Hello All,

Long time listener, first time caller.


I've been enjoying playing around with a 6040 router I got around a year ago and while it's been a blast for a lot of projects so far, I found its limitations pretty quickly. I wanted to build a CNC before I got the 6040 but was sure I'd make lots of mistakes and decided some training wheels would be nice to have first. I am intrigued by the idea of using it to assist in making an epoxy granite machine and want to post it here to hopefully get a little feedback on my design direction. Nothing is set in stone (hur hur) and you'll probably notice lots of little parts missing here and there.


Goals:
-Small Foot Print - I only have so much benchtop, and I don't have an engine lift to move some behemoth around.
-Stout enough to mill aluminum well. I don't expect crazy speed or depth, but I'm hoping for good surface quality.
-Accuracy of .01mm - hopefully I can do better, but I don't need more than this.
-Reasonable cost - I haven't tallied it up yet, but I'm definitely not trying to spend 3k on this thing. Hopefully half that? I'm going to be using ebay more than misumi lol!
-Easy to mold forms - molds are going to be a lot of work, and I don't want to make mistakes. KISS mentality here.


Features / Thoughts :
- Fixed gantry style
-24"x24" foot print with a 14"x12" working area with ~120mm height. As is, I can reach further than this by a smidge, so it could surface itself.
- Form is designed as 4 castings, we have the main pad, that houses the Y axis, then 2 risers that support a beam that carries the X and Z axis. They are all held together with 6 lengths of 3/4" all thread and nuts on each side. I've considered casting the all thread into the 2 riser pieces and having the 2 other sections be removable. This way I can disassemble the X axis if I need to move this around. It also breaks this into what look like really easy to form molds vs making a large u shaped mold for the X axis with risers integrated.
-I am hoping to cast all the inserts in the mold and bolt the linear rails directly to the epoxy. I don't have access to a mill so I might be leveling with a skim of epoxy and a reference surface.
-I haven't gotten as far as picking out a mix of stones.
-Loose dimensions here. Main base is 4" thick 24x24. Risers are 4.5" thick. X axis is 8"thick and 7" deep.
-Z axis is all .5" aluminum plate possibly mic 6. Has ~135mm of travel.
-Nema 23 Steppers, ball screws, 20mm linear rails. All going with cheap stuff. Send recommended sellers my way.

Thanks for any input or advice!