Originally Posted by Neil_J If I'm patient and do it all myself could I do it all for $5k? If it costed more that would be OK, it would just take longer. |
What it will cost will depend on what Iron you have in the first place. I have done a manual Bridgeport and am now in the process of Retro fitting a series 1 CNC.
For the manual I needed ball screws, motors and all the rest, the CNC already has the ballscrews and motors although I have opted to change out for modern motors.
My costs are:
Series1 CNC = £400
916oz/in steppers = £270
Gecko G202 = £230
PMDX 122 breakout board = £45
Nemicon MPG = £45
Limit switches (Industrial Hobbies optical)= £85
power supply (could be salvaged from original controls) = £50
Various bits and bobs (switches,wires, materials for brackets, etc) £200
17inch Touch screen = £260
Keyboard with touchpad =£40
Computer = £150
Mach3 software = £85
Time = free
Sold parts of the CNC that I didnt need and got £300 back
total = £1500 = approx $2600
Obviously it will depend on how much you get your mill for, whether you decide to use the old motors and any of the power components of the mill. Also some of the bits are not a necessity such as touch screen and MPG, so costs could also be reduced there.
Hope this gives you some encouragement as it is very rewarding to DIY and another advantage is, if in the future you have problems you should be able to fix it because you built it in the first place.
Hood