
Materials
Only materials on this list. Anything else: ask in #cnc first.
Material | |
|---|---|
Wood, plywood, MDF | ✅ — use dust collection |
Plastics | ✅ — some melt rather than cut |
Aluminium and other non-ferrous metals | ✅ |
Steel and other ferrous metals | ❌ — use Betongsuggan (when allowed) |
Carbon fibre, glass fibre (incl. FR4, G10) | ❌ never — harmful dust |
Setup
Table: 20 mm PE sheets with aluminium T-tracks and 20 mm bench-dog holes. No wood screws in the table and never cut into it.
Spindle cooling: CW3000 water chiller, starts automatically with the machine.
Tool wrenches: two, shared with Betongsuggan; one is a Wera torque wrench preset for ER20.
Controller: LinuxCNC on a Mesa 7i76E; spindle and vacuum are switched from LinuxCNC. Computer on the wall to the right of the Carvera Air.
Files: USB stick or your member folder on the network drive. Any CAM that outputs LinuxCNC G-code (most use Fusion).
Dust collection: DustControl DC2500 vacuum and a cyclone on the wall behind the machine, each emptying into its own large bag. Pull the DustControl filter handle before and after each run. Replace a bag when it's getting full; full bags go to the garbage room.
Safety
Hearing protection and safety glasses whenever it runs.
Clamp the work firmly — pull on it to check.
Keep clamps out of the tool path.
Never leave it running unattended.
High voltage inside — don't open covers.
Workpiece moves, tool breaks, strange sounds or smoke: emergency stop.
How to use
From the pre-rebuild procedure — will be confirmed at recommissioning.
Check the machine is clean and the bags aren't full. Pull the DustControl filter handle.
Clamp the workpiece with bench dogs or clamps.
Fit collet and tool.
Start the controller and machine power.
Home all axes (won't home → check no emergency stop is pressed).
Load G-code, set X/Y/Z origin with the touch-off.
Dry run with the origin raised above the work.
Start the vacuum in LinuxCNC, start the job, watch it to the end.
Clean up: vacuum the table, pull the filter handle again, change full bags, switch off, shut down the computer.
LinuxCNC keys (pre-rebuild): Pause P, Stop Esc, Emergency stop F1. The old Z touch probe could stick and trip the emergency stop.
Fix what you're comfortable fixing — and write up what you did in #cnc.
Specifications
Work area | ~900 × 1000 × 200 mm |
Spindle | 2.2 kW, water-cooled, 800 Hz, max 24,000 rpm |
VFD | BD600 |
Chiller | CW3000 |
Collets | ER20, max 12 mm |
Drives | Integrated servos, 25 mm ballscrews; THK/HIWIN rails (Y 30, X 25, Z 20) |
Frame | Steel plate and aluminium extrusion |
Table | 20 mm PE, T-tracks, 20 mm dog holes |
Controller | LinuxCNC, Mesa 7i76E |
Dust | DustControl DC2500 + cyclone |
Owner | Stockholm Makerspace, bought from Erik C in 2020 |
History
2020: bought from Erik C (originally member-built).
2021: new water-cooled spindle; vacuum and spindle speed control added to LinuxCNC.
Jan 2025: spindle replaced again (bearing wear) along with the VFD.
2025–2026: major rebuild — upgrade project.
Old cutting data (pre-rebuild)
Historical only — the rebuilt machine will differ. Ask in #cnc for current settings.
Material / tool | rpm | Depth (mm) | Width (mm) | Feed / plunge (mm/min) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oak or beech, 16 mm straight, 2F | 20,000 | 5 | – | 1,700 / – | |
Oak or beech, 6 mm straight, 2F | 20,000 | 5 | – | 3,000 / – | |
Oak, 6 mm, 2–3F | 10,000 | 4 | 6 (slot) | 1,000 / 300 | |
Oak, 6 mm, 2–3F | 10,000 | 5 | 2.4 | 2,000 / 600 | |
22 mm MDF, 6 mm downcut, 2F | 20,000 | 6 | 6 slot, 3 stepover | 3,000 / 300 | Poor chip evacuation |
16 mm Valchromat, 6 mm carbide, 2F | 20,000 | 5 | 6 slot, 3 stepover | 3,500–4,000 / – | Smoked at 1,700 |
Polycarbonate, 3 mm 1F DSA1F-D3.1-L17 | 18,000 | – | – | 1,400 / 700 | |
Walnut, 6 mm compression, 2F | 24,000 | 10 | 2 | 3,500 / 960 | Roughing |
Not yet documented
Course/introduction requirement.
Workholding equipment and spoilboard; where it's kept.
Chiller checks before starting.
Wrench location and tool-change steps; shared tools.
Login, start-up steps, post-processor settings (old: radius arcs on, helical moves off).
Where new dust bags are kept; clearing a clogged vacuum.
Which non-ferrous metals are excluded (titanium?).
Links
Old Portalfräsen page — previous configuration, VFD parameters (don't apply to the rebuild), photos
VistaCNC P1A-SE pendant manual (PDF) — pendant bought, not installed