Build Thread- CNC Router Restoration!

[guitar freak]

Just wanted to let everyone know that my CNC router restoration photos should be uploaded sometime today. I may do a video demo of it, too. In a nutshell, I bought a broken tabletop router (18"x32") for $500 off a guy in Richmond, VA. The CCA's were shot and the router was in sad shape. I replaced all the controlling hardware with Probotix merchandise. I then rebuilt the tabletop using 3/4" oak and covering it with truck bed liner (good stuff). Then, I stripped off the old "hammered" looking silver paint and used auto primer then laid a base coat of black paint. I then went over all of it with chameleon paint. It shifts from purple, blue, and green in the light.

I wanted to put all this stuff up because I've been looking at this forum for a little over a year and it's due to the help and support of this community I was confident enough to buy a broken router and fix everything myself. The least I could do is show everyone the culmination of their efforts to help me. Expect photos before this day is up (27MAR11).

[guitar freak]

Okay, I've been working feverishly all day to get this ready and I'm really excited to hear some people's feed back. I'm about to bomb this thread with about forty or so photos that I took during this quick "restoration" of my old, tired CNC router. I hope you enjoy looking at the photos as much as I enjoyed doing the work to take them! These photos are of the machine before I started working on it and throughout the rebuilding process.

In a nutshell, I disassembled everything and cleaned off the corrosion that was on the bearings and the rails. I then used a sanding sponge to take off the worn, battered finish that was all over the gantry then degreased it using detergent and warm water. Then I used auto primer over all the parts and for the new table I was building. I went over all the metal parts with a coating of black all-purpose spray paint. For the table, I bought truck bed liner and used five coats of it total. After the black paint dried on the metal pieces, I went over it about three times or so with the color shifting paint. I had to let it dry overnight then put it all back together again. I think it turned out rather well.

Please leave comments or inputs for me, they're greatly valued! I hope someone out there thinks my project is pretty cool. It couldn't have been done without the wealth of knowledge that I've gleaned just from this website alone.

[gearsoup]

Very nice. Got all that for $500? not shabby at all

[guitar freak]

Yeah, I got it for $500. I bought it from a guy who does craft shows out in Richmond, VA. He blew a bunch of IC's on the circuit board (it was a HobbyCNC board) and just gave up on it. It was sitting outside under a tarp when I came over to look at it, which explained why there was so much corrosion on the rails and whatnot. After I got it home, I looked at the card and decided that it was beyond economical repair so I just got new controlling hardware from Probotix. After I mounted everything in the enclosure box, I did some optests on it and everything checked out okay. I was just tired of it looking so beat up. All in all, I would say that I've got about $800 tied up in this CNC router right now, excluding the computer which I got for $125 at a flea market here in Norfolk.

[guitar freak]

I finished uploading a video on YouTube that highlighted some of the major points of the reassembly. Check it out! YouTube - CNC Router Restoration