CNC help on everything

[Paul53]

Hi Lee, thank you for your reply, I would be happy to build a machine, always up for challenge, i have been reading on the software and how it generates the codes to talk to the machine etc, to be honest I have been reading quite a bit about CNC in general, but is a bit of a minefield, I would guess that building a machine would be better as it will give me the spec I need to the job I want, and with the help of the forum, point me in the right direction of the parts to build it.

[Paul53]

So, over the last few days i have been browsing the internet and looking at YouTube videos, one particular machine has grabbed my attention, it is the Shapeoko 3, this seems to have the spec I am after, could anyone tell me if they are any good or a better machine with the same spec. Many thanks

[routercnc]

I have no direct experience of that machine but they have been around a while and there are plenty in use. The rails are V rollers which is fairly low end and they use a router which is noisy.

However for what you want I’m going to say they will cope fine.

Now for a little more money you can build a much more capable machine yourself but you sound like you want to buy something.

[Paul53]

I have no direct experience of that machine but they have been around a while and there are plenty in use. The rails are V rollers which is fairly low end and they use a router which is noisy.

However for what you want I’m going to say they will cope fine.

Now for a little more money you can build a much more capable machine yourself but you sound like you want to buy something.

Thank for your reply, I am happy to have a go at building one, but I wouldn't know where to start, I have looked at a few build threads, all seems very daunting, but I am sure there is plenty of advice on here, there would be a million questions I would need to ask.

[Doddy]

Paul,

Understand your intended use-cases - if all you are doing is cutting abstract shapes out of old vinyl records (I did have to google to understand what I think you're doing!) then you can expect a rather more relaxed set of requirements than some of the behemoth machines on this site and build logs. Once you go beyond vinyl onto harder materials then the requirements for the machine build ramp up rapidly - and your experience/satisfaction on an inadequate machine would drop equally rapidly.

For the use-case that you've expressed (and only that!), a cheap Chinese router would likely match your needs, and is a quick way to dip your toes. As others have said they are typically of poor build and specification - the former allows you to understand a bit about machine limitations, and the second shouldn't limit your ability to cut disks. Don't be afraid to consider 2nd-hand particularly if you can rack-up at the seller's door with a blank in hand and demand a demo. Consider your working environment - if indoors near the wife then you'd be clever to avoid the air-cooled spindles (which include the appropriation of wood-working routers)... the noise they make would attract some attention and look closer at the water cooled spindles. Look at the tooling that you'd be using - likely fine carbide cutters which would require a high rotational speed - again, a Chinese water cooled spindle sits well here, but you're not looking at high cutting loads - the entry level 800w spindle would suit.

Much depends on your budget - cutting your cloth, so to speak - from low-end scroll saw to high-end cnc you're talking of costs escalating by several orders of magnitude.

Suggestions to build your own - this can be a good intro to a machine and as your demands are pretty straight forward you could achieve this without any exotic tooling or machinery (get anything that your need machining cut from members here). You could match the machine to your needs - and likely end up with something broadly equivalent to the Chinese routers - although probably better suited to your required working area.

[needleworks]

Is this the kind of thing you are talking about ? these all seem to have been done with a laser.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=la...CAMQCg#imgrc=_

[Paul53]

Is this the kind of thing you are talking about ? these all seem to have been done with a laser.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=la...CAMQCg#imgrc=_

Yes, that is exactly the thing I want to do, but I believe that when a laser is used, the vinyl gives off toxic fumes, so I assuming they must have a good extraction system, here is a link to someone using a cnc router on a Shapeoko 3 xxl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGyIx3pe3z4