Hi guys, I've finally run out of excuses to start building my CNC machine. I've read some of the sites that have been suggested by other threads on this forum and other forums and I've got a general idea about the sort of issues that are important but I'm certainly not a pro so I need some advice along the way.
I'm thinking building something in the order of 1-2m x 1m with 1-2m preferably being as close to 2m as possible (in fact, I'm probably thinking something in the order of 1.5m-2m x 1m.
Since I'm not a factory, it's at least for now going to be only producing what I need which is not a lot and not very often.
I don't really care about speed so much, I'm more worried about accuracy. I'm not doing anything that requires amazing precision but I want more precision and less speed than more speed and less precision if you know what I mean.
Not 100% about where it's going to stand so something with adjustable legs would be nice and something that is somewhat not impossible to move would be a distinct advantage although I suppose it might be possible to retrofit retractable wheels on it or something but I haven't really thought that far ahead just yet, I just know that I don't have a guaranteed place for it for the next 10 years so it's gotta be relatively mobile if that's even possible for CNC machines.
Price, well... as cheap as humanly possible - I'm building it myself for a reason after all. However, when I say as cheap as humanly possible I'm also aware that I've said I'm after precision which means that I basically want the best bang for the buck and I won't necessarily go for the cheapest option all the time... if at all. I certainly prefer best of the best but then I shop around to find the super cheapest price. I think that's the best way of describing what I mean by cheap.
In terms of materials I want to cut with it... well since this is the metal section i think that it should be obvious that's what I'm aiming at. Not sure about stuff like steel... would be nice for sure, but definitely at the very least something in the order of 6mm aluminium? So I'll say 6mm aluminium and assume that it'll be able to cut steel of I dunno 3mm or so by the very virtue of being able to cut aluminium. Like I said, I'm not making lots of parts at the moment, so really, I don't mind having to go over the same cut over and over again - deeper each time to go through thicker metals. The only parts that come to mind at the moment made of aluminium that I'll need to cut would be around 1.6mm or so but I'm leaving some headroom in all my minimum requirements. The thickest material that I have planned for it at this stage would be 9mm wood, but as I said, I'm looking for some headroom with this.
I'm presently mainly planning on cutting just sheets of materials so a 3dof is all I'm after. I'm not sure how dependent curved cuts are when it comes to designing CNC machines but I need a machine that will be able to cut really nice curved cuts also.
Basically, I need help in finding as many plans as possible that would resemble the monster that I have in my mind. Would really appreciate all your input!
Regards