Steel Framed CNC router

[Joe]

Here are some more pictures of the build. The main of the frame was mig welded together and I have used an old saw bench inverted as the base, this way I can use the T slots to hold things down. I have already made the bearing blocks. They are 31x41x50mm and were drilled out to 23mm first and then put onto the faceplate on the lathe for boring and reamed using an expanding reamer to 32mm. Then they were honed exactly to size for a tolerance fit. Unfortunately I am not using supported rails but that is what I had available and I am working on a tight budget so maybe an upgrade at a later date.

The router will be belt driven because of the faster speeds and also because it is a cheap option. This will be the second build I have undertaken as the first attempt was a MDF construction which was fine for woodand plastic but I wanted something to do aluminium. The idea behind the design was to reduce the moving weight as much as possible but to keep whole thing stiff. This way there is less mass to move around when cutting and this also means that faster speeds can be achieved. The red frame is all steel and this is a material that I can weld easy and also is cheap but I have then used aluminium for the Z axis to save weight.

I have now got to finish the z axis and assemble the beltb rackets and stepper motors. One of my teachers at collage has access to a steel laser cutter and he will be cutting out some mounting brackets for me for accuracy and to save time.

I wondered what people thought of my design. Do you think I will be able to cut aluminium??

Joe