What Homemade CNC for small RC aluminum parts?

Hi this is my first post here and am verry intrested on making a homebuilt CNC for stuff like small Aluminum parts. I have seen many home made designs and most are MDF board but I dont know if that will presicly cut aluminum.

I would like to build a small presice machine 3 axis to cut small aluminum parts, none of the axis will have to travel more than 12".

I do have a Mig welder and good welding skills, and many tools, I do whant to spend as little as needed probably around $500

Any recomendations?

Welding is an easy option but it creates tensions and misalignments.
Scan through the build log forums and I think you'll get heaps of ideas.

Start with
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=48
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=221

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Originally Posted by PAPE

Hi this is my first post here and am verry intrested on making a homebuilt CNC for stuff like small Aluminum parts. I have seen many home made designs and most are MDF board but I dont know if that will presicly cut aluminum.

I would like to build a small presice machine 3 axis to cut small aluminum parts, none of the axis will have to travel more than 12".

I do have a Mig welder and good welding skills, and many tools, I do whant to spend as little as needed probably around $500

Any recomendations?

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I will suggest you to contact <[email protected]> he sells his router built using aluminium for around 750$. You may want to have a look to it on youtube at [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGZbNNZi_Vw[/ame]. I use it and am most happy with its performance

cocodet thanks for the post and video.

Do you machine alum parts on your machine?

If so, what kind of part thickness, cutter type/size, depth of cut, and coolant do you use?

tia,
Pres

No, I do not machine aluminium. The head is a standard router and I do not think it is suitable for any metal job. I machine wood and foam to make wings for my RC planes.

I have two CNC machines and both are capable of cutting Aluminium.
One is a SYIL X4 and the other is of my design. The homebuilt is all aluminium. You would need to make it aluminium or steel to get the rigidity required. Wood will not work.

Here is a picture of some F16 undercarriage scissor links i made for a friend at work. He will use these in his scale Jet. A mill would be better suited to achieve your goals i think.

Most people here are building routers intended for wood, plastic and other light materials. Mills intended for cutting metals require another level of rigidity and precision. Some people here have built them, but they tend to be people who already own or have access to larger mills and well-equipped shops already. If you're mainly interested in making small aluminum parts for your RC projects and not in experimental CNC machine-building, I'd suggest getting a Taig mill. You can get it CNC-ready and save money by setting up your own control system. (If you go that route, I'd recommend the highly-regarded G-540 from Geckodrives as the heart of it.).

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

I machine wood and foam to make wings for my RC planes.http://sarah.kevilaenfor.com/1.jpghttp://sarah.kevilaenfor.com/2.jpghttp://sarah.kevilaenfor.com/3.jpghttp://sarah.kevilaenfor.com/4.jpghttp://sarah.kevilaenfor.com/5.jpg