Hello all! I'm relatively new to the world of CNC machining and I intend on building my own machine for personal use. In terms of experience I've done some CNC work with wood, and have significant experience with laser cutting. Other than that I've done quite a bit of woodworking and metal work as well.
As I've read about building a CNC, the more I realize I don't know all that much about the workings of the machines. There are a lot of forum and sub-forums so finding specific guides has been rather difficult, mostly because I don't know what I'm looking for. If anyone knew any explanatory or step-by-step guilds to building a CNC machine that would be hugely helpful!
In terms of building my very own CNC machine I'm looking for a three-axis machine with a 2' x 4' bed to be used almost exclusively for woodworking with the occasional piece of aluminum. I'm not opposed to building from a kit but from past experience usually you get more value by purchasing the parts yourself. My budget is $2000 but I could extend that if necessary.
I might add read all of the stickies for this forum. Yeah it will take awhile but a bit of learning up front makes communications a bit easier.
I dont know of a web site or text that really does a decent job of teaching everything you need to know to build a machine. Some of the sites ive seen are actually pretty terrible.
In any event the better you can define what you need out of this mschine the better we can help you. For instance you didnt mention Z clearance which is critical.
A $2000 dollar budget can be very doable or just a start, again it comes down to meeting your expectations and your ability to source materials cheap. Having access to machine tools or a machine shop can have a big impact on cost too.
Also one thing to consider, occasional aluminum is one thing but if it becomes a significant part of the work load you will want to build your machine premarily out of metal. The reason is this there is a high probability that you will need to use a lubricant/coolant when machining aluminum. You wouldnt want a wood frame machine sucking up that coolant. The problem is some grades of aluminum have a high probability of fouling the cutter when cut dry.
In any event dont get too hung up on details at the beginning, nail down you machines capacity and review all the different approaches guys have taken to get there. Figure out which approach is best for you. Once you have nailed this down you can work on the details.
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