I started down the path of building the Instructible you mentioned. I even have the metal framework built. However unless you scavenge everything, the costs will add up. For example, look up the cost of each of the stepper driver chips mentioned in the instructible. Times that by three (one for each motor).
I bought a HobbyCNC controller board and motors for $170. A 10A power supply that I built myself cost another $80. I guess I could have gone cheaper, but if you scavenge motors from things then you don't know the torque and you have to work out the wiring yourself (there doesn't appear to be a standard). I happen to think the HobbyCNC package was a good deal. Even getting threaded rod from a place like Ace Hardware is a pain. I bought a nut and it doesn't go down the rod smoothly. The solution I suppose is to re-tap the rod, which means buying a tapping kit. My suggestion is to look at www.fireballcnc.com. The machines are hand made in the USA, are made with quality parts and are cheap for the price. Still need to add motors and electronics. These machines have been used to create PCBs. Currently the maker is offering a nice discount for the "beta-testers" of his new machine. There are also plans you can get from people, for example look on cnczone.com. Check for recommendations/good reviews. Andy Rob Jansen wrote: > Sean, > > The stepper driver looks OK at a first glance but I did not have a > detailed look at the schematics. > It looks to be a full-step driver which is nice since full step drivers > tend to have a higher torque than microstep ones. > > But I would stay away from the easy to build desktop thingy from > instructables.com, it's just too weird a design and these funny piping > and aluminium profile parts do cost money, there are other design on > instructables that I think make more sense: > > > http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Three-Axis-CNC-Machine-Cheaply-and-/ > > http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-CNC-Router-from-Scratch-Part-1%3a-Complete/ > > make more sense, I prefer the top one since it contains a more detailed > description on how to build it (instead of videos showing how to handle > a saw) and some links to stores selling parts. > > Rockcliff Machine sells the plans and parts for a home-made CNC router > but if you have a look at the photos in the gallery you'll get a fairly > good idea of its construction. > Using aluminium L strips to do the linear guidance looks nice and > cheaper than the round steel axes. Before building/buying anything I > would advice to make some detailed drawings of what the linear support > should look like and then make a price calculation. When I started > drawing and building my machine I made a rough guestimate of around > $4,000 but on the go I updated the plans and got to a total of $10,000 > and now I want to buld a second (small) one much like the Rockcliff > design but from aluminium instead of MDF board. Since the first machine > left a nice hole in my savings account this second machine needs to be > low-cost, but I still want to be able to use it to do some real work in > plastics/foam/wood and maybe later even aluminium. > > You'll find rockcliff at http://www.rockcliffmachine.com/cnchome.htm > > Some words of advice for going cheap: > Use MDF board, it is easy to work with, and select standard threaded > rods from the DIY store that will fit in roller-skating bearings so you > can fix the bearing using standard nuts instead of having to make > special mounts. Use thick-walled (not to thick, not to rigid) plastic > hose with hose clamps as motor couplings this is by far the easiest and > cheapest coupling I could think of. > If investing any real money, invest it in a milling spindle that does > not make too much noise. When I started I used a Dremel tool but it > makes just too much noise to let it run for more than 10 minutes - I > defenitely did not want to be in the same room as a constantly running > Dremel... > > This may build you a working CNC milling machine but it will only do > some light milling and I would be surprised if it gives you an accuracy > as good as 0.02 inch > > Just my two cents worth - and don't spend it all at once ;-) > > Rob > >> I was wondering if anyone has ever tried a do-it-yourself CNC project >> like this. >> http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-to-build-CNC-Mill-Stepper-Motor-and-Driver-ci/ >> >> and this >> http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-to-Build-Desk-Top-3-Axis-CNC-Milling-Machine/ >> >> . If so, any pointers or words of knowledge before I dive in? >> Also, I'm still looking for some stepper motors to use if anyone has a >> good source.. I'm a college student, so I'm obviously broke and >> starving. So, inexpensive would be good. Thanks guys. >> >> Sean > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft > Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008. > http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users -- Andy PGP Key ID: 0x67090A54 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all challenges. 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