Last edited: Furst (08/26/20)

• This training provides an introduction to using and operating the Sherline CNC glass drill including:
  • Safety
  • Applications
  • Software
    • File types
    • Flashcut
  • Sample prep
  • CNC Setup
  • G-code Modification
  • Drilling
  • Printer Maintenance
    • Changing Print Heads
    • Changing Fulfillment Type
    • Cleaning
• Remember to enter job information into the 3D print job log!

Eye injuries can result from flying chips or broken bits. Cuts can occur from contacting sharp tools or broken glass. Burns can result from hot cutting tools or parts. Serious injury can result from pinching or entanglement in moving parts. Poor housekeeping creates tripping and cutting hazards for other users. Do not leave machine running unattended. Eye protection, closed toe shoes, long pants, and protective clothing must be worn when using this machine to prevent injury. Long hair must be tied back and jewelry must be removed before operating this machine to prevent entanglement.

The Sherline CNC is used exclusively for for drilling holes in glass, ceramic, silicon, and other brittle materials. Milling of brittle materials is not supported. The Sherline uses a high speed spindle in combination with abrasive diamond drill bits to slowly abrade the material away.

Typical applications include adding macro to micro interface connecters to Microfluidics chips.

The Sherline CNC uses a retrofit Sherline mini mill in combination with the FlashCut CNC software. This SOP does not cover dxf2fgc conversion code.

FlashCut CNC offers a user interface for positioning, zeroing, and running the G-code, however it has no CAM capabilities. This means that G-code must be hand written based on the location of holes.

A backing plate is required for drilling, and should be bonded to the substrate to be drilled to improve backside cut quality and prevent drilling into the fixture. If bonding is not permitted, slowing down cut speed may result in less blowout on the backside of the hole and a backing plate should still be used.

1. set CrystalBond hotplate to 121 degrees C
2. place a sheet of tinfoil or wax paper over hotplate to avoid spilling of crystal bond
3. place sample and backing plate on covered hot plate and allow them to reach equilibrium
4. using the CrystleBond stick and a pair of tweezers to hold the sample in place, gently paint on a thin layer of Crystal Bond to both the substrate and backing plate
5. using tweezers, flip the substrate over and place CrystalBond sides together, wiggle side to side to minimize air bubbles.
6. place the hot bonded slides on the teflon fixture and align the substrate and backing plate. Remove from heat.
7. After sample has cooled, use a razor blade to remove any CrystalBond on the edges of the sample. This will insure that edge finding finds the edge of the sample, rather than the edge of the crystlebond.
8. After drilling is done, place back on hotplate to separate backing plate from sample before placing sample in acetone to remove any remaining CrystalBond.

1. Turn on the Flashcut CNC box
2. On the Sherline computer, start FlashCut CNC (thunderbolt icon)
3. Within FlashCut, select the home tab, followed by seek home. This will move all axis to their zero position.
4. load the edge finder into the drill chuck
5. select the jog menu from the FlashCut software
6. using the faster setting, jog the edge finder to just below the edge of the fixture and within a quarter inch of the top left corner edge in both X and Y.
7. start the spindle by slowly ramping up the speed from zero (starting the spindle at full speed can result in damage to the motor) to between 800 and 1300 RPM.
8. switching to incremental jog, slowly jog in x or y until the edge finder kicks out
9. once kicked out, zero the program axis and repeat for the other axis
10. turn the spindle off and jog the spindle up and a
    sherline_training_sop.txt · Last modified: 2022/10/05 22:18 by furst

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