where do i start?

[Justin Cavender]

I am wanting to build a cnc where is a good place to buy parts? I am going to school to be a machinist So all i really need is to buy the main components i can build the rest at school.

[Gene Crain]

Tons of info here...

www.mechmate.com


also cnczone

[Matt Clara]

Free plans for a fairly simple 8020 aluminum router can be had from Fine Line Automation, ftp://finelineautomation.com/FLA100-00_rev4.zip, and Ahren Johnson from CNCrouterparts.com can sell you the electronics and some other parts. Ahren is also extremely helpful. Can't emphasize that enough--he's a real gem.

[Gary Hair]

Justin,
No offense to the fine folks here but you won't find more knowledge and experience than you will at cnczone dot com. I built my router about three years ago with a lot of help from folks there. It's really pretty easy and the people there have made the mistakes and will help you to avoid them.

Gary

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

The main problem with CNCzone is that it can be overwhelming. CNCzone is like going to a large mall during Chirstmas.

Here at sawmill creak its like going to the local well stocked hardware store. You are more likly to run into someone you know.

I got into CNC some years back and purchased a converted cnc metal mill. Back then it was hard to get information and things were very expensive. Within the last couple years there has been a DIY explosion on the CNC scene. So I got back into it.

First let me make some things clear. Yes you can build a CNC system yourself provided you have the tools to do so. The more you spend the better the machine. Will it be a large production machine? Well that depends on your engineering skills and access to resources and the amount of money you want to spend.

Lets come back down to the hobby level. My first home made mill cost me about $700 to build. It was based on the book "Build your own CNC"

That machine was only good for one thing and one thing only. I learnt a lot about CNC building. Did it work? Yes. but it was slow, inaccurate and needed constant tinkering.

The absolute smartest thing I did when I built it was to purchase a very nice 4 Axis cnc electringics kit. That cost me just under $700. Even though that first machine I build was only a three axis machine I neew I would eventualy build a 4 axis.

My second and third builds were my own designes and were off shoots from the first. But did not cost me as much as I aready had the electrics.

My fourth build shown here, was a complete redesign from scratch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcJHmpaC_yc

I wanted to do three things.

1. Buid a machine that could be buile for a woodworker by a woodworker. I built it without the single use of an existing CNC machine. I used a tablesaw, drill press and some hand tools.

2. Prove that you could build a machine that is not made of metal that would provide accurate and consistant results.

3. The total outlay (not includeing PC and software) would be under $1500

4. Have a workign area of at least 12" x 24" (I ended up with 15 x 34)

When all said and done it does all of those things. Its only down side is that the stand is build on casters (heavy duty double locking) so its not as solid as it would be had I used leveling studs. The same design could be a little smaller or bigger of say 18" x 48" Without much impact on cost or rigidity.

I am now building my fifth build. This one is based 99% on the last. The only difference Is I am tweaking so that I can add hard stops and better mounting for my limit switches. I am also adding 2" of hieght to the Z axis.

In this build I and a couple friends are documenting every aspect with video and picures. We are going to put them up on a web site showing complete step by step how to build this exact model. (for Free)

My sixth build I will use an all aluminum build out of 8020. It will be a little bigger (4' x 4') and will probabaly cost me $3000 to build. I will be using comersial rails and it will probably be Rack and Pinion drive for X qand Y.

Noooooow....

Things you must aske yourself as it is very important.\

1. What do I want to make with cnc router?

If you have something specific in mind make sure the working aria can handle it.

2. What type of material?

Do you want to cut metal, wood, plastic? There are cross overs between them but a metal mill will not be very good at wood cutting and a wood rauter can to softer metals but not as well as a metal mill. Plastic falls somewhere in between.

3, They types of tools you have available for building?

4. Design your own or build someone elses design?

I spent some money purchasing other peoples plans and have to tell you I wish I had not. For exapmple I purchased the set of Joes CNC plans for $100. I got just that. A set of drawings and access to his private forums. Which is mostly build logs. No instructions and I never could put together a complete bill of matreials. Most of what is in his forums can be found on other free forums.

If you have previous build experience this is probably a way to go but I would not recomend it to someone who is building there first CNC.

There are also some free 8020 plans out there. Unfortunatly they are just cad drawings. No bill of matrials and no instructions.

Dont just dive in and start purchasing things. This can be costly. Do lots of research.

