My DIY Hobby Build

[mark-b]

Sorry guys its not a machine conversion just my attempt at getting a CNC mill up and working.

I bought in all the bits n pieces from various places and countries , most came from China and buy getting it direct I saved a fair bit of cash compared to buying the exact same thing minus a logo or two from a CNC shop. Most of the major components arrived here in the UK quite quickly

and all were well packaged so no visible damage.

 

[kiwicnc]

Not entirely sure what you are requesting here.

Can you please be more specific

If you are asking how it all goes together then I think you have landed at the wrong location

Cheers

Ray

 

[evermech]

Hi @mark-b

keep the

Pics coming throughout the assembly please so we can watch the build progress

good luck

Guy

 

[aussiemike]

Hey Mark,

Yes, keep regular updates of your build. You ll probably have a few stumbles along the way. There s a bunch of smart people here to tap into.

Mike

 

[mark-b]

Quote from KiwiCNC on August 12, 2019, 9:03 pm

Not entirely sure what you are requesting here.

Can you please be more specific

If you are asking how it all goes together then I think you have landed at the wrong location

Cheers

Ray

Not after anything thanks Ray, just thought I would share a few pics and maybe help give another beginner like myself who wants to try out CNC a few ideas. Most of the assembly ect is already done

Quote from evermech on August 12, 2019, 10:53 pm

Hi @mark-b

keep the

Pics coming throughout the assembly please so we can watch the build progress

good luck

Guy

Thanks guy, will post what I have of the build, not many at the start as I was not planning to use for anything other than personal reference, but I was asked to post so there will be gaps in the timeline.

Quote from aussiemike on August 13, 2019, 1:58 am

Hey Mark,

Yes, keep regular updates of your build. You ll probably have a few stumbles along the way. There s a bunch of smart people here to tap into.

Mike

Thanks Mike , just taking my first steps so I expect a few bruises on the journey. Fortunately as you say there are some smart people here who have already helped me out a lot already.

 

[machinedude]

looks like a t-slot router table build. i happened to come across another option other than 80/20 here in the states, 80/20 prices are getting a bit crazy these days. i just picked up a few 60" sections from a new place i came across the other day. anybody in the market over here on this side of the planet should check them out https://www.tnutz.com the hardware is way cheaper than 80/20 and the machining service is cheap too. i personally thought 50 cents a hole to tap the end holes on my extrusion was worth a few extra bucks to not have to mess around with it myself. plus they had it out the door the next day so shipping was really fast as well.

 

[mark-b]

Some of the aluminum extrusions and the X/Z lead screws had to be cut to the correct lengths ,not hard to do but you only get one shot at it so accurate measuring and cutting is important. All the pieces went together without any problems and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it started to take shape.

 

[mark-b]

Ok so the big bits are together but the chassis cant stay on the temporary table as I need to use my table saw for other things. I don't have the floor space in my workshop to have it set up on a table, so I set to making a fold down table that could be lifted up and out of the way. two sheets of 9mm ply and some leftover pine boards sandwiched in the middle did the trick, fixed a length of 2x4 to the bench top and hinged the table to that. The table weighed in at 40kg ,add around another 60kg for the machine and spindle, no chance of me lifting 100 ish kilos up by myself ( Twenty years ago maybe but not now) so I bought a small electric hoist to do the hard work. The hoist worked fine but the one lifting point was causing the table to twist a little at the other end, to stop that I added a counter balance weight. The pics are naff but should give you an idea of what I was trying to do.

 

[mark-b]

I melted down some lead and made up two 20 kg weights, turns out I only needed the one, cut a hole in the bench and shelf of the cupboard underneath, added some UPVC strips inside to line out the hole and guide the weight on the way up and down, boxed it all in to make it look a little neater .

 

[machinedude]

typically the extrusion is cold sawn to size. this process is somewhat accurate to a point and i would say worse case .010 would be normal for squareness and over all length. most of the time it is close to .005 out which is not bad for something like this kind of build. your linear bearings are just rollers in the T slots and those are not a precision set ups. hopefully you have them locked on the top and bottom of the extrusion rails? nothing wrong with this set up for certain things but they are going to have limitations so something to keep in mind. if you only have the rollers riding on the top you might run into some trouble with cutting forces. your ball screws might help hold it down on the ends but could get away from you in the center? all depends on what your plans are for and the type of material you are planning on working with?

 

[mark-b]

Machinedude , yes the bearings are locked in top and bottom so fingers crossed there wont be to much unwanted movement, I hope to be working mostly with various woods and maybe aluminum now and then.