first post from uk member

[Quilt]

Hi everyone my name is Roy and live in south yorkshire in the uk.although i have been a member for a while now this is my first post just to introduce myself and try to explain what i want from a diy cnc router.five years ago i worked in a stonemasons yard in sheffield and on a few occasions used a letter carving machine to produce door number plaques etc.the machine although not cnc worked on a similar principle of a small motor/spindlemounted to xyz axis.the spindle was connected to a following arm with a pin that rode in special lettering templates which were arranged at the front of the machine to form your chosen word.this nachine was of italian origin and was very easy to set up and use,hardlley any pressure was needed to move the following pin through the stone and the spindle motor was tiny so it must have all been down to the cutter and just the general quality of the machine(the bars on the xy axis were about 40mm in diameter with i think linear bearings).so what im saying is i would like to build a cnc version of the above to make small stone plaques from sandstone not granite.any .a working surface of about 450 square would suffice.any feedback will b welcomed as well as info on the supplies i may need thanks for listening and hope to hear from you soon

[tomsitas]

hello welcome..

[fanuc-support.c]

Hello Quilt.

Whats your budget (roughly)? We might be able to help.

[Quilt]

Hi my budget at the moment is 600 pounds sterling not including software or spindle.the largest size plaque i would want to carve would be no larger than 18 inch x 9 inchby 4 inch thick.the machine i used in the masons yard can be viewed at this website www.incimar.com and the model was mc800.another option open to me would be to build one of these machines then have all the letter templates made by a cnc firm which would save money on steppers,drive screws and software.the down side of the second option is it could only be used for lettering where as a cnc machine could be used for other tasks mmm decisions decisions.thanks for reply any help appreciated Roy.