Got a quote for £7k can I make it for £500?

[Gtee87]

Do you have any videos of these ? And would this not leave burn marks on the cardboard I was trying to do this as clean as possible as the final product will be the cardboard it won't be painted or covered ?

[JAZZCNC]

No is the answer to your question.! £500 won't be enough to do it correctly.
If you do try to make it for £500 then you'll only end up wasting money has it will mean buying Cheap sub standard components that give nothing but grief and won't last very long or under perform. It's false Economy and mistake often made by new people trying to do it on the cheap.

£1000 is a more realistic figure for any machine that will be worth doing and even then you'll need to be very savy with what you buy and do all the work your self.

[routercnc]

How about as pastry cutter tool (in the shape you want) and a fly press?

If you want a cnc machine for £500 that is a very low budget. Using some very low-end bits you might be able to knock something together (e.g. wood frame, gas pipe rails, home made v-bearings, all-thread leadscrews. . . .) but it would not be much good for anything more demanding. But that might be good enough for cutting cardboard with a drag knife.

[Gtee87]

How about as pastry cutter tool (in the shape you want) and a fly press?

If you want a cnc machine for £500 that is a very low budget. Using some very low-end bits you might be able to knock something together (e.g. wood frame, gas pipe rails, home made v-bearings, all-thread leadscrews. . . .) but it would not be much good for anything more demanding. But that might be good enough for cutting cardboard with a drag knife.

Thanks for this I am really starting to believe that I should go with a manual approach until I get some traction and cash to go for the full CNC machine . Only thing is how do I make the cutters and can this be done to cut right through cardboard ?

[dazza]

Thanks for this I am really starting to believe that I should go with a manual approach until I get some traction and cash to go for the full CNC machine . Only thing is how do I make the cutters and can this be done to cut right through cardboard ?

In that case depending on the number of each type/card cutting you want to cut would stencils made out of alu plate say 5 mm thick be any good layed down over the card and a couple of hand tools knocked up..small rollers on the end with a blade that can be adjusted for depth of cut..