Beginner MYCNCDIY Mill Build questions

**JAZZCNC** · 12-11-2014

Suraj, Forget R&P from a Car but what you could use and is the next best thing to ballscrews for efficiency are timing belts and pulleys. BUT again I can tell you from experience that by the time you have bought all the pulleys and idle gears etc then they don't work out much cheaper than ballscrews from china.

Completely Forget threaded Rod it's absolute waste of time.

If you try to do this on the cheap I promise you will regret it and the only useful thing to come from it will be the painful lesson that it can't be done cheaply.!! . . . . . Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to put you off building a CNC machine, Far from it, I'm trying to steer you away from taking the expensive cheap route.!! . . . . Seldome does it work out Ok and nearly all those that do succeed end up building another as the first has too many weak areas to be worth while upgrading.!

**suraj1793** · 13-11-2014

Thanks JAZZ, I appreciate you warning me of the expensive lesson that I may learn and think it would be silly of me to ignore such advice. So, I think it would be best for me to hold off on the mill until a later stage. However, if possible, I would like to continue learning about CNC and at least work on some form of a CNC project which may be more doable with my current budget.

Maybe a conversion rather than a build? I have had an old round bed drummond type lathe sitting in the garage for a while, very similar to this one (http://www.lancerregister.com/showthread.php?t=378816) but a bit bigger. Do you think that this would be a suitable CNC conversion project which would be doable with my budget? If so, hopefully it could be set up such that I could use the parts I buy for future builds (motors, drivers, PSU, etc).

**T0rnado69** · 13-11-2014

an interesting read this thread has been, and sort of reminds me on when i joined this forum
and wanting to build a dual cnc machine on the cheap.
and after getting much advice from the usual members, i decided to take the advice and not waste money on the expensive cheap route.!! ( as dean puts it :) )
and after seeing a picture of the mill i have converted to cnc.
i thought what a good idea.. so im saving up for good electronics.
that will serve me well and can be moved to another build later down the line if required.

**irving2008** · 15-11-2014

I know you're itching to start but patience is the name of the game here. I don't know your circumstances, but have you looked at ways to gain access to someone else's machine for example? Maybe there's a local tech college evening course, or a local small engineering firm that might be amenable in return for free labour - use your imagination and get creative!

**JAZZCNC** · 15-11-2014

Ok I can't see such enthusiasm go un-rewarded or dampened. . .

I'm very soon going to be upgrading my own machine with new profiled rails, ballscrews and nearly most of the gantry and Z axis in preparation for sale. So when I do then old ones are yours for just 24 pack of Guiness.!

They are very very well used with some wear but they will make a perfectly good machine with some TLC.
Linear bearings are Profiled Hi-win and still fine but ballnut/screws and end bearings are worn but with some new balls/bearings then they could be brought back to life and tweak a few more years from them.

There should be most of the parts needed for machine except the main frame. I'll PM you when they are off and available.

**suraj1793** · 15-11-2014

Originally Posted by JAZZCNC

Ok I can't see such enthusiasm go un-rewarded or dampened. . .

I'm very soon going to be upgrading my own machine with new profiled rails, ballscrews and nearly most of the gantry and Z axis in preparation for sale. So when I do then old ones are yours for just 24 pack of Guiness.!

They are very very well used with some wear but they will make a perfectly good machine with some TLC.
Linear bearings are Profiled Hi-win and still fine but ballnut/screws and end bearings are worn but with some new balls/bearings then they could be brought back to life and tweak a few more years from them.

There should be most of the parts needed for machine except the main frame. I'll PM you when they are off and available.

I already greatly appreciated your guidance and learning from your huge amount of knowledge and experience (that alone has saved me so much potentially wasted time and money for which I cant thank you enough) but, getting such a huge amount of help from you with parts for the build...I don't really know what to say but THANK YOU!!! I don't know how I could ever return such a big favor and know for sure that a 24 pack of Guiness is no where near enough to do so!!!

Thank you for everything, I am very grateful and owe you big time!!!

EDIT: Do you think that the following (http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/1541-...-framed-router) would still be a suitable build with these parts or is there something better suited?