Want to build CNC router

[tc1]

I am looking to either buildor buy a CNC router capable of cutting thin carbon fiber and delrin. Who makes a kit to assemble. Also, what are the tolerances of these machines? I am going to use it to cut shock towers and other carbon fiber pieces. Any info would be appreciated!

Travis

[balsaman]

What is your budget?

[tc1]

Not real sure about that. But I would like a machine with pretty good accuracy +-.005. But relatively inexpensive.

[armyliferarmy]

I too am looking into doing a CNC for wood routing. 3 ft deep with open sides for long wood. I would be very appreciative if anyone can give me a good estimate on the technical level needed to do this and a fairly close cost estimate. Being new to this is really a drag when you know little to nothing about what's involved. Thanks

[rustamd]

Originally Posted by tc1 I am looking to either buildor buy a CNC router capable of cutting thin carbon fiber and delrin. Who makes a kit to assemble. Also, what are the tolerances of these machines? I am going to use it to cut shock towers and other carbon fiber pieces. Any info would be appreciated! Travis

depending on budget/size needed this is very nice machine made by the member here on cnc zone(widgetmaster):

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-WidgitMaster...QQcmdZViewItem

[sansbury]

JGro, JoeCNC, and many other designs can fit this bill. Basic motors, power supply, and drive electronics will run you into $300-$500 range depending on scrounging skills and what you have on hand. You can spend a lot more on this stuff but you don't have to and it is the easiest part of the system to upgrade later.

So, figure you are building up from a floor of $500.

Now you need some raw material- a sheet of MDF, etc. You can easily drop $100 here. There is a lot of random hardware in these things, so figure in $50-$100 for nuts and bolts, less if you have a lot in your shop to pick from. Stick to designs with gas pipe, skate bearings, and no specialty parts or off-the-shelf assemblies, unless you work somewhere you can get this stuff as surplus for short money.

Your router will cost at least $100 new, bringing us to ~800.

From here, it's really up to you. You can build a number of different designs for this sort of price point if you keep it simple. Threaded rod makes a perfectly decent machine for many uses and is so cheap it's almost silly to not start out with it. Acme rod and nice screws can add $100. Don't bother with anything more than that.

If you don't mind roll-your-own software and have a box you can dedicate, EMC is perfectly good and very free. If you keep it simple, Mach will run 1000 lines of G-code in demo mode for as long as you want, or $160 as soon as you realize how little 1000 lines can be. From there the sky is the limit on software.

I would say $500 is the budgetary floor if you are a real cheap SOB. Bear in mind that you will probably build the second machine a lot cheaper because you'll learn a lot of the tricks of the trade, where to shop, not overbuy, etc. If you can afford $1000, try to get it done for $500, and if you end up at $550, then go out and buy bigger motors, ball screws, or whatever.