[ppace280]

Would using melamine instead of mdf be sufficient enough for mosture resistance and longer wear? Looking to do my first build.

[jckstrthmghty]

I would stick with MDF myself for many reasons. If you are concerned with moisture then you can seal and paint. I used watered down wood glue on the edges before painting. Worked great and gives a bit more impact resistance.

btw did you purchase your machine yet? There are other options similar in price but better rigidity and accuracy.

[ppace280]

Thanks for the info. Haven't bought anything yet but am interested in all options in that price range that might be better

[louieatienza]

Would using melamine instead of mdf be sufficient enough for mosture resistance and longer wear? Looking to do my first build.

It depends on the core. They make a medical grade MDF which is moisture-resistant, and I believe they do make melamine sheets with this type pf MDF core. Of course it costs more than regular MDF. I'd stay away from the flakeboard stuff, which is what you find in the big box stores.

[jckstrthmghty]

For example the blacktoe kit is $2115.00 with no electronics. For $1975.00 you can get a CNCRouterParts 2x4 kit with no electronics. IMO the cncrouterparts kit is infinitely better. If you want a MDF kit for the fun of building it then consider joes2006. No idea of the kit cost but I'm sure it's well under $2115.

[ppace280]

Was just looking at that blacktoe v2......man! this is getting interesting! Also found an upgrade( ?? ) for MDF.....MDO. Much to learn...very interesting. Thanks again.

[ger21]

As was already mentioned, for about the same price, you can get an all metal machine from CNC Router Parts that will outperform the Blacktoe by 5x-10x.

[Trotline]

Ger21 and jckstrthmghty are right, the performance you'll get from a CNCRP machine is way better than a Blacktoe. I built a machine similar to the Blacktoe in concept, out of plywood. It's a good machine, and I use it almost every day, but the CNCRP designs are much better. I chose to work with wood because it was familiar ground, as I had no experience with extrusions, but knowing what I know now, I would have gone with the metal machine.

Whichever way you decide, spending the time now to study it all will save you 2X as much time in making mistakes and backtracking, later on. It's an overwhelming load of information, I know, but it'll all start sorting itself out with some study. Welcome to the nuthouse!

Luke

[ppace280]

Sound advice from all ..and greatly appreciated. But my passion ( for now ) is to build a working cnc machine. Having it do what it is supposed to do is icing on the cake. Making the frame from scratch ( from plans of course ),assembling the parts,etc.,..that's what I like. Hope I'll be as up-beat when I'm in the middle of my 1st build. Again,many thanks.

[jckstrthmghty]

That's cool. Before you decide I highly recommend you read through the joes2006 thread. It has an abundance of invaluable information that would serve you well with any cnc you decide to build.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/joes_c...el_2006_a.html

It would challenging but not impossible to build a joes without having the parts cut out on a cnc for you but it has been done with good success by some. btw this is the cnc build I have. It's fun to build and works excellent for a machine built from mdf. I think it cost me around $500 for all the mdf and hardware but I had a cnc to cut out my own parts.

[ThomD]

If you want to waterproof any of these machines, consider boat building epoxy. There are a lot of ways of using wood epoxy construction techniques to enhance rigidity, and make the wooden parts are durable as in any other material.