newbie just built a very low budget CNC router looking for a bit of advice

[Spikes]

BTW - I wasn't at all impressed with the DIY linear bearings I had made, but this morning I finally cracked how to set them up and have now changed to very impressed with them.

Hi, congrats on the build, looks really good. A friend and I are in the very same situation and looking at a similar build, including the linear bearings. Could you please elaborate on what you said above about a better setup for your bearings? thanks.

Spike

[alanesq]

Hi, congrats on the build, looks really good. A friend and I are in the very same situation and looking at a similar build, including the linear bearings. Could you please elaborate on what you said above about a better setup for your bearings? thanks.

Spike

Hi,

As you can pick up bearings on ebay so cheap I don't think it really worth trying to make your own really.
e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SBR12-600...sAAOSwu0hZca5G

[Spikes]

thanks for the quick reply. we're trying to build something quite longer (ie >1m) and the linear bearings for that size seem to be much more expensive (at least on ebay.com / us shipping). So using a similar solution to yours with a rail with 4 skate bearings seemed appealing, but maybe we're missing the point.

[alanesq]

thanks for the quick reply. we're trying to build something quite longer (ie >1m) and the linear bearings for that size seem to be much more expensive (at least on ebay.com / us shipping). So using a similar solution to yours with a rail with 4 skate bearings seemed appealing, but maybe we're missing the point.

Hi,

I wish I had bought linear bearings when I built mine as I think it would have made the whole setup more rigid (and certainly much easier to build) although I have never had the opportunity to see the ebay bearings so it could be I would be disappointed if I had bought them?
I ended up spending around £45 making my own bearings when I could have bought some for about £80......
but as you say, if you want to make a bigger table then this may not be an option.

Actually I think my main mistake was using a single stepper motor for the Y axis, if I had one either side I think this would have taken out a lot of play. Also buying very cheap skate bearings proved to be a mistake as they were very poor quality and I had to replace them all.

With my router as it is I can cut out a 80mm circle which is accurate to within around 0.5mm but I find especially with a dull router bit (I tend to pay around £1 for them so this is pretty much all of them - lol) it can put steps in the cut as pressure moves from side to side on the cutter (e.g. if it cuts through a gap in the wood). But it is difficult for me to really give a good assessment of how well my bearings work as I have zero experience of any other cnc routers to compare it with.