Hello There. Planning for UK MechMate Build

[Macwood]

Hi all, thanks for all your input and sorry for not responding sooner, I have been driving back for my holidays.

So a lot of interesting comments. Which has given me a lot more to think about.

Going with square rails is definitely a consideration. I did look at this some time ago the longest I need is about 3500mm. Is there a specific grade/ standard that I should be looking for?

I leaning more towards steppers for the moment purely because I have done a crap load of research into them, cost and the mechmate site has a lot of support. From what I gather servos are better and upgrading the machine later (when the machine is paying for itself) will probably be on the cards.


With regards to purchasing a Chinese cnc. When I decided I was going to build a CNC It was for a number reasons.
1 By building it I will more control over the precision.
2 I would be able to maintain and upgrade the machine myself.
3 The whole building and commissioning process would stand me good steed in understanding how to operate it.
4 Cost, during the build and in maintenance during the life span of the machine
I could be wrong but I don’t see how a Chinese cnc for under £10K could do that.

I forgot to mention before, on the software front I have been using Sketchup pro for many years, more recently I received a seat and started working with solidworks.
Again because I have no experience with parametric cad software and I intend to use the cnc for flat panel cabinet work and true 3d stuff. Am I looking to two separate types of software for this and also what cam programs that work well with them?
I am committed that I will have to spend a lot of time getting up to speed with these programs, I just want to make sure I choose the most applicable. Any thoughts and advice would be great.

Thank again all for your comments and thoughts.