Hey there every one! I'm new around here but I thought I would share some info about my first CNC router build. I have learned a lot from reading posts here so hopefully I can contribute in some small way.
I'm not an engineer from a background standpoint, I'm actually a finance manager at a car dealership. On my days off however I LOVE to tinker in the garage. I have a small milling machine and a mini lathe from harbor freight that are well loved and well used, but after seeing my cousins CNC router he built from scavenged parts I decided I HAD to have one, so here I am!
This router is designed from the ground up by myself and will be built mostly from steel, with a little aluminum and wood thrown in for the Z axis and the cutting table surface. Here is a picture of the CAD drawing I made for the machine:
As you can see I am using thompson style bearings and shafts and 16mm ballscrews for linear motion. The motors and drivers are the "green monster" from Probotix and the spindle will be a 2hp Dewalt router.
In the above image you can see my Z axis finished. The rails and bearings are 16mm and I'm using a Lovejoy coupler to connect the 1/4" motor shaft to the 1/2" shaft on the ballscrew. (I turned the ends of the ballscrews down from 16mm to half an inch on my mini lathe. Note to self - turning hardend steel ballscrews on a mini lathe is a major pain in the butt!)
Here is the big pile of steel that will make up the bulk of the router! Most of it is 1/4" and 1/8" thick wall tubing and angle iron depending on where its going and what it is doing.
Here you can see my Gantry done! The project really is moving right along. The long rails are also 16mm in diameter just like on the Z axis. There will be 33" of effective cutting area on this machine.
Here you can see how the ballnut connects the the Z axis to move it side to side. All these parts where cut free hand on my milling machine and bandsaw. I can't wait to be able to use the router on stuff like this!
That is as far as I have gotten, next up is building the base and the CNC controller box!
-Jerome