FYI the electirc kit I purchased was from cncrouterparts. Its probably as close to plug and play electrics you can find. My leadcrew nuts and couplers also came from cncrouterparts. As a first time builder though I am not sure I would go with those plans. Just not enough information.

I

[Justin Cavender]

Michael I am building the machine for the sole purpose of building guitars in my spare time. I have lots of material at my disposal through the obscene amount i had to pay the school as a shop fee. So i really just need a good solid plan and the electrics

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

Figure out what size you need to cut. Then start from there. Soon as I find a good web host I will start putting my stuff up. I aready have two web sites devoted to robotics and want a third with a better provider.

[mike yozman]

Do some reading on mechmate.com. The forum there has everything broke down into section of the machine. There are lots of people there that will help with questions. Even if you decide to build something different, there is a lot of knowledge there. I know many mechmaters frequent most of the forums, They all have bits and pieces that are useful for understanding, learning, and building.

I chose to build the Mechmate. I have build #16 on the forum.

Mike

[Gene Crain]

The main problem with CNCzone is that it can be overwhelming. CNCzone is like going to a large mall during Chirstmas.

Here at sawmill creak its like going to the local well stocked hardware store. You are more likly to run into someone you know.

I got into CNC some years back and purchased a converted cnc metal mill. Back then it was hard to get information and things were very expensive. Within the last couple years there has been a DIY explosion on the CNC scene. So I got back into it.

First let me make some things clear. Yes you can build a CNC system yourself provided you have the tools to do so. The more you spend the better the machine. Will it be a large production machine? Well that depends on your engineering skills and access to resources and the amount of money you want to spend.

Lets come back down to the hobby level. My first home made mill cost me about $700 to build. It was based on the book "Build your own CNC"

That machine was only good for one thing and one thing only. I learnt a lot about CNC building. Did it work? Yes. but it was slow, inaccurate and needed constant tinkering.

The absolute smartest thing I did when I built it was to purchase a very nice 4 Axis cnc electringics kit. That cost me just under $700. Even though that first machine I build was only a three axis machine I neew I would eventualy build a 4 axis.

My second and third builds were my own designes and were off shoots from the first. But did not cost me as much as I aready had the electrics.

My fourth build shown here, was a complete redesign from scratch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcJHmpaC_yc

I wanted to do three things.

1. Buid a machine that could be buile for a woodworker by a woodworker. I built it without the single use of an existing CNC machine. I used a tablesaw, drill press and some hand tools.

2. Prove that you could build a machine that is not made of metal that would provide accurate and consistant results.

3. The total outlay (not includeing PC and software) would be under $1500

4. Have a workign area of at least 12" x 24" (I ended up with 15 x 34)

When all said and done it does all of those things. Its only down side is that the stand is build on casters (heavy duty double locking) so its not as solid as it would be had I used leveling studs. The same design could be a little smaller or bigger of say 18" x 48" Without much impact on cost or rigidity.

I am now building my fifth build. This one is based 99% on the last. The only difference Is I am tweaking so that I can add hard stops and better mounting for my limit switches. I am also adding 2" of hieght to the Z axis.

In this build I and a couple friends are documenting every aspect with video and picures. We are going to put them up on a web site showing complete step by step how to build this exact model. (for Free)

My sixth build I will use an all aluminum build out of 8020. It will be a little bigger (4' x 4') and will probabaly cost me $3000 to build. I will be using comersial rails and it will probably be Rack and Pinion drive for X qand Y.

Noooooow....

Things you must aske yourself as it is very important.\

1. What do I want to make with cnc router?

If you have something specific in mind make sure the working aria can handle it.

2. What type of material?

Do you want to cut metal, wood, plastic? There are cross overs between them but a metal mill will not be very good at wood cutting and a wood rauter can to softer metals but not as well as a metal mill. Plastic falls somewhere in between.

3, They types of tools you have available for building?

4. Design your own or build someone elses design?

I spent some money purchasing other peoples plans and have to tell you I will I had not. For exapmple I purchased the set of Joes CNC plans for $100. I got just that. A set of drawings and access to his private forums. Which is mostly build logs. No instructions and I never could put together a complete bill of matreials. Most of what is in his forums can be found on other free forums.

If you have previous build experience this is probably a way to go but I would not recomend it to someone who is building there first CNC.

There are also some free 8020 plans out there. Unfortunatly they are just cad drawings. No bill of matrials and no instructions.

Dont just dive in and start purchasing things. This can be costly. Do lots of research.

