First CNC biuld

[ColdFire1990]

Hi to all.
First off this place is great I've been looking around on here for about a month gathering information to attempt to design my own machine. So far I've decided that I'm going to go with a moving gantry design. I'm shooting for x,y,z travel of 3ft, 2ft, and 8in respectively. For my linear bearings i was going to try to use the bearing method described in a video log on these forums (forgot who it was). Its the one using angle aluminum. For this machine I'm hoping for a repeatable precision of .001 of an inch. Looking for some input on what motors ect I should try to get my hands on. I'm trying to keep the total cost for this beast under 3-400 dollars. I have access to a table saw, drill press, band saw, router, and a bunch of hand tools along with a few other misc items like an arc welder. Any input is greatly appreciated.

[ColdFire1990]

To give you guys an update, I've basically finished my designs for the machine. It will be constructed of MDF and the linear bearings will be the angle aluminum and roller bearing type. My spindle will be whatever I can get for cheap at the local tool liquidator most likely a router but if that doesn't work I have access to a lathe so I could machine one and use motor from a vacuum or treadmill. I have a couple questions though. First off what thicknesses of MDF does Home Depot normally carry? Second, could anyone get me a list of all the electronics i will need for servos or steppers? I know I will need a power supply of some kind and the motors but the whole thing with breakout, relay and driver boards has got me sort of confused as to what I need. A recommendation on the boards and motors would be great if you guys don't mind.
Thanks
-Nick

[Nitroghost]

Originally Posted by ColdFire1990 To give you guys an update, I've basically finished my designs for the machine. It will be constructed of MDF and the linear bearings will be the angle aluminum and roller bearing type. My spindle will be whatever I can get for cheap at the local tool liquidator most likely a router but if that doesn't work I have access to a lathe so I could machine one and use motor from a vacuum or treadmill. I have a couple questions though. First off what thicknesses of MDF does Home Depot normally carry? Second, could anyone get me a list of all the electronics i will need for servos or steppers? I know I will need a power supply of some kind and the motors but the whole thing with breakout, relay and driver boards has got me sort of confused as to what I need. A recommendation on the boards and motors would be great if you guys don't mind. Thanks -Nick

You will find a wealth of information on this forum. I know i did. If you want servos you will most likley blow the budget with those alone. I would use 3/4 MDF because it is pretty stiff and easy to work with. The only problem i see with MDF is it's hard on regular drill bits. The carbide will generaly work better and not tend to kill the drill bits as fast. If you use stepper motors you will need a controller for each one unless you buy one that has three or four controllers on one board. You will need a breakout board, again unless you get an all inclusive board. The place i found that has just about every thing you need is www.kelinginc.net. I am sure there are many other places out there but that is just the one i used. Good luck and just have fun with your build. Remember to take lots of pictures and let the forum know how the build is going. We love pictures.

Jim

[ColdFire1990]

I'll keep you guys informed but I probably wont be able to start construction for a while seeing that high school is rather time consuming and most of my tools, ie table saw and drill press are at my grandfathers house. I've seen lots of machines on here that are made of MDF and considering i dont have the proper equipment to work aluminum or steel without paying a fortune for a machine shop to do it I'm gonna do this build out of MDF. I'll try to get my hands on some 1" thick stuff but it seems like 3/4" is more readily available. After more looking around I've decided that steppers are going to be the way to go for my motors. I've been looking but for the life of me i cant find examples of the repeatable precision in MDF machines. I read somewhere that a well built MDF can hold the same tolerances as a aluminum or steel one. Ill post a CAD drawing once its done! I love Autodesk Inventor! One other thing, how bad is normal threaded rod from the hardware store? this may be all i can afford ballscrews are way out of my budget at the moment.
thanks
-nick