I ordered my new 4x8 Pro kit from Ahren & Cory last Monday and was told a 3 week lead time which is ok so I can get things ready in my shop..
I was building a Joe's Hybrid 4x8 machine but after 5 years of little progress, I thought it best to buy this kit instead.. No holes to drill & tap!! Sad part is, I have all the parts and supplies needed to build the Joe's CNC on hand.. My wife is not thrilled... We chatted about it before placing the order.. I thought I had permission to pull the trigger.. Apparently we were "still discussing it".. Only had to sleep on the couch one night before she came to terms with the whole thing.. She will kill me if I buy the Plug & Play controller I'm guessing.. She already knows I'm buying the spindle package.. Since I have all the parts from my failed Joe's build, I am thinking maybe I can build the controller myself from those.. I have all the usual parts: PMDX-126, PMDX-134, PMDX-107, Geco G203v's, Power supply, cabinet, etc.. When I originally bought the NEMA 34 steppers from CNCRP, I also purchased the cabinet connectors.. My smooth stepper is the USB version.. Will this be ok of I pay attention to isolation or should I upgrade to the Ethernet version?
I was building a table for my Joe's CNC, but opted for the leg kit.. Not sure what I will do with all those other parts yet.. Part of the reasoning I used for buying this new kit was that I could sell the parts since they are all brand new.. But where would one sell such things? ugh.. Maybe I will put them aside and someday finish the build.. Selling a working machine would be easier than selling parts maybe..
Only thing I didn't purchase yet for the other build was a dust collection system.. I read somewhere that if you are machining MDF it's best to have a 1 micron filter? Any suggestions of a setup for a really tight budget and an angry spouse?
Included a few pic's of my 5 year progress with the Joe's CNC build.. though I was building the CastCNC version.. The table I built was damn solid but figured "In for a penny, In for a pound" and got the leg kit... Less worries about being flat & level..