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  1. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by JAZZCNC View Post
    To me it would need to be generic and this defeats the object of a Cad model.? Wouldn't it be better or easier to just have data base where they can enter there needs and it spits out recommended dimensions and component types sizes etc required to full-full there needs.?
    The idea is it would contain a database of components and prices that people contribute, so for instance if you want to make it from only components sourced in the UK that can be an option.
    So to answer your question, anyone's components.

    Quote Originally Posted by JAZZCNC View Post
    Wouldn't it be better or easier to just have data base where they can enter there needs and it spits out recommended dimensions and component types sizes etc required to full-full there needs.?
    The system is an extension of what you describe, it would use the calculated list of components to draw the machine and include a bill of materials.
    Old router build log here. New router build log here. Lathe build log here.
    Electric motorbike project here.

  2. #12
    It won't happen, and if on the off chance it does ever appear then people will ignore it or the results as it doesn't support what they think.

    Human Nature 101.

    Sorry to be a wet blanket but seen this time and time again.......................
    John S -

  3. #13
    I am not sure that I follow the logic of having a forum that encourages people to be involved in designing, building and improving a cnc machine and then telling them what to do so that everyone can be exactly the same. That is not the route for innovation. There is plenty of information already on this site about calculating the motors required, psu's, etc. maybe there could be an archive of all the most usefull posts with thread titles to help to find the information.

    I am near the end of my build and I know exactly how every bit on my machine is supposed to do its job. Taking 9 months may be a bit extreme but when its finally up and running I will as they say OWN IT!.

    I am reminded of the horse designing committee who ended up with a camel. Remember this is MYcnc.com and not THEcnc.com

    Bruce
    The more I know, I know, I know the less. (John Owen)

  4. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by motoxy View Post
    I am not sure that I follow the logic of having a forum that encourages people to be involved in designing, building and improving a cnc machine and then telling them what to do so that everyone can be exactly the same.
    Well said that man

    I think things started to go to pot when folk started trying to cut aluminium with woodworking technology. You may get away with it on a good machine but not on a budget job. If you want to cut aluminium design for aluminium.

    I'm currently building a plasma cutter and it's radical because I read between the lines on lots of plasma build threads over on CNC zone. They weld it all up, paint it, everyone says it looks fantastic, a pause, then they are back trying to add torch height control.

    Did they really expect it to be flat and square after all that welding? Shame they used a stepper for the Z because THC is a lot easier with a DC motor.

  5. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Robin Hewitt View Post
    Perhaps the answer is a MYCNC router design which can be improved upon?
    Sort of but with a twist, i'm thinking more of "design guidelines" that allows the user to be creative but also build to a certain standard that will put them and their machines in a better postion from the start.

    Quote Originally Posted by John S View Post
    I have seen this route taken on many forums, there are some on Yahoo setup for designing the perfect lathe. They have been running 5+ years and still no design. There will never be a one size suits all.
    Humm i know what your saying, what about open source though, with the right team behind somthing that can work. While others may not agree they would just need to suck it up and let the project move on, not ideal but there must be other areas where this is true and from it comes a product.

    Quote Originally Posted by JAZZCNC View Post
    The beauty with the DIY route to me means Custom built, Custom to the users needs. Whether that be size, shape, speed, ability or what ever and so like John S says one design doesn't fit everybody. . . Never can, never will.
    Marks also correct it would turn into one big brawl.!! Bans would be getting dished out left right and centre, probably starting with me first.. Lol

    Some things are just the way they are and meant to be and it takes a certain amount of effort to gain the reward. If we can help guide new folks away from the rocks then that's all I think is needed.?
    This is true, though it would only turn into a "brawl" if people could'nt stay mature about things, thats not a dig at you Dean - it takes two to tango. Yep guided clear of the rocks is getting closer!

    Quote Originally Posted by JAZZCNC View Post
    Wouldn't it be better or easier to just have data base where they can enter there needs and it spits out recommended dimensions and component types sizes etc required to full-full there needs.?
    Would it be a problem to assume that at some point most of us seem to want to machine ali/metal and if that is to be true then anything suggested should always be aimed at machining metal, by that i mean if it can do a good/nice job on somthing hard then anything softer should be a breeze for the machine? I dont know, is there a prefered setup for working in wood?

