Hi Rob, welcome to the forum.

Quote Originally Posted by Fozz84 View Post
Years ago I completed a Degree In 3D Design. I became good at 3D Modeling in blender. When I say Modeling, I mean just that. Making a rose or a baroque flourish. Not the sort of CAD that enables me to draw a CNC router and, extrapolate the parts for manufacture. For years I wanted to build a CNC Router to bring my creations to life [Insert Dr Frankenstein evil laugh here].
Sounds to me like you need to be sure that you're building a router with the correct number of axes!

Quote Originally Posted by Fozz84 View Post
I would also Like to build my own CNC Gantry Router with a work area of 1220x1220 with a Z-Axis depth of about 150mm. My other requirements/constraints are listed below:

1) It's for cutting wood 2d and 3d... ...maybe a little bit of aluminium for making machine parts.
2)I really want to save money in the long run, so want tore use the electronics in a 1220x2440 machine one day.
3)It has to run of household mains. (the shed)
4) water cooled spindle must have beer cooling device attached.
5) forget I mentioned number four
Great, now I'm going to have to add a beer-cooler to my machine too.

Whats the reason behind making the machine in two steps? It might just be better to build the big beastie, because by the time you've made the smaller machine you might find the only extra expense would have been some extra steel. At that point it would have been easier to level the whole thing at once...

Electronics wise, shouldn't be a problem on household mains.

Quote Originally Posted by Fozz84 View Post
Skills that may be handy:

A)General Building
B)I repair my own tools
C)Build my own computers
D)Blender 3D
E)Vector Graphics in Affinity Designer
F)Don't mind making something for hours and then realize It's the wrong size and then starting again.
G)Love Linux (Running Arch on a Raspberry Pi and Mint on an Old Apple MacBook Pro, Also have a Windows 10 Graphics rendering Beast)
H) Can Weld with a Gasless MIG and an ARC
H)Love a steep learning curve.
Great - all useful skills in a hobby like this. Apart from F. Don't do that. If you're a linux enthusiast you may be interested in looking up LinuxCNC.


Quote Originally Posted by Fozz84 View Post
I suppose now I told you a little about me, Has anyone else been building something along the same lines? I must admit I'm a little stuck on spindle choice and stepper requirements. (I do like the look of the closed loop flavour, It seams with my limited knowledge to be the better choice for the type of gantry router I want to build)
The place to start is here:
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/253-DIY-Router-Build-Logs

A typical spindle you'll find around here is the 2.2kW watercooled chineesey one, which seems to go for a reasonable price £200-£300 with VFD. I believe theres now a 3.0kW version out and about which might be of interest. Beyond that it gets a little more complex - there is lots of fun stuff like easy change or auto change spindles.

Stepper (or indeed servo) requirements really depend on your design and the gantry weight you need to throw around, and are usually only finalized when the mechanical design is sound. For now, find a build log with similar dimensions and steel their motor choice which will get you in the ballpark.

Anyhow, looking forward to seeing your build log with some designs :) Usual advice is not to buy any bits until you're happy with the final design and no one on here has declared you to be insane.