Newbie- New to cnc - looking to build a 2' x 2'

[dcarbonetti]

So I've been trolling through looking at what's out there but I'm a bit lost in the pile of info out there. I'm looking to build a machine with 2'x2 working area (I'll settle for 50x50cm)

Are there any good and easy to make designs out there that I could adopt and not rip my hair out in the build process? A kit would be great but they seem to cost a fortune in Australia =/

[DonFrambach]

I liked the designs from CNCRouterParts.com and purchased several of their components for my small router. Good luck with yours.

Don

[dcarbonetti]

had a look at their plans for the 100 - are there meant to be measurements or specifications on the parts?

[brtech]

You can get the measurements off the model. There is a BOM that has the part numbers for the fasteners, etc. These are either McMaster or MCS parts. The extrusion part numbers have the extrusion series and the length as a dash number.

[hemsworthlad]

It's not too difficult designing your own machine and basicly 99% of DIY designs, kit's or own design, are a mish mash of other designs.
With experience talking to others who have gone the kit route it seems they end up changing or adapting the design to suit there individual needs often to the point it becomes so modded it becomes there own design anyway.

If you take a carefull structured approach and be realistic about the expectations of the machine as well has being honest with your self regard your skill's to build such a machine it's not difficult.

First thing determine the main use and size required, size you know, so do you need it to cut wood, plastic,Aluminium,steel. .?
Knowing the main material your going to cut is important for a few reason's and helps greatly to lead you in the right direction for many major component choices as well as design needs.

Often you'll see warp speed rapid figures quoted in machine builds, dont get caught up in the rapid trap.?
In real world use high rapids are very rarely utilised and become more bragging rights that usefull.
99% of the time your machine will be cutting and it's the material and cutter/spindle combination that dictates speeds & feeds. Machine strength also affects this to some degree, a weak machine will need small light cutts where has a strong construction can take deeper cuts removing more material resulting in shorter job times but even then is still governed by cutter and material.

High rapids only become usefull when doing lots of positional movements like drilling holes and even then when you see warp speed rapids quoted they dont actually achieve these speeds in real world use unless traveling long distances on large machines and with small machines it just doesn't happen.

Reason for this is because of accelleration/deaccelleration.! It takes a certain amount of time to accellerate to full rapid speed and in real world use of small positional movements like drilling they just cant get to full speed and stop again before the move ends so a quoted figure of 1000ipm will be more like 100ipm at best over a 2' distance.

Designing for the main material to be used is the best guide for designing an efficent machine, all materials have differant cutting needs and the cutters are often the governing factor.? Wood & plastics etc need higher cutting feeds compared to materials like Ali or steel.
Knowing this makes choosing important components easier, ounce you know main material to be used you then know the kind of cutting speeds required for best results.
Knowing the speeds required gives you info towards choosing the right drive system best suited achieve these speeds also indicates overall machine strength required(thou IMO it's always better over built than under).
The goal is to choose components that give you the best torque/speed while cutting and not so much rapids.

It's not difficult but does need firm fixed design criterior to be successful and deciding the main Material to be cut is the best place to start.

A successfull machine tends to be defined more by the quality of componets and skills of the builder, the design defines how easy or difficult this will be to achive.? . . Great design with best components can be still yeild a crap machine in the wrong hands.!! . . . Like wise great machine's have been built with limited means and cheap components due to the skills and enginuity of the builder.

Go for it, IMO dont waste money on plans just do some research, ask about anything you dont understand, no matter how dumb a Q. We've all been there and you can bet your last dollar it's been asked before.

Good luck.

[dcarbonetti]

cheers for the info; to add...

will be used for plastic, acrylic, wood (mdf mainly) aluminium, copper and potrntially 99.9% silver (although i am more inclined to get small precition machine made)

[mactec54]

dcarbonetti

Take a look at my build you may get some idea of how to put together a ridgid frame,
That will do everything you want & more, there may be some more progress on it tomorrow

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