Hey everyone,

My name is Erik and I have been printing in 3D using a home built Reprap, and now I would like to take a shot at building a DYI CNC machine.


I am currently doing poor man machining, with a drill press, jig saw, cutoff saw, grinder.

I would like to be able to machine real parts out of aluminum.

My main objectives would be able to mill aluminum, up to say 1" thick, mostly for parts for my robotics projects.

Most parts would be smaller than say 150mm by 150mm, but I would not mind having a bit more capacity if possible.

I would like to be able to design these parts in some type of software and have the G-code created to send to the CNC if possible, much like in 3D printing where you create in something like openscad or blender, slice the file into G-code, and send it with pronterface.

Can someone point me in the right direction for where I can read/find instructions on how to build a machine to accomplish what I am looking to do?

For 3d printing, the RepRap community was really amazingly easy, there were incredibly detailed plans that were very easy to follow.

Having built a 3d printer, I am quite comfortable with the X,Y,Z axis concept, however I understand that for CNC, I will need to build something much sturdier than a reprap.

To date, I have not found anything similar for DIY CNC, but I THINK that is because with 3d printing the technology for the DIY'er is almost all the same, whereas with CNC, everyone has different things they want to be able to CNC, and create machines accordingly.

Any direction would be greatly appreciated!