Beginner MYCNCDIY Mill Build questions

[JAZZCNC]

From what I've read here, I think you would be better off buying a Chinese 3040 off ebay.

Nah I wouldn't.!! . . . I'd encourage him to save up a little more and not waste is money on Rubbish.!!

[EddyCurrent]

Nah I wouldn't.!! . . . I'd encourage him to save up a little more and not waste is money on Rubbish.!!

But that's exactly what he's proposing to do anyway, at least the ebay job is ready built and more importantly saleable again.

[JAZZCNC]

But that's exactly what he's proposing to do anyway, at least the ebay job is ready built and more importantly saleable again.

Not if he's smart and listens to experience talking and while Yes it will be saleable he'll still be losing money.!! . . . . If he saves a little more money he'll get exactly what he want's and when comes time to move on or needs larger machine he'll make money not lose.!

To me that's problem these days every body want's everything instantly but for nothing.!!. . . .Good things come to those that wait.!

[suraj1793]

Hi guys, my budget is around £400-£500. I was initially hoping to build something like this: http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/1541-...-framed-router and work on using it for carving and stuff like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhKl0...IyoicGWeJ5Z1gQ making use of roller carriages instead of supported round rails as shown here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dmPV7TyzPg as precision is not a high priority for my build but not sure if this is possible with my budget. If not, I would be more than happy with a small router for carving work as shown in my previous post.

As mentioned, I can get box section (both steel and aluminium) and things like fasteners, welding equipment, sheet metal all for free from work. Also, I have an Arduino Uno which could run GRBL and connect directly to the drivers, so might be an option for a controller.

[JAZZCNC]

Well if you get all the steel and fastenings etc for free then you may and it's a very slim chance just about do it. . . .BUT . . . It will be compromised in performance and abilty.!
It will require great attention to detail when building to get even moderate accurecy. The inefficiency or the linear rails etc will require more power from motors to overcome any sticktion. Attention to little details of design like adjustments etc will be needed and you WILL constantly be chasing adjustments.

One problem with the bearing setup shown, and I have built like this so speaking from experience here, is that chips and rubbish become a problem with binding bearings. The bearings wear quickly so need replacing often, on upside they are cheap, but still a pain in arse.

To be honest to build anything like a decent machine that's worthy of the effort involved, which to be in no doubt is considerable, then £1000 is the minium needed to make it worth the trouble. If done correctly then your £1000 will earn it's self back in no time and really will be instantly in profit from day 1 as you could sell it for far more than it cost to build.!!

My advise as always in this position is save up and spend that bit more. Even of you buy a chinese router for £500-600 like Eddy suggest's then you'll end up spending £1000 by the time you have replaced the spindle and electronics when they die.!. . . . And they will sooner rather than later.!!

[suraj1793]

Thank you JAZZ!!! Given me the slightest of hope that this may be possible after all, although...after reading the rest of your post i'm not sure if that was your intention

Just to confirm, when you say I have a very slim chance of pulling this off do you mean for building my dream steel router that pavlo had built in his build log or a smaller desktop router?

From what I understand the main cost for my first build will be the electronics (drivers, motors, PSU, spindle) as the materials and parts for the frame I can get for free or build myself (including roller carriages and ACME threaded rod). As you explained this will compromise the router quality and performance ability however, do you think this will still be "usable" for some wood carving work as long as I pay a huge amount of attention to detail?

The positive I see in trying this out (if there is any ) is that if worst comes to worst, I have myself a decent set of motors, drivers, PSU and spindle and a router which cost me nothing but time to build.

Will start working on Solidworks models but do you think I should also start looking into the electronics now? In the build log he has used 3.1nm steppers, do you think these will still be OK with additional frictional load of the roller carriages as you had explained?

Thanks