    Quote Originally Posted by motoxy View Post
    I am not sure that I follow the logic of having a forum that encourages people to be involved in designing, building and improving a cnc machine and then telling them what to do so that everyone can be exactly the same. That is not the route for innovation. There is plenty of information already on this site about calculating the motors required, psu's, etc. maybe there could be an archive of all the most usefull posts with thread titles to help to find the information.
    Aaahhh finally i get to share a little about what is to come.

    When i first started this forum my objective was to put the UK on the map in the "cnc www arena", now that is true i have looked at how i can take this to the next level and harness what the forum is/has now become. As some of you know I freelance as web developer from home, so running/hosting a simple forum and leaving it at that was never going to be enough and there is so much more still left on the table to do.

    What i have decided to do is build a network of sites aimed at machinists, who are online. Before i decided to do that the plan was to build a front end onto this site and make it a full blown website with the forum becoming a site feature rather than the main property. Here is a snippet of what the About Us page said:

    This site is dedicated to people who have a common interest in Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC for short) machining, our members range from Enthusiast’s to the professional. The aim for the site is to publish and house some of the best Articles, Tutorials, Reviews and more currently available to the exploring machinist.

    Our editorial team is made up of people with different and varying levels of experience and enables us to select the best content we feel would be of the most benefit to our readers. We hope to help our readers learn new techniques and tricks with the aim being to maximize their creative potential and get the very best out of the tools available to them.
    The above is still true, however i've now put another twist on it as i would like to cover online machinists rather than just cnc machinists. The idea is still the same really with there just being a change in how i plan to engineer this into reality, it all sounds a little WOW i know but it will all become clear when those sites start to pop up and you get to see where i'm going with what will be the "network".

    Now, for one of the sites there will be a section called "The Basics" (some of you have read this from me before) and this will be an on going set of informations in various forms that to summarise will be:

    Welcome to The Basics, are you a beginner just learning the ropes? Great! before you dive into some of our more advanced tutorials, the articles here have been selected just for you.
    And so this section will be looking to cover things that new comers really need to know and start with first, "Optimizing Your MACH3 Installation" or "How to setup motor tuning in LinuxCNC" they are just some examples but what we could do is introduce new comers to a DIY Building Series that looks somthing like this: This is a 25 part video series hoping to guide you through building a diy cnc machine and covers the most important things you need to know and learn to understand the basics of building your own cnc machine. Bla Bla Bla.

    Obviously i havnt got all the ideas and dont know everything there is to know but thats where you guys can now make this your own and make it work for you, you'll be able to submit your own Articles on the things that concern you the most. So if it wasnt obvious i'm passionate about the education side of this and will be looking to produce websites that are educational for amateurs through to professionals with some sites bringing opportunities for you to also get paid if that is applicable to you.

    While we now see a higher standard of diy machines coming out of the build log section thanks to people like Jazz and JB, i think we should also look to preserve some discovery, the trials and tribulations involved with what is more or less a hobby for most make up what the fun is. Obviously none of us want to see someone pull out the fantastic plastic on £400's worth of gear that isnt really suitable but giving them a better understanding from day one with the freedom to be creative and innovate is important i think.

    I'll stop now, JB sent me a msg suggesting that motoxy had touched on somthing that was related to my "big idea", you've got a little info from me now on where im going and how i plan to support you all. If we can support each other that would be great.

    .Me

  6. #16
    Lee.....FANTASTIC. Look forward to see how you roll it out. Any idea on time scales?

    Bruce
    The more I know, I know, I know the less. (John Owen)

  7. #17
    I maybe a noob in CNC, but have 30 years in IT and from where I'm standing the CNC market for both reductive and additive manufacturing is in many ways analogous to where the computing market was in the early 80's. There are subtle differences (Moores Law isn't being followed per say and the internet wasn't really around then for knowledge dissemination), but alot of the behaviours, opinions and availability of knowledge and components/machines is much the same (especially in 3d printing), with the same mix of high end=mainframes, hobbyist/kit=early PC/Apple. What is missing currently is the Sinclair, Acorn, Vic etc from those times i.e. low cost of entry if not that capable, but at least enough to get into CNC and go onto to better things.

