[vulcan.ph]

Hello All,

I am new to CNCZone and very happy to be part of this community. As an industrial designer I am looking to take the next challenge in my career towards automated design/fabrication.

I hope you all can help and thanks in advance. Let's get to it.

Project CNC
Production Output: Surfboards, Motorcycle Parts, Automotive Bodykits
CNC Type: 3 Axis - Long Z for 3D Carvings
Materials: Foam, Wood, Light Non Ferrous Material
End Mill: Primarily for Foam and Wood Prototypes
Budget: $2,000.00 - $3,000.00

I am able to DIY/Part Build/Etc. and I have a geographic challenge I am located in Manila, Philippines so I am welcoming anyone suggestions.

P.S. I have looked at one company BuildYourCNC with a premade system called the GreenBull 6x which seems decent. Please if you get a moment to take a look at there system. I haven't approached them yet just looking for suggestions and feedback.

Thanks all!!
Gene :banana:

[awerby]

While it's good to have ambitious ideas, I really doubt you're going to be able to do all that with your cheap home-built router. Foam, certainly. Wood, probably. Metal - no way. The long Z axis makes things less rigid, and even without it machines like this aren't rigid enough for cutting metal effectively, especially high-tolerance items like motorcycle parts.

While I'm reluctant to criticize anybody's sincere efforts, that kit you mention will produce a wooden gantry router driven by roller chains using a hand wood-router as a spindle. None of that sounds like a metal-cutting machine to me. Also, at $3720, it's over your stated budget without factoring in the shipping cost, which in your case will be high.

I'd say keep reading the build logs here, before spending your money. See which plans have worked out successfully, and which ones just frustrated people who quit before they actually cut anything. Meanwhile, be alert to any good local sources of supplies you can get for cheap or free. Once you've built a router and used it for a while, maybe you'll find an old heavy-duty milling machine that just needs a control retrofit to run again. That would be a lot more likely to cut your motorcycle parts effectively than any wood-frame router.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[vulcan.ph]

Thanks for the reply. I certainly agree my post is way to ambitious in hoping for a one-size-fits-all solution at a peasants budget to mill wood and metal. Therefore, I really will focus on foam milling at this time to achieve prototyping and positive/negative mold creation for vacuum infusion. Great thing is that there are numerous resources available locally for the parts needed to build such a machine.

I did find a great post for a 5x12x4 Gantry Foam Mill created by some U.Iowa students in 2007 which seem to really suit my needs. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...m_milling.html

Andrew any suggestions as to a suitable plan or design from a diy perspective on the above foam mill?

Thanks in advance and your feedback is well received.

[awerby]

That sounds like a good plan, and I like that build better than the previous one you pointed to. The high walls the gantry rides on eliminate much of the shake the machine would otherwise have with that much vertical clearance. Apparently the slop involved with the roller-chain system wasn't a problem for them, since their tolerances were low enough, and the extra speed was helpful. With foam you can go pretty fast, since the material's not putting up much of a fight.

Of course, the structure could be beefed up with more cross-bracing, and the rails could be supported - that would allow it to cut wood as well as foam. But as a foam machine, it's probably adequate as-is. If you can get the parts locally, that's a huge plus. Go for it!

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[vulcan.ph]

Good stuff! Now, time to dig in for the next six months to solve the puzzle of my technical and platform needs. It seems a nice space-frame for cnc racing is needed with all that sexy triangulation. lol

Anyways, solid feedback I will post up how my progress goes in a couple of months. Currently, I am constructing a two story shop for 3D modeling/storage/hide from the kids & wife room and the lower floor with about 10' of ceiling clearance, length 16' and width 11' prepped for fabrication and safety.

Andrew, keep up the supportive comments and I enjoyed your informative website. Funny thing, I used to live in Alameda, neighbor.

All the best!

[awerby]

Thanks for the kind words about my site. It sounds like you're building the ultimate "man-cave". You might want to keep the router on the bottom floor with an airlock in between, since the dust from cutting foam will stick to everything, including you: "Look! Daddy's a snowman again!"

Coincidentally, I was just in the Philippines last summer, in Northern Luzon and Negros Island. It's a beautiful place, and living is cheap - I don't blame you one bit for moving there...

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[knap]

good luck!!