Evening All

[JAZZCNC]

I've been having a look through the builds people have done and I'm starting to think I may be out of my depth a little with designing my own machine aspect as most of the builds I've seen look very professional and not in a league of something I think I could do (although could be wrong )

Don't be intimidated because it's not so difficult if your prepared to listen and do some prep/research.

Your needs are not exactly challenging so the level of accuracy doesn't need to be massively high and like Neil says you can get away with lower grade components to some degree.
Don't be put off when you see people talking about Epoxy leveling etc. For Wood router going to this level isn't required. With carefull attention when building and with design that allows for adjustabilty then it's very possible to build machine without doing any of this and still give more than enough accuracy for routing wood and plastics.

What is more important is repeatablity and Stiffness. Repeatabilty mostly comes from Component quality so going too cheap will cause issues. Stiffness is soley down to design and materials used.

This is the Issue with those Kits. The design is weak and the Component level poor, ie V bearings running Soft aluminium = Wear and Slop = Bag of shite.!!

Nice stiff steel frame and Gantry running on Supported Round rail using Ballscrews not Timing belts will Knock those kits into Next month.

Steel is cheap and if you can weld then the design part is easy.? There's only so many ways to build these machines and there's no need to re-invent the wheel so just copy some buggers else design. That's what most on here have done.!!

Size will detemine the design to small degree but if your not wanting massive cutting area then design can be very simple and easy to weld up.
I'll gladly help you with design of machine and steer in right direction on the Key areas.

Electricly then again you'll see people going to great lengths building Control boxes. Again you don't need to go to this level at first. There is a minimum level that's required but it's not rocket science and again we can advise on this.
What is VERY important is the quality of the Electrics used. It's here were most machines are let down or fail. Again we can advise and with careful buying you can have quality electronics with reliable and safe control box for not lot money.

If you can weld and have little patience along with eye for details then you'll easily build machine that will do everything you require. Key is not rushing and Not buying anything without fully understanding what your buying and why it's right for your needs..! . . . If unsure the ASK.!!

I've helped many many people to build machines and If your prepared to Ask questions and LISTEN to what advised then I guarantee you will succeed and have great machine for same money as those kits.