[diyengineer]

This is my first cnc mill i will be creating. I basically need a good laundry list of parts and suggestions from everyone so i can model it in solid works 2009.

The overall intent of this machine is to mill aluminum/copper plate with a spindle, and have a repeatable accuracy of .005".

My budget is roughly 3,000-4000 dollars (I already have Solidworks, Mastercam, Mach3, and a computer)

I have a decent shop at my disposal, with a wide range of electric, pneumatic and hand tools. My father is a Aircraft mechanic my trade so we have sheet metal tools, and a variety of everything. (Belt sander,Tig welder, drill press, air compressor,die grinders, you name it, we currently do NOT have a lathe or mill).

I would like a 24"x24"x5" workable area (roughly).

I would like to use Large (3"x6" 15series) 80/20 for the base as well as the gantry, to make it as rigid as possible, and to bolt together easily.

I would like to use DC Servos in a closed loop configuration.
(For increased accuracy).

I would like to buy the majority of all the parts new through a reputable online store. (Not ebay, So others willing to build this machine can easily purchase parts from a parts list supplied from various vendors. More power to them if the part is available on e-bay and they can acquire it for cheaper.)

All my design work as well as plans will be 100% open source for the entire community, i may even go as far as creating a website hosting my own server to distribute plans and parts list.

As far as ball screws and Linear bearings go i would love suggestions on how many to mount on each axis as well as what brands/models and sizes will work for me, remember i plan on machining aluminum so overkill is always better =)

If you suggest a part please try and link it to a store online that sells it to make my life a bit easier! Many of the ball screw/linear rail companies offer 3D models of there product which make life really easy for me because i can directly import them into solid works and don't have to reverse engineer 2D drawings to 3D.

That is about all i can think of for now. I would love to get an entire parts list down, find online store for the parts, 3D models of the parts, and start modeling. Overall design once we get that far will be offered to the forum so i can have as many people critique it as possible. There are far more brilliant minds on here that my own. Hopefully with help from all of you in the end we will have; Overall price, specs, parts list, vendor list, I will supply HOW to VIDEOS, solidworks files, etc.

Thanks for your help, hopefully we can come up with a machine that is amazing!