Beastie

[EddyCurrent]

No bamboo will be harmed in the making of that machine.

Just throwing ideas in; is there any mileage in this Z plate design ? http://www.cambam.co.uk/forum/index....cseen#msg32687
At the very least I'm thinking it could be useful as a method of spindle mounting, making it easy to swap spindles or maybe swap to a laser head, etc.

[GEOFFREY]

Great stuff!!! I tried to get something going as a project some time ago, but did not manage to get much interest from the site. It needed someone very experienced to run the project and you seem to have all the necessary skills.Fixed gantry is a good way to build a small rigid machine, but I personally would have liked to see the basis machine with a 600mm x 400mm working area. Anyway I wish you the very best of luck with this venture, and look forward to hearing more. Kickstarter sounds a good idea - who knows, I may even be a customer (I seem to collect cnc machines). G.

[mekanik]

It's great that you have found the time to look into this, we are frequently asked if there are any decent kits available and have not been able to offer any really decent option, with your attention to detail i am sure this will be a good solid machine, have to agree with Geoffrey i think the larger option would be better,my only concern is the cost of all the 20mm plate.
Regards
Mike

[EddyCurrent]

. . .my only concern is the cost of all the 20mm plate.
Regards
Mike

I think it should be built as a strong skeleton structure that is later plated in with thinner steel sheet to make it look nice. To prevent the thinner material vibrating it should be lined with something like the stuff used in cars; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-VAN-VE...-/220638134673

[bikepete]

I think it should be built as a strong skeleton structure that is later plated in with thinner steel sheet to make it look nice. To prevent the thinner material vibrating it should be lined with something like the stuff used in cars; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-VAN-VE...-/220638134673

I was thinking, looking at the initial designs, that it would be a great idea to have all of the sections closed, so that the user could just fill them with dry sand after shipping...

EDIT "And one main idea is also the gantry and sides and base to be epoxy fill ready, sand fill ready." Doh! teach me to look at the pics and not read the text properly before posting... as you were...

[EddyCurrent]

I was thinking, looking at the initial designs, that it would be a great idea to have all of the sections closed, so that the user could just fill them with dry sand after shipping...

EDIT "And one main idea is also the gantry and sides and base to be epoxy fill ready, sand fill ready." Doh! teach me to look at the pics and not read the text properly before posting... as you were...

Other
Now,here is the deal. the electronics will be below the machine or in the gantry or at both places. And one main idea is also the gantry and sides and base to be epoxy fill ready, sand fill ready. So i will spend a lot of thought here. One thing is clear. The electronics will be inside somehow.

There's a slight contradiction/anomaly, in that the electronics also have to fit inside the gantry or base. That's why I was thinking about a skeleton that itself could be sand/epoxy filled but the spaces in between where the electronics go could be sheeted in.

[Lachlan]

Boyan,
I have not seen any well made smallish cnc machines. This will be the ideal machine after people have played with a chinese machine and realised all the shortcomings that cannot be fixed.

Problems for this idea that need to be overcome include how to break it down for postage and keep rigidity as well as ease of constuction and how to fit all electronics in unit or will it need to come with an additional box? Great idea

[Gotty101]

This is a real cool project. I would love to help but im very much a newbie to this at the moment, but i will be watching with interest.

Trev