Coming Soon -- CNC Router Parts 4x4 and 4x8 kits and plans

[ahren]

Ross, you've got it right, and the difference is actually more like 9" (the width of the extended carriages). It also affords the possibility of travel beyond the bed of the machine if one wants to add an outboard lathe / rotary axis, which we've had a surprising amount of interest in.

Don't get me wrong -- the FLA-300 is a great design as well, this one just has some advantages that we feel will appeal to lots of our customers.

Best regards,

Ahren
CNCRouterParts

[brtech]

Not wanting to argue, just wanting to learn:

You save the difference between the Z rail width and the extended carriage width, not the whole carriage width, right? The Z rail hits the Y rail with the riser, the X carriage hits the Y rail on the lowered bed. That's about 5" (9"-4") savings, right? You can't get the Z rail above the Y rail.

[ahren]

This depends on how you mount your router to the Z, but in most cases the bit hangs below the Z extrusion a bit, so you actually can traverse over the Y rails while cutting. This is another argument for even taller risers and a design where the bed is even with the rails.

Alright, I've had my coffee and gone through emails. Time to clean up and post some plans...

Ahren
CNCRouterParts

[curriergroh]

I already have a lowered bed (FLA-300), but I'm always interested to learn more. How does raising the gantry make the footprint smaller? The only thing I can see is that the carriage limits the footprint on the lowered bed, because the carriage on the Z hits the carriage on the Y, whereas on the riser, the Z rail is the limit. So you save the difference between the carriage width and the rail width/2. Was that what you meant?

On Y (depth), it doesn't seem to make any difference at all.

I also don't quite understand "saved frame material". Often, lowered bed designs have full length 8020 feet, and 8020 cross beams to support the bed, but you could use the short legs and wooden or welded steel frame just as well. The couple inches of width difference above is a small savings (4" of X frame maybe?). Against that you have to pay for the risers. Was that what you meant or am I missing something?

You got it. That is what I meant. These things don't always matter but with certain parameters they make a difference.
Examples I am considering:

Building a bolt together frame so that it can be taken down and moved out of a standard door. So all aluminum.
Large bed, cutting beyond 4'x8'. The larger the bed the more of those 5-9" pieces are saved.
Squeezing under the 110" length where freight charges are applied.
The cost is also offset by not having to use pieces of 8020 and brackets for the risers.

That is all I can think of right now. Since I'm waiting for these parts now, I'll reconsider the frame and the dropped bed. If I can save more money then I might be able to skip the router and get a spindle. Recently found a local supplier for the extrusion so I don't have to pay shipping.

+1 on the dropbox idea for plan files.

[ahren]

Alright gang, plans are posted on our website for download. They're a bit heavy, and we're already working on slimming them down to make them easier to use, as well as renaming parts in the BOM to make things more obvious, but for those who are eager to check them out, they are available for download:

CNCRouterParts

Best regards,

Ahren
CNCRouterParts

[FelixPQ]

Alright gang, plans are posted on our website for download. They're a bit heavy, and we're already working on slimming them down to make them easier to use, as well as renaming parts in the BOM to make things more obvious, but for those who are eager to check them out, they are available for download:

CNCRouterParts

Best regards,

Ahren
CNCRouterParts

Simply awesome Ahren, you seem to have found a way to combine simplicity and elegance in your design and yet I'm convinced it should be rugged and the performance should be more then adequate for most users.

I can't wait to see the final version and the kits of course.

Great work Ahren,
Felix

[anotherchance]

I can't wait to see the final version and the kits of course.

Great work Ahren,
Felix

Seconded!

Chance

[eigstein]

i thought there would be more reaction to your new download . i find it very interesting and it opens new designs for the builders . one reason may be the holiday week end another may be old free versions of edrawings come up with an error message for the easm folders . i down loaded the new ver. to my mac and pc . the mac still does not work but the pc running windows 7 does . both used to work on your older down loads .

keep up your good work .

sincerely ,

eigstein

[Scott McCray]

Beautiful......now if only my "can-do" (read:wallet) matched my "want-to"....sigh.

[jm82792]

Do you have a rough guess at what they'd cost if purchased as a kit then sourcing out the rest of the components?

[Spotswood]

Do you have a rough guess at what they'd cost if purchased as a kit then sourcing out the rest of the components?

I would hope there would be a version that included pre-cut extrusions ala FLA's kits.

[FUBAR62172]

how much do the kits cost?