jon's homemade cnc

[jonbabbz]

Yep, all glued up and nice and tight. Just waiting for a new driver to arrive from china now, seems to be taking ages. Then hopefully I'll be cutting soon.

[Danielroyal25]

Hi Jon, new to this site and come across your project. It looks great! Was just after some advice really, been looking at buying an off the shelf solution but after coming across yours I am interested in possibly making one myself.
would you be able to give me a rough time scale and cost of the project (excluding base) and how you went about designing it.
i would be confident in the mechanical side but the electronics and calculations seem a bit daunting.
if you don't want to discuss costs etc over the forum my email is [email protected].
Would really appreciate your advice.
Thanks, Dan

[jonbabbz]

Hi Jon, new to this site and come across your project. It looks great! Was just after some advice really, been looking at buying an off the shelf solution but after coming across yours I am interested in possibly making one myself.
would you be able to give me a rough time scale and cost of the project (excluding base) and how you went about designing it.
i would be confident in the mechanical side but the electronics and calculations seem a bit daunting.
if you don't want to discuss costs etc over the forum my email is [email protected].
Would really appreciate your advice.
Thanks, Dan

Sorry for not posting or replying. I've been dealing with a terminally ill family member so haven't had time for much of anything the last couple months. I actually got the machine finished around the end of November but have yet to cut anything significant on it other than a few signs for work. I started leveling the bed and realized I could really do with a fly cutter as opposed to a quarter inch router bit, and left it at that. I'm totally happy with the speeds and everything though. Hopefully soon i'll have a bit of time to play with it! Think the first thing i'll make will be a touch probe and maybe a belt drive mech for the z axis.

The machine took about 6 months from design to finish and I would estimate a cost of around £1500-£2000(cant remember exactly) - all in. It took that long because I was buying bits every month. If you had all the parts ready I'm sure it could be done a lot quicker. I used Rhinoceros(and Rhinocam) to design it. If you're planning a build, the best advice I would give you is to read, read and read some more. Post your designs, get a second opinion and be prepared for constructive criticism and design changes. Also, make sure you're 100% happy with the design BEFORE buying any parts - will save you money in the long run. Good luck.