Hi, I'm Andy. I'm creating the world's most affordable desktop CNC machines

Hey guys, my name is Andy! I'm a mechanical engineering student who's passionate about CNC machines

Over the last couple of years, I've had the chance to use some really intense CNC machines, from huge cutters for 4 inch steel plate to little Shapeokos. I fell in love with CNCing and decide to build my own.

After designing a simple and effective design from the ground up, I realized that this machine might be something I could share with everyone else.

For the last couple of months, I have been designing and prototyping what will be the world's most affordable CNC machine. You can check out our site here at www.sienci.com.

I just wanted to share this project with you guys and get your feedback. What do you want in a desktop CNC machine? What do you dislike about current CNC machines? What would you do with your machine? And most importantly: Would you buy it?

I would love your comments and feedback!

Thanks,

Andy Lee

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I would love your comments and feedback

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Andy welcome to the forum and I wish you well with your venture, But you can hardly call that a CNC machine it is more like a toy for icing cakes. If you look at the video of the Z axis it is wobbling al over what do you expect to cut with it.:satellite:

Take a look at http://www.vicious1.com/ same intention and that one will cut aluminium badly soft woods and plastics quite well, as Clive says a cutter will just bounce off the item without sufficient rigidity in the design.

Hi Andy, just a quick word from someone who might be your typical customer:

I decided to add a CNC machine to replace some work I currently do manually (pillar drill, etc) and to hopefully give me more options - you know all that sexy 3D carved stuff that looks like so much fun. :) I thought I'd be spending a few hundred, but the more I read, the more I realised that it was always going to be a machine in the thousands of $$. Simply to get speeds and rigidity for working with materials that aren't really that challenging.

Speaking as a newbie, I'd say that I'm surprised that your calculations showed that those single flat rails are strong enough. Surely they will bend against the direction of the cutting bit's movement?

It's a tough crowd here, expect some bruises and no-BS arguments from some, but their heart is in the right place. Treat it as a reality check and a way of getting a better product.

Perhaps you can keep your material/speed/etc specs so simple that you can find a market. I wish you well. One last thing: as you're doing this as a business, I don't think the target price given on your Website is high enough for you to put food on your table.

Good luck. :)

Andy,

Welcome aboard. The ideas you implement are interesting but again you need to specify your target market. I can see you doing well on kickstarter actually. Especially with the 3D printing crowd.

There is a huge "maker" movement in the US and Canada that are looking to make craft type stuff. Anything more and you start needing serious machines and not toys.

Not being dismissive of your machine here, just trying to help:

Your machine will perform "OK" when cutting light, small jobs with the drawback of being loud and slow. In the real world time is money so for me, along with the others above, your machine is cute but a toy.

If you want to lightly engrave plastic, cigarette cases or route PCB's then I think you may have a winner if you can make it for less than $200 and include your own software that has bells and whistles like the lightforge laser machine and that stupid pancake printer.

Either way, should you wish to sell it in Europe, make sure you use ROSHH materials and read about CE marking it.

Best regards

George

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Originally Posted by Sienci

What do you dislike about current CNC machines?

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Most machine available for less than $5000 are not very good. Being the most affordable will generally mean that it will be the worst CNC. A good CNC needs to be strong, rigid, fast, and powerful. Cheap machines are usually none of these.

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And most importantly: Would you buy it?

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Absolutely not.

The people that would buy your machine wouldn't be found on a CNC forum, as they would know that it's basically just a toy, and not really usable for any real work.

That looks like a great thing for people with no CNC experience to play with, it could prove a great DIY tool for very light work and some model making, and a cheaper option to the disposable Chinese machines which many buy to learn with only to find they need much more mass and rigidity.

- Nick

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Originally Posted by Clive S

Andy welcome to the forum and I wish you well with your venture, But you can hardly call that a CNC machine it is more like a toy for icing cakes. If you look at the video of the Z axis it is wobbling al over what do you expect to cut with it.:satellite:

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Hey maybe there's people out there who need to ice their cakes!

Yup, I did notice the wobbling, which is partly due to the threaded rod I threw in being bent and the v wheels needing to be tightened. You can read more about it in the post.

Thanks!

Hi Goldtop,

Yes, CNC machines can be pretty finicky and expensive quick, but at least you can sit back and relax while they do the work. ;)

I did do some quick FEA on the rail, and found that it's actually fairly stiff for my purposes. Here's the test if you want to look at it. I'm thinking of using larger rails in the next few iterations that are going make this machine even more ridgid, since the material cost per food is only around 1 or 2 dollars per foot.

Attachment 17949

I just want to say thank you for making the video of Z axis.? . . . . I haven't laughed so much since Grandad unbolted wrong Chandlier. . :hysterical:

Edit: Thought I better explain for our younger and Overseas visitors who haven't seen Only fools horses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFuYIi5-igc