Im new, am a 3D designer. Need a New cnc machine and need advice and guidance

[njhussey]

I Have been researching builds for little under a month so far...thats why i now registered with the forum so that i can start :) I never fully intended building one, but it would be a fun project and would make quadcopter building a fair bit easier..ecspecially cutting wing ribs haha.

Didn't know quads had wing ribs??!! ;)

The builds i have looked at so far were to get an understanding and somevideos are quite enteraining...My CAD abilities will hopefully help me along and to make sure the design is solid before I make the first purchase and cut. Ill post the design on here aswell to see what you fine people think of it :)

That's the best way to do it...

A general question... What sort of accuracy can be achieved by an average well built,accurately assembled machine? Can they top some of the commerical machines?

Only if you make them ridgid enough and use the correct equipment....but then would you expect to make your own car in your garage and expect it to be better that a production car?

The thing Im finding hardest in terms of research is the general jargon that goes with CNC, after thinking of the dimensions of the machine I would like 900mm rails and 600mm rails. Able to point me in the right direction?

Thanks again

If you have a look through build threads like http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/gantry...eady-eddy.html this one or http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/gantry...rst-build.html, http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/gantry...-building.html, http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/gantry...g-machine.html then you'll get the drift of what needs doing and roughly in what order. Look through all the build logs and then with your 3D design expertise put a couple of drawings up of the frame for people to critique and you'll be on the way. Once you've got your basic design then AND ONLY THEN can you think of ordering things like ballscrews and rails etc. Once you've got your frame, ballscrews and rails sorted then you can think about the electrics you will need.

[FlyHighRC]

Thanks, Wasnt expecing his forum to be so saturated with experts at this level on a UK site, Its very nice to see :)

In terms of my design, A plane is designed around engine and passangers, the same for a car in a nutshell. Well To make the design process easier I want to chosse all the size gear Ill need to get it off the ground. So I have found these rails...Are they good enough? If so I can take the dimensions and add them to solidworks so that the design is built around these giving me the size. Also motor mount dimension would be handy...Stepper motors to me seem to have the same mounting and bolt patterns and are just longer with power...Is this correct?

If so then again, the design process will be easier :)

Im also considering these rails also quite allot bigger but Im only 20 and am a student so funds are tight so I dont want to outgrow a machine right away... CNC 3D wings would be nice :D

What are your thoughts on going bigger?