need plans for a DIY

[spleblem]

Hey all
im new here as you can see and im also new to cnc's
i am wanting to build a small cnc machine to fabricate aluminium
i have searched the internet for hours now and can't find anything close to what i am after
any suggestions?
thanks

[draughted]

yeah easy
try the router diy page in the wood working section of the forum
many people have gone for joes etc.

[spleblem]

i would like it to be able to fab aluminium
would a wood router cnc do this?
is an different tool just attached?
im complete new to this so maybe a quick explanation would be good
thanks

[draughted]

milling metal requires ridgidity so no
but you can always convert a chinese milling machine

money hemarages from your pocket if you make stupid purchases

so look at drivers you know will perform like the gecko 540
or other all in one packages

some people myself included spend more on the litttle things and get not what there looking for

making a router on a budget can be cool though

[LeeWay]

I've never had much luck fabricating aluminum. I just buy the stock and then cut on it.
Welcome aboard. Some cnc router can mill aluminum. Some can't.
Most mills can. Routers are generally bigger in work area, but aren't normally as rigid as a mill. Not always the case with DIY stuff.

What sizes and shapes of parts are you intending to cut? Whats the end goal?
If you have searched a bunch and found nothing, then you need a better search engine, however I think you have come to the right place for anything cnc related.

[spleblem]

ok so does that mean there is no cheepish way
to make a cnc for aluminium out of parts lieing round and afew stepped motors

would like to make parts to to big maybe round 6 inch by 6 inch
what is the difference betwen a mill and a router?
i have found many sites for building cnc machines but non which are small and cheep and will cut aluminium
at the moment my plan was to start building a rig for the x and y motion and then look round for more details on the stepper motors required.

[slashmaster]

Originally Posted by spleblem i would like it to be able to fab aluminium would a wood router cnc do this? is an different tool just attached? im complete new to this so maybe a quick explanation would be good thanks

A router can cut metal but is more for wood. I think you need a mill if you are serious about aluminum.

[spleblem]

would you be able to explain the difference between a mill and router?
and also do you know of any plans/instructions for a diy?
thanks

[LeeWay]

There are no real clear cut differences between routers and mills other than rigidity, but as I mentioned, that isn't always the case.
There are machine that are very small, both routers and mills, that just do printed circuit boards. There are also large routers that can do airplane wings and there are large mills that can do tank turrets and larger stuff.
There are many different types, styles, designs of routers and the same goes for mills.

Similar in scale to a child's pedal car all the way up to the transports that move the space shuttle to the launch pad. Many different kinds of vehicles in between those two types.

There are build logs on here where guys have completely built their own mills and routers. There are plans available here for routers. There are also plans for converting store bought mills to cnc from manual operation.

Here is the DIY router forum.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cnc_router_table_machines/

Here is the mill and lathe build logs.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/vertical_mill_lathe_project_log/

[spleblem]

ok thanks
ill have a bit more of a look round at these other peoples builds
also i found this stepper motor controller on ebay cheap whats all your thoughts on it

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/5-Axis-CNC-Stepper-Motor-TA8435H-Driver-Board-Mach-2-3_W0QQitemZ250446862146QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment?hash=item3a4fcbd742&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A1|66%3A2|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

its 5 axis but im only planning on 3 axis at the moment
also have done abit of reading and planning on using linuxcnc on the computer
does anyone know if this is a good idea or not?
thanks for all your help so far im starting to get my head round this a bit better

[cyclestart]

spleblem

That's backasswards

#1 Decide what type of work you want to do
#2 Find a machine design capable of #1
#3 Decide on the electronics

Sometimes the line between #'s 1 & 2 gets a bit blurry, but #3 comes later.

Emc2 (linuxcnc) is a fine choice. Then again I'm a linux fanatic an wouldn't say otherwise. There's more Mach users here by some multiple. Something to think about if and when you need help.

[PoolQ]

spleblem

A year and a half ago I was at the same place that you seem to be at.

I "built" 3 "machines" and learned a lot. None of them worked like I wanted.

Not accurate enough, not solid enough. I tried to save on everything because I did not know where it was okay to save and where it was not.

I now have a metal lathe, an X3 (manual) and have finally built something that I am happy with. My own design for exactly what I want to do.

My suggestion is to read, read, read on this forum until you really understand the issues that you will run into. All the answers are already here.

I know this may be getting frustrating and seem like we are hiding things from you, but it seems like you don't know what you don't know yet. This is not to put you off at all.

"i have searched the internet for hours now and can't find anything close to what i am after
any suggestions?"

you will get some strange suggestions, but only because this tells us nothing about what you want and 6" x 6" again tells us very little. It may seem easy, but it's not quite that easy. It is very possible, but you need to come up at least a little on the learning curve or you will end up spending quite a bit of money and still not have what you wanted.

The good news is that you are in the right place. Give it some time and read. There are many threads where someone has been looking for help deciding on what mill to buy based on what they wanted to do with it

best of luck, really!