Want to DIY

[zubbie]

i am a total newbie to cnc. i looked for a place to post a Hello to all but i did not see it. so i start here.

i have been contracting out what i needed done and the costs are too high. i had a friend that DIY'ed his cnc machine and it worked well. i want to DIY a machine for myself.

i need to mill titanium. stainless steel, unheat treated steel, micarta and some plastics. not to mention wood. my thicknesses of the material will be no thicker than 12mm. most will be 4mm or less.

the size is i think i need is small i can accept a xy table of only 30cm X 30cm or even smaller. i will be doing parts that are small most will be about 3" to 8". it will be 3d work.

i would consider a china made machine that is complete.

i would like to get suggestions from you all.

thanks for you help in advance.

[awerby]

I don't think you'll find too many people machining stainless steel, etc. very effectively with completely home-built machines. Forget about doing it with a router - you'll need a lot more rigidity than they have. Your best bet, short of buying a new CNC machine ready to go, would probably be to find a large older mill with good slides and screws but bad or obsolete controls - they can often be found for about their value as scrap metal - and use your DIY skills to retrofit a new PC-based system onto it.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[zubbie]

I don't think you'll find too many people machining stainless steel, etc. very effectively with completely home-built machines. Forget about doing it with a router - you'll need a lot more rigidity than they have. Your best bet, short of buying a new CNC machine ready to go, would probably be to find a large older mill with good slides and screws but bad or obsolete controls - they can often be found for about their value as scrap metal - and use your DIY skills to retrofit a new PC-based system onto it.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

i have thought about that a lot. i have one buddy that buys old bridgports and refits these with cnc controls.

i am in a place where i can not have the use such a large machine.

i have another buddy that can do 3 d work on a DIY machine he made. he is out of town and will come back in a week. i want to ask him more about his setup when he gets back.

i know he is not doing thick stuff. i have saw some of the work.

thanks for your input and i welcome more.