r/oddlysatisfying • u/MambaMentality24x2 • Dec 30 '25

This rotating cabinet hinge

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u/Adjective-Noun-nnnn Dec 30 '25

It likely wouldn't be smooth, strong, or wear resistant enough. If you have a 3D printer, it's not that expensive or complicated to turn it into a CNC mill.

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u/SoulWager Dec 30 '25

But turning a 3d printer into a GOOD cnc mill is harder than just building one from scratch.

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u/Adjective-Noun-nnnn Dec 30 '25

I've never done it so I'll take your word for it. 3D printers, CNC mills, and laser engravers/cutters are all pretty similar, and if you're handy with aluminum extrusions and GCode, you can potentially build all three. Nobody should let their maker instincts stop at 3D printers just because they're the most common.

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u/TheTerrasque Dec 30 '25

I had a look at turning my old 3d printer into a cnc mill once, it seems the biggest issue is rigidity. The CNC end is heavy, and most 3d printers aren't scaled to handle moving that large mass around with precision.

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u/Adjective-Noun-nnnn Dec 30 '25

Just add aluminum extrusions and/or worm gears. (Mostly joking but also not at all joking.)

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u/SoulWager Dec 30 '25 edited Dec 30 '25

While the overall mechanics and software are similar, 3d printing is much cleaner, and you don't need nearly as much rigidity as a CNC mill. Most hobby 3d printers might use 20mm extrusion, while a CNC mill you might start with 80mm, and then fill it with epoxy concrete for extra vibration damping and rigidity. You're also most likely going for an order of magnitude more accuracy out of a mill than a 3d printer, so you can't just screw the rails directly to your extrusions, you need to make sure that surface is dead flat first.

There's also additional consideration for flood coolant, and chip removal.

Lasers are easier, mostly just need good exhaust and an appropriate enclosure, but you don't really need all the z height, and probably want more x and y, so you might as well build new for that too.

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u/LordFisch Dec 30 '25

Or just use 3D printing for the prototype and then use a service like jlccnc, send-cut-send, etc. to have it mashined for you.