The £200 CNC

Hi Guys,

I have just started building my router my budget is quite limited, £200 is the figure I am aiming for. I going to be using an open source design from biuldyourcnc.com I thought it would be a good idea to put a log of what I do and use on here.

I'm still wondering what stepper motors and drivers I can get away with, i'm thinking MY103H702 motors with a cheep 24V 1.5A Chinese import multi axis board. My working area is 2'X4'

I had a few hours yesterday up the workshop and this is the sum of my efforts so far

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photop...n=52%5B/url%5D
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photop.../1_Day_One.jpg

Now just waiting for more parts to turn up so I can get on!

Sounds like a good plan...

I'm also building on a budget, but a little larger as i'm doing it over several months...

Be interested to see your stepper/driver combination as its an issue of contension for me...

Did a bit more today, still waiting for my alu angle to arrive from ebay so not that much done.

I got a PC from freecycle the plan was to use it to run the machine but when I picked it up it was only a 486SX.
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photop...upply_Case.jpg
It should make a great case for my power supply and driver. I have kept the original power supply because i think I might need 5V at a later date its so old the power supply is linear!

I wanted to use Delrin for my lead screw nuts, but the space is very limited in the Z axis so i put in the middle of the MDF square and bedded it in with a little Epoxy.
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photop..._Axis__Nut.jpg
My M8 "Leadscrews' :heehee: arrived, they were really rough, so i ran a die nut down them an put them over the buffing wheel, made a massive difference, Delrin now spins down freely.

My angle arrived today so got a bit done.

Below is the z axis assembled with the x carriage on the back
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photop...assembled_.jpg
And a close up of the bearings

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photop..._Bearings_.jpg

I am really chuffed about the cleaver bearing design, would buy a beer for the person who had that idea!

I will dowel the MDF that carries the long bearing land for the z to stop it twisting.

Hopefully I will have a a full day at it tomorrow, after I have gone to the local non ferrous metal stockists to get some more angle as I ordered half of what I need.

Sorry for the rubbish photos, only had my phone with me today.

Got a bit done over the weekend, this is how it is looking now

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photop...s_Progress.jpg

The table was a great find, 25mm steel box holding the top. I have installed "T" nuts for work holding

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photop...m/1_T_Nuts.jpg

The power supply is taking shape, it only has a 100va transformer in it at the moment which will need to be changed. I also need to fit a bleed resistor to the 10,000uf capacitor as it takes ages to discharge, makes a lovely spark with a screwdriver across its terminals though.

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photop...upply_test.jpg

I Don't think I am going to be getting my drivers from china, looking for a source in the uk.

Slow progress, at the moment. I got some more aluminium angle from my local stockists, paid half the price of the stuff from ebay.

Got the gantry assembled and running over the bed, how tight should movement of each axis be?

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photop...t_progress.jpg

I have reinforced the gantry with added MDF just wish i could get the x a bit stiffer.

Hi Wotsit,

I'm kind of following you path to a CNC machine as I bought the plans from Patrick at buildyourcnc.com

I have to date - 1 week after plans arrived - failed to make a start.

Still trying to soure basic MDF in the correct sizes to match imperial plans from Patrick in the UK.

3/4 MDF on plans 4' x 2' = B&Q not correct size to start off with ...

We seem to be 18mm MDF only thickness and 3/4" is like 19.nnn

Have I made a big mistake already ??

Guys ??

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wabbit

Hi Wotsit,

I'm kind of following you path to a CNC machine as I bought the plans from Patrick at buildyourcnc.com

I have to date - 1 week after plans arrived - failed to make a start.

Still trying to soure basic MDF in the correct sizes to match imperial plans from Patrick in the UK.

3/4 MDF on plans 4' x 2' = B&Q not correct size to start off with ...

We seem to be 18mm MDF only thickness and 3/4" is like 19.nnn

Have I made a big mistake already ??

Guys ??

---

You have to adapt the plans for the different thicknesses. MDF in Europe is 6, 9, 12, 18 or 25mm, while in the US its 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4" and 1". Its not a big issue; in most cases it makes no difference, in others you have to do a bit of thinking and make an allowance for the difference by adding a mm where appropriate (so for example if you were making a box, you'd need to make two of the sides 2mm longer to get the same external dimensions if that was the critical measurement). The tolerance on MDF isn't that good anyway, its within 0.5mm so the difference between 18mm and 3/4" could be as little as 0.5mm anyway.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wabbit

Hi Wotsit,

I'm kind of following you path to a CNC machine as I bought the plans from Patrick at buildyourcnc.com

I have to date - 1 week after plans arrived - failed to make a start.

Still trying to soure basic MDF in the correct sizes to match imperial plans from Patrick in the UK.

3/4 MDF on plans 4' x 2' = B&Q not correct size to start off with ...

We seem to be 18mm MDF only thickness and 3/4" is like 19.nnn

Have I made a big mistake already ??

Guys ??

---

I'm just finishing the build of the same machine - I've used 18mm.

Start up your own thread & I'll offer you a few of my own findings.

Sorry for the long time with no updates but life took over! However I have now ordered some more parts, horray!

SY60STH86-3008BF Nema 23, 1.8 degree hybrid stepper motor with a holding torque of 3Nm (425 Oz-in) £88 from ebay

and

3 Axis TB6560 Stepper Motor Driver £47

As soon as they arrive show my progress