Newbie- Need some guidance on starting out

[AlanDv]

I'm interested in building a CNC router and in the course of searching around online I found what I feel was a decent deal on some CNC equipment. I attached pictures of what I bought.

Unfortunately I'm not really sure whether what I got is the best thing to use. I got a pair of X-Y tables (one from Schneeberger and one from NEAT). Both have approximately 12" of travel. The schneeberger one says not repairable on it but the only thing I can see wrong is some messed up wires on a limit switch. I also got some form of Y-Z gantry (22"x6" of movement) without any motors and a ton of slides, leadscrews, motors and controllers and such as shown in the pics. Please let me know if I need to give more details on anything.

My question given that I want to make a CNC router with possibly some aluminum and engraving work thrown in later is - should I try and use these tables somehow and buy a breakout board and power supply or should I sell these tables and use the cash to buy the parts to build something instead? I'm not really worried about size of the machine since I figure that I could scale up later. What would you do?

[louieatienza]

Check out the build threads here, see what machines best suit your needs. Then you can figure out what you do and don't need, and "trade up" or eBay the parts so you can get what you need.

I guess it's easy to get caught up in parts buying, only to havve a stockpile of stuff you don't need or can't use. Come up with a plan, so you can sell your surplus and drum up cash to build a good machine!

[adprinter]

I'd start bolting everything together, wiring it up to a Gecko G540, and start cutting something! I spent quite a bit of time and $$$ re-inventing the wheel, in building a machine from scratch. Judging from your photos, you are already miles ahead of where I was, when I first started out. See the MyCNCoriginal.pdf posted elsewhere on this site.
It may help to inspire you to get busy. The main advice I would offer, is to simply BEGIN. Once you have a functioning machine, the learning curve begins. Because as much as I have learned about all of this, there continues to be opportunities for improvements in design. Probably the best advice early on in the design phase, is to design and build everything to be ADJUSTABLE.
Regardless of how precisely built a machine is (I prefer bolts, instead of welds), it is in the operating of the machine when you discover where things need to be "tweaked" slightly. Designing your construction to accommodate this is essential to achieving a precision machine. It is much easier to loosen a locked bolt, and turn an adjustment screw, than to break out a grinder or cutting torch on a weld joint. Only to learn that the re-welding operation usually results in something getting twisted, or warped in the process.
One can never have too many C Clamps, during the assembly process. And a precision drill press, with a mill table and DRO's are almost essential. If you have access to a machine shop with a vertical milling machine, even better. I don't know how much $$$ you have invested in all the parts you have in your photos, but just to give you an idea- I have only just recently exceeded about $3000 in total investment of building my machine, buying all the component parts (basic materials such as steel angles, tube steel, lead screws, bearings, motors, driver electronics, wiring, limit switches, energy chains, computer, software, etc.) for a 4-axis router table with X=32" Y=32" Z=18" A=8" dia x 24" length capacities.
All over the course of about the last 2.5 years. Out of this investment, approximately $400 was wasted in cheap ebay parts purchases for the initial driver electronics, motors, and a used ballscrew (which all turned out to be useless JUNK)! However, they did function just long enough for me to learn the difference. Hope this helps in your decision. Again, take a look at the MYCNCoriginal.pdf file posted under the one of the Build Threads on the DIY - CNC Router Table Machines.