    My personal take is that there is a home manufacturing wave starting/ocurring, much as there was with IT in the 80's and its all about riding that wave or sinking (lord knows there was much of both and still is in IT).

    Exciting times I say and mistakes are acceptable provided you don't make them twice and not everyone wants the moon immediately, when low earth orbit is good enough to learn from ;-)

    My 2 Cents/Pennies.

  8. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Washout View Post
    What is missing currently is the Sinclair, Acorn, Vic etc from those times i.e. low cost of entry if not that capable, but at least enough to get into CNC and go onto to better things.

    My personal take is that there is a home manufacturing wave starting/ocurring, much as there was with IT in the 80's and its all about riding that wave or sinking (lord knows there was much of both and still is in IT).

    Exciting times I say and mistakes are acceptable provided you don't make them twice and not everyone wants the moon immediately, when low earth orbit is good enough to learn from ;-)

    My 2 Cents/Pennies.
    I would love too see this happen the way it did when i got my ZX80, but i suspect it will be some time yet as people are still basing the price of ready built basic machines, NOT on a fair profit based on the cost of parts and the time building it, but on how much they think you can make from it, they are basicly greedy, and then there are the "Martians know it all's who spurt scientific and mathamatic calculations, scarring away all but the bravest who dip their toes in the water" this was also the case before Mr Sinclaire...

    I think there is room for a ZX80 type machine for Aluminium. basic enough to get you hooked!! and maybe good enough to earn you a little cash to cover the build costs, and maybe make some parts for your second machine, which if you get this far you will obviously build.

    It wouldnt have to be ground breaking, in fact it should be the opposite, as basic as you can get and be able to use the parts when you quickly grow out of it, upon realising its limitations, if only just to give you an idea of what the martians are talking about.

    Lets not forget the people who have helped me, let them design the basic machine (you know who you are) The straight talkers who stopped me wasting money, and gave me clear concise and uncomplicated opinions that i trusted, because they spoke common sence (although obviosly not common to me at the time) .

    The people who give advice that tries to stop you wasting time, money, and resources, on machine specs you you neither need nor have the mental capacity to build or operate if you are asking how to build one..

    Maybe there should just be a "Basic Design", NOT to Re-invent the wheel, but to give you an idea of what is required and the limitations of such a Project, without breaking the bank.

    At least there will be a flow of usefull second hand parts we can all buy cheap!! if the builder decides its not for them..

    Rick
    Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other - Abe Lincoln

  9. I think the idea for a structured guide to cnc machine building is a excellent idea, Jonathan's parametric CAD design could be the ultimate goal of such a guide, but first of all much of the data would need to be gathered in a structured form as Lee is suggesting. It would be an amazing resource and would have saved me many hours of drawing and creating a Bill of Materials on a machine I will probably never build - RE: BuildingAfloat I have published the current layout in my thread, while it is not complete yet, it is pretty much the machine I plan to build (if there are no glaring errors!).
    When my machine design is finalised, I am going to see if I can make it "parametric" so all one needs to do is enter the desired cutting area and the frame and components should scale from there. The calcs aren't difficult and I'll do a BOM in Excel that wil be parametric, just not sure if Sketchup has that facility yet.

    It is clear that there are many many designs from "hose clips and skate bearing" builds through to totally dedicated machines and a massive spectrum in between. Maybe a critique of the various components that are commonly available to the DIY market, together with an axis by axis analysis of the various layouts possible could be collated from the vast knowledge base we have here. All spreadsheets we have stored in one location would be useful - I have a pulley and belt spreadsheet I will tidy up and post, if there isn't one already? - I couldn't find one easily and that is some of the trouble with an "organically" grown space such as this.

    I agree totally, one design will never fit all, but we can provide the pros & cons of particular layouts, components or even complete machines as a guide for those who are brand new to the subject or even just to help those that are having problems visualising what is being said.

    I strongly beleive having a machine layout (or layouts) that MYCNC recommends as a starting point, would in no way restrict innovation, but it could save those of us that are not design genii a lot of time and aggrevation.

    Cheers,
    Geoff.

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