Super Noob-1st post

[vpl]

Okay I have about 5K to built a cnc router. I want a 4X8 cutting area with a 6" z. It will mostly cut mdf and plywood. However my son wants to cut guitar bodies. So it will see some hardwood. I'm not a machinist but I have a manual mill, 2 lathes, mig, tig, drill presses, grinders, etc. I only have them to aid in rebuilding transmissions, which is my livelihood. I'm familiar with fabbing stuff and making things work that didn't. That being said I have seen 3 used shotbot cnc routers for sale in the 5-6k price range. I actually tried to buy one last week but I was the proverbial "1 day late" on the craigslist ad. You can see the machine if search the salem oregon cl. Search "cnc router" or see the url below. Can I build a comparable machine? Considering my time is worthless..........

CNC ROUTER

I've been "lurking: for sometime now and I'll say there are some sharp, creative people on this forum. I wanted to narrow down my options. But the more I read the more overwhelming the options become. I guess the first question is will $5-6 going to get me what I want?

Thanks for any input.....
Vince

[CarveOne]

Originally Posted by vpl Okay I have about 5K to built a cnc router. I want a 4X8 cutting area with a 6" z. It will mostly cut mdf and plywood. However my son wants to cut guitar bodies. So it will see some hardwood. I'm not a machinist but I have a manual mill, 2 lathes, mig, tig, drill presses, grinders, etc. I only have them to aid in rebuilding transmissions, which is my livelihood. I'm familiar with fabbing stuff and making things work that didn't. That being said I have seen 3 used shotbot cnc routers for sale in the 5-6k price range. I actually tried to buy one last week but I was the proverbial "1 day late" on the craigslist ad. You can see the machine if search the salem oregon cl. Search "cnc router" or see the url below. Can I build a comparable machine? Considering my time is worthless.......... CNC ROUTER I've been "lurking: for sometime now and I'll say there are some sharp, creative people on this forum. I wanted to narrow down my options. But the more I read the more overwhelming the options become. I guess the first question is will $5-6 going to get me what I want? Thanks for any input..... Vince

You have a lot of equipment and general knowledge of constructing one already. If getting the steel is easy for you (especially at a discount) from a local supplier, and you want the fun of building one yourself, then you can beat the 5k price range if you don't include much for the software costs. Mach3 at a minimum. I have less than that in a 12' steel machine that is almost working right after redesigning it three times this year.

If you want one that works sooner rather than later, then buy a new ShopBot or build a machine from the MechMate plans. Those will be over 5k though. Or buy a used machine while small companies are steadily going broke and selling off their equipment, sad to say.

Read the Woodworking Machines build logs and see how the issues with building them will affect you. It gets very complicated. Then you get to the software part. Put that part off onto your son....

CarveOne

[brtech]

I can be done, just barely.

Take a look at my build:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn..._p_router.html

If you can get square steel stock, and build a base out of that, rather than my kit's 8020 base, stretching to 8' would be easy, and probably cheaper than doing the frame in 8020. Then think about copying the gantry and the Z from the Fineline machine. You can get the parts you need from Nate at Fineline and Ahren at cncrouterparts. You will need to get your own 8' rail and drill it yourself. Moore will make you 8' racks, or just butt two 4' racks. The nice part about R&P is that as long as your base is sturdy, adding length is no sweat.

[CarveOne]

If you want a machine that can cut to all edges a full 4' x 8' sheet you will need to build a larger machine that can allow the cutter to reach a little past the edges of the sheet. The machine length needs to be at least 9' of travel because you have to add the distance of the cutter to the rear of the gantry length or the cutter won't cut the full sheet length with 8' of travel.

Mine can go 50" across so that I can sever cut the width of 49" x 97" MDF sheets. It is 12' long because the box tubing came in standard 24' lengths and I decided to just cut it in half and not have left over tubing. It uses four standard 6' racks that are butt joined, two on each side of the machine. That works out well for a number of reasons if you have the room for it. It takes exactly three sheets of MDF to make the spoil board and table top layers with no waste. I can cut 11' 4" jobs that can't be cut on a 10' machine. The extra cost was negligible because I had to buy four racks anyway. Originally, I wanted a 10' machine.

If you get 21' steel, just cut it in half. You can get 1" x 5' x 10' sheets of MDF for a one piece table top and it will have more than enough cutting length for MDF sheets.

CarveOne

[Crevice Reamer]

Hi Vince. Welcome to the Zone!

Some of this basic info may be helpful to you:

Page 2

CR.

[vpl]

Carve One,
Thank you so much for your time. This is a real jumping off point for me. I more or less pictured a metal frame and some amount of extra travel so it can cut past the edges of 4x8. So my concern is keeping the frame square and level. With the 8020 construction it seems you pretty much have a nice surface to mount the linear motion bearing guides to.
When dealing with most metal stock over the years its all "straight" enough to to build shelving, ohv frames, and general stuff. But a close look tells you most stock isn't square enough to build a precision machine. So how does a guy keep the top rail of the frame straight and relative to the rest of the top of the frame? Would there be a post with any picts of your machine?? Once again thanks for taking your time to post. My heads sorta spinning with options and this really helps me narrow things down.
Take Care,
Vince

[vpl]

CR,
Thanks for the welcome. Awesome info. I'll be reading the majority of your page. Having already glanced at your info page you have clarified a bunch of questions. Thanks!!!! I'll keep reading!

Vince

[vpl]

Brtech,
Thanks for your post and input. I looked through your link and I'm inspired to say the least with your machine. I wish I could afford 8020 because it looks so cooool. It looks like I'm going to do as you suggested with the steel frame and butted racks.......I'm sure I'll be back with ????. So thanks again.
Vince

[Crevice Reamer]

Here's a build you may find interesting:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc_wo...d_spindle.html

CR.

[ger21]

I think you can build a Mechmate for $5K.

MechMate CNC Router - Build your own with free plans

[CarveOne]

Originally Posted by vpl Carve One, Thank you so much for your time. This is a real jumping off point for me. I more or less pictured a metal frame and some amount of extra travel so it can cut past the edges of 4x8. So my concern is keeping the frame square and level. With the 8020 construction it seems you pretty much have a nice surface to mount the linear motion bearing guides to. When dealing with most metal stock over the years its all "straight" enough to to build shelving, ohv frames, and general stuff. But a close look tells you most stock isn't square enough to build a precision machine. So how does a guy keep the top rail of the frame straight and relative to the rest of the top of the frame? Would there be a post with any picts of your machine?? Once again thanks for taking your time to post. My heads sorta spinning with options and this really helps me narrow things down. Take Care, Vince

My current build log is here. Go back a week or two and you should find a recent photo of it. You can do the leveling with something as simple as two taught threads (or small gauge single strand wire) or use something like precision machinist levels or precision laser levels. The string method will get it in the ballpark, but not as precise as machinist levels.

CarbeOne