DIY Tile Engraving Fixture for CNC Mill ~ Tormach PCNC 440

I got the idea for engraving tiles with my CNC mill while walking past ceramic drill bits in Home Depot. Suddenly the thought of a tile in front of the toilet with the phrase "Never Give Up" emblazoned on it popped into my head. The resolve in one's darkest hours such a tile could provide motivated me to try and engrave that phrase. It was a success. But milling ceramics on a CNC mill can be pretty bad for the ways and other linear components on the mill. Long term it'd be equivalent to throwing beach sand into the mill every time I turned the flood coolant on. There had to be a better way.Show more

Enter the tile engraving fixture. The fixture functions as a separate tank to maintain the cutting fluid used while milling tiles separate from the coolant used to mill metals and other materials. This approach would allow long term engraving without risk to the other critical components on the CNC mill.

Because Tormach machines utilize an auxiliary 120V plug to power the flood coolant pump its very simple to swap that to a submersible pump in the engraving fixture.

Submersible Pump:
https://amzn.to/3OZ3jVl

Mill Probe Build
https://youtu.be/TXOfKo_iUDQ

This project was the first time I've ever tried welding aluminum. It is very obvious this is the case. Any advice is very appreciated. Though I think I'll be looking to swap my Lincoln Electric 180HD MIG welder with the Magnum 100SG spool gun for a TIG welding in the relatively near future.

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