FYI the electirc kit I purchased was from cncrouterparts. Its probably as close to plug and play electrics you can find. My leadcrew nuts and couplers also came from cncrouterparts. As a first time builder though I am not sure I would go with those plans. Just not enough information.

I

$6K with Mechmate and you can have a real 4'x8' production machine, far beyond the hobby kits/plans from cncroutetparts or similar sites on the web today

Spend some time reading the forum there and you will learn a great bit of info.. the Mechmate was born from a ingenious guy who decided to upgrade a shopbot years ago

do not be afraid of cnczone....tons of great info there...sunday morning with coffee a couple hrs a pad/pencil=info learned

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

I looked seriously at the mechmate. Problem is I could not figure out what you got for your $100. Since it is constructed 100% of metal what kind of metal working did I need to do? What tools? Do I need to weld?

It looks like one heck of a machine when you get done but if you dont get step by step instructions. IE Step 1 do this Step 2 do that then its going to be a little rough for a first time builder.

What I dont understand is why dont some of these plans developers give you a taste of what you are purchasing?

[Gene Crain]

I looked seriously at the mechmate. Problem is I could not figure out what you got for your $100. Since it is constructed 100% of metal what kind of metal working did I need to do? What tools? Do I need to weld?

It looks like one heck of a machine when you get done but if you dont get step by step instructions. IE Step 1 do this Step 2 do that then its going to be a little rough for a first time builder.

What I dont understand is why dont some of these plans developers give you a taste of what you are purchasing?

IF,you spent ANYTIME, on the Mechmate forum looking you would QUICKLY find answers to your questions

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

IF,you spent ANYTIME, on the Mechmate forum looking you would QUICKLY find answers to your questions

I just spent about 6 hours there and it did find the answer to some of the questions. Now I remember why I chose not to go that route.

Yes you do need to Weld. That’s going to put off a lot of woodworkers.
Yes you do need to cut quite a bit of steel. The only way I could do that with my current tools would be with my Reciprocating saw or purchase something else.

I doubt I could build one for $6K as there are no concise instructions just plans and open discussions that are hard to follow as I don’t understand some of the metal working terminology.

I just don’t think it an ideal stating point for a first time CNC builder. Especially a woodworker.

[Mike Heidrick]

A Joes rack and pinion was my first CNC build. I love it and with the forum it was doable as a first build. The Joes forum was easier to navigate for me than the zone. I thought the $100 was cheap for the access to the forum and the threads on Joes builds. I saved double that just in heads up on deals on the parts that I picked up from members there. I can see where Michael is coming from as the plans are just line drawings, but they worked out very awesome for me along with other builds on the forum.

Michael, I also went with theh 4 axis kit. Very sweet setup. Ahren rocks.

Maube a mechmate for build 2. I took a class to learn to weld. Even doing that would be worth it for a build.

Don't underestimate the skills of woodworkers!

[Dave Spitzer]

Michael,

I agree with Mike, "don't underestimate the skills of a woodworker" Many woodworkers have built Joe's and other cnc machines from just plans. When I started with my build I didn't have any cnc experience and I thought it was an ambitious project, but I knew how to read drawings (no different than a carpenter building a house) The reason most of these plan designers don't have instructions is so the individual can change the design around to meet there needs. There are many who put their own ideas into the build. I also found the bill of materials for Joe's hybrid OK, I had absolutely no problems sourcing parts. I'm extremely pleased with the machine. My cost came in under $4000. You can see my build in this forum if interested. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=148325

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

No where did I say a woodworker could not build Joes CNC. I said I just would not recomend it as a first cnc. I will probably build one since I have the plans and about 90% of the 8020 material.


What I have a problem with is that there is no way to know what you are getting until you spend the $100.

Now for MechMate. Thats a lot of metal working I am an avid woodworker and know a lot of woodworkers and what I said was that amount of metal working will put some woodworkers off. What I like about MechMate is that you can read the forums before spending any money. Thats a good thing. You do have to dig though.



I can understand why they dont offer step by step instructions. For one its a major amount of work. To do it in most cases you have to build two or more machines to get it documented correctly. Then you have to show all the options.

CNC zone has I feel a lot of the same information that is on Joes site its just so much its hard to find what you want some times.

Honastly I think one has to read all the forums for 6 months to a year before they start to build.


Did you guys go with leadscrews or R&P with Joes CNC?