Simple X Y complete on to X Y Z

[jwillhite]

Finally got around to actually building something.. Took apart a couple of scanners for parts to put this together. Really for me the point of this first build was writing the software to control the plotter, and understanding the electronics before I make any kind of investment in parts for a real machine.

here's a video clip and a link to some pictures:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbP32wVjMtI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbP32wVjMtI

http://cnc.draft-design.com


Now that I've played around a little and feel comfortable with the basics I want to move on and build a small cnc machine ~24"x36"x8" that will be capable of cutting wood and aluminum. I'm not concerned with the feed rate, accuracy is important though. I want to do this on a sub 1000.00$ budget.

I already have the software mostly taken care of and I'll put the electronics together on my own. So that leaves the stepper motors and structure.

Originally I toyed with the idea of using 8020 but not sure if that's possible given my budget constraints. I guess that leaves MDF. Any suggestions on which small machine designs to look at would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Josh

[chazmtu]

Hello,

You might be interested in this site http://www.solsylva.com/, they sell plans for machines you can build from commonly found parts(home depot, lowes). I think you may have trouble finding a solid design that can handle an eight inch z axis though, but you could definitely build one for less than 1000.00$.

As for using MDF I would recommend using a hardwood or other solid mat'l. I built mine out of MDF and while it works it flexes under loads and fast jogging. I'm currently replacing mine with oak from home depot. Mine's not quite rigid enough for aluminum but it's on my list as well. Hope that helps.


Chuck

[jwillhite]

thanks Chuck, I checked out the website.. those are some pretty capable looking machines. Which design did you go with? Any pictures/build log of your current machine?

It looks like those designs use bearings running on gas pipe for the linear bearing system, did that work out well for you?

Ohh hey I just looked at your blog post great machine unique design. I like it looks easy to put together. Do those drawer slides work very well?

[chazmtu]

Thanks Josh,
My machine is pretty easy to take apart which comes in handy but I wouldn't use MDF again or the drawer slides. They have a big footprint for the travel they support, but probably would work much better with dual lead screws. I wanted to adopt a pipe with slides like the one on that site though. The other two axis are very like the ones on your plotter, great work by the way.
I especially liked how you wrote your own interpreter. I'm not very programming oriented myself. Were you planning on using the same program for your new machine? If not there are some good free programs out there, I use CamBam(not the free version), Inkscape, and Turbocnc. You might want to consider looking at EMC2 as well; Iwas considering upgrading to it from tubocnc because it supports contouring to keep program times shorter, and it's free.