UK cnc kit suppliers

[Nugget]

I am new to CNC and intended it for hobby projects. There seem to be a great range in cost from £100s to 10s of thousands. I wasn’t about to find a web site that gave an overview of CNC routers/mills, i.e all the components parts and workflow. I have a diagram of what I can glean and nwould like to invite site users to comment and improve the diagram for CNC newbies. I wish to create PCBs, engrave, cut shapes from sheets, render 3D shapes, drill holes in materials such as acrylic, copper, brass and aluminium alloy (softer alloys 1000 series pos 5000 series). Is this feasible on a £500-600 budget? Thanks for any help.

[martin54]

Probably your best bet would be to read through some of the build logs, this will help explain a lot of things you may have questions about & give you a better insight into individual components which vary in cost tremendously as do complete machines.
Unlikely you are going to be able to buy a machine that will do everything you want it to well with that sort of budget. What sort of size machine you would like will also play a big factor.

[Nugget]

Probably your best bet would be to read through some of the build logs, this will help explain a lot of things you may have questions about & give you a better insight into individual components which vary in cost tremendously as do complete machines.
Unlikely you are going to be able to buy a machine that will do everything you want it to well with that sort of budget. What sort of size machine you would like will also play a big factor.

thanks for the reply. sorry for my very tardy response.

Actually a relatively small device is required - desktop size for small metal pieces for models/small prototypes and circuit boards. The build logs look interesting but experimenting seems expensive and I can't make sophisticated parts myself.

[Jonathan]

The build logs look interesting but experimenting seems expensive and I can't make sophisticated parts myself.

The build logs mean there is no need to experiment - you can simply copy, although personally I'd always prefer to design something new. Plenty are done without making your own 'sophisticated' parts.

[martin54]

Be careful if your looking to buy one of these, the physical size might be just what your needing but if you are looking to cut metals then it might not do such a good job.

[Nugget]

Be careful if your looking to buy one of these, the physical size might be just what your needing but if you are looking to cut metals then it might not do such a good job.

The metals of interest would be thin sheet ally (1000 series), brass and possibly copper. I'm not interested in carving out engine blocks. There are videos of 3020's milling ally. Are you concerned about precision, wear and tear on the spindle and bearings/screws?

[Nugget]

The build logs mean there is no need to experiment - you can simply copy, although personally I'd always prefer to design something new. Plenty are done without making your own 'sophisticated' parts.

By sophisticated parts I mean requiring a mill of lathe or one requiring high precision.

I have a look at several build logs and they are a bit chatty, not much detail. Are there any build logs you have come across that are particularly good? Thanks for the assistance.

[richie00boy]

I am new to CNC and intended it for hobby projects. There seem to be a great range in cost from £100s to 10s of thousands. I wasn’t about to find a web site that gave an overview of CNC routers/mills, i.e all the components parts and workflow. I have a diagram of what I can glean and nwould like to invite site users to comment and improve the diagram for CNC newbies. I wish to create PCBs, engrave, cut shapes from sheets, render 3D shapes, drill holes in materials such as acrylic, copper, brass and aluminium alloy (softer alloys 1000 series pos 5000 series). Is this feasible on a £500-600 budget? Thanks for any help.

What size do you need? I got a 3020 machine off ebay for much the same things as you have said there and it's OK for the low cost.

[Nugget]

What size do you need? I got a 3020 machine off ebay for much the same things as you have said there and it's OK for the low cost.

thanks for the reply. sorry for my very slow reply indeed. these Chinese machines look interesting. they look solidly made and are cheaper than similar looking offerings. actually I only require to make small items, the size of the 3020 would probably be fine. is it okay with only one stepper on the gantry? when you got it from ebay what about vat and import duties. who do you talk to if there is a problem.

I have also come across other means of controlling cnc machines - use of embedded microcontroller with g-code interpreters. one that looks good was smoothie project running on an ARM microcontroller. it seems to make sense that an external controller does the work since it likely to be more real time than a PC. can a chassis+motors+spindle be sought and then add the motor controller, embedded/usb controller?