New here, first CNC build project.

[Fivetide]

Hi Voxmagna welcome to the forums - I had exactly the same problem were to start how to build it what do I need I'm no engineer either so I went with openbuild cnc kit - I've bought some parts from china some off ebay some bits from my local engineers, goes together like a mechano set and there's loads of good YouTube videos and a great forum about how to wire and put it together. Personally I like the idea that I can make it bigger later just by buying bigger C beams - Its just a thought mate. Unfortunately its a minefield - a lot of folks hate the thought of any Chinese cnc's others only recommend industrial grade equipment some will advise buying and restoring which takes years - it goes on and on lol. For me its the path of least resistance -what do I know what do I want - what can I do myself + i want to learn for future builds. That's why I chose the path of open-builds - no drilling no cutting - good instructional videos lots and lots of parts add-on's and help, hope this helps

[Voxmagna]

Thanks, that's very much where I'm going. I don't have a lathe/mill so I'm tied to getting the bed parts already made (accurately I hope?). The rest as you say is like Meccano. What amazes me (because I'm green) is most of the Chinese stuff is pushing Mach3 ripoffs, parallel port PC control and Windows 32 bit. Support for XP is pretty much dead now, PC Motherboards don't come with parallel ports, usb port emulators don't always work and 32 bit is just about still around for now ( I use 32/64 Win7).

My PCB CAD can output G-code files, so I'll be looking for a simple interface, I may even consider open source Linux or Arduino - it's always the usb drivers or lack of them that frustrate platform compatibility. E.g I have a good A3 printer but no 64 bit usb driver. I saw a Chinese machine with a simple controller display that read CNC files direct from an SD card which would make it pretty future proof. I assume the spindle motor and drive have their own manual controller and it's XYZ(A) that needs the thought and software interfaces?

Now I've introduced myself and and set the scene, I'll start posting in the main sections.

[Fivetide]

I use GRBL Panel + arduino its not rocket science believe me if I can work it out anyone can and it totally free. If u just want to g-code sender it works on Raspi. all I have is 3 TB6560's connected to an uno power supply and shitty old dell laptop - works fine - took me about an hour to configure it all and set the steps etc using YouTube video's