[ldanut]

Hi to all, this is my first post into this forum and as every one else I purchased Bob's plans and become very enthusiastic about building this machine. I'm a software developer that dreamed for a long time about building a CNC. I have basic tools at home that will probably be enough. I live in Europe (Romania) and my biggest problem was the metric system. I can easily adapt holes diameter but can't avoid aluminum parts dimensions.

Now I'm in the process obtaining all the materials I need. Since this CNC I will use it from time to time to do small jobs like PCB mill, modeling plywood mill and some aluminum drilling and milling I plan to go with a cheap Chinese electronic kit that someone else used on this forum with 280oz motors. My budget is around $600 and I need to keep it like that somehow. I'm counting that material cost estimated by Bob are around $400 and extra $200 electronic kit.

I plan to buy the metal parts from speedymetals.com. It will cost me around $110 dolars and another $140 to ship them to Romania. This is the quote they gave me. Its not a bad deal for me since here same amount of metal it costs a lot more.

I already spent $56.85 on bearings, $47.75 on backlash nut and shaft coupler, $48.88 on belt and pulley.

Regarding spindle I can't use one from plans since is 110V and here we use 220V. I want to go with following spindle :

http://www.kress-elektrik.com/Power-tools.71+M5eb130ce52a.0.html?&tx_commerce_pi1[catUid]=17&tx_commerce_pi1[showUid]=1035

Can someone tell me if it will be ok with this CNC?

Another issue I have is that I can't order from Romania acme precision threaded rod. Maybe someone can send me 12" of it and I will pay over paypal.

Dan.

[Michael In Cali]

I would look for something with a more robust bearing system. Something like a Bosch GKF 600 (which is similar to the Bosch Colt 110Volt tools being adapted by a couple of people). Variable speed would be nice though. I assume other european tool vendors may have a similar variable speed tool.

[bjesson]

(group)

Hi to all, this is my first post into this forum and as every one else I purchased Bob's plans and become very enthusiastic about building this machine. I'm a software developer that dreamed for a long time about building a CNC. I have basic tools at home that will probably be enough. I live in Europe (Romania) and my biggest problem was the metric system. I can easily adapt holes diameter but can't avoid aluminum parts dimensions.

Now I'm in the process obtaining all the materials I need. Since this CNC I will use it from time to time to do small jobs like PCB mill, modeling plywood mill and some aluminum drilling and milling I plan to go with a cheap Chinese electronic kit that someone else used on this forum with 280oz motors. My budget is around $600 and I need to keep it like that somehow. I'm counting that material cost estimated by Bob are around $400 and extra $200 electronic kit.

I plan to buy the metal parts from speedymetals.com. It will cost me around $110 dolars and another $140 to ship them to Romania. This is the quote they gave me. Its not a bad deal for me since here same amount of metal it costs a lot more.

I already spent $56.85 on bearings, $47.75 on backlash nut and shaft coupler, $48.88 on belt and pulley.

Regarding spindle I can't use one from plans since is 110V and here we use 220V. I want to go with following spindle :

http://www.kress-elektrik.com/Power-tools.71+M5eb130ce52a.0.html?&tx_commerce_pi1[catUid]=17&tx_commerce_pi1[showUid]=1035

Can someone tell me if it will be ok with this CNC?

Another issue I have is that I can't order from Romania acme precision threaded rod. Maybe someone can send me 12" of it and I will pay over paypal.

Dan.

I have two pieces of ACME precision threaded rod, one piece is going to Canada as soon as I go to the post office, the other piece has no home yet.

$600 for the entire build...that should be obtainable plu or minus a few dollars. Not sure how much extra in shipping you will have to do in Romania though. On the other hand you may get the electronics package a bit cheaper. I paid $125 for my electronics and $85 in shipping from China.

The base cost me about $100
Metals about $175
misc parts were another $150
My biggest expense was probably hardware (nuts/bolts/set screws) probably close to $200 since I used high grade hardware in most locations. Some bolts were as much as $4 each.

billj

[ldanut]

Its a big problem if instead of birch i use poplar? Also Instead of 1/4 plywood i use same 3/8 one? The problem I have is that here poplar is more common and I need to buy it in big sheets like 2400x1200mm. I want to buy only one sheet for 10mm and another for 18mm.

Thanks,
Dan.

[Michael In Cali]

Its a big problem if instead of birch i use poplar? Also Instead of 1/4 plywood i use same 3/8 one? The problem I have is that here poplar is more common and I need to buy it in big sheets like 2400x1200mm. I want to buy only one sheet for 10mm and another for 18mm.

Thanks,
Dan.

Type of plywood is not a problem at all. Use what you can get.

[ldanut]

I have at home a 2000W 220v - 110v converter. Since here in Europe a router costs around 300$ I was thinking to get a Bosch PR20EVSK Colt for $100 and use my converter. There is any problem with 60Hz to 50Hz change?

Thanks,
Dan.

[Michael In Cali]

I have at home a 2000W 220v - 110v converter. Since here in Europe a router costs around 300$ I was thinking to get a Bosch PR20EVSK Colt for $100 and use my converter. There is any problem with 60Hz to 50Hz change?

Thanks,
Dan.

The tool is labeled 120V 60hz. I do not think I would try 50 hz unless someone has experience that this would work.

Perhaps a different router is necessary.

[bjesson]

I have at home a 2000W 220v - 110v converter. Since here in Europe a router costs around 300$ I was thinking to get a Bosch PR20EVSK Colt for $100 and use my converter. There is any problem with 60Hz to 50Hz change?

Thanks,
Dan.

You can use 60hz rated router in 50Hz rated outlet but you will decrease performance by about 20%. So HP, RPM, etc. will all be reduced...

hope this helps.

billj

[Michael In Cali]

You can use 60hz rated router in 50Hz rated outlet but you will decrease performance by about 20%. So HP, RPM, etc. will all be reduced...

hope this helps.

billj

Generically I agree, but the tool is only rated 60hz on its nameplate. Normally that would not be done unless there is a reason. Since that router has a speed controller in it I question whether that would matter. A normal non-softstart non-variable speed router would not care but would only run 5/6 the rated speed.

[bjesson]

Generically I agree, but the tool is only rated 60hz on its nameplate. Normally that would not be done unless there is a reason. Since that router has a speed controller in it I question whether that would matter. A normal non-softstart non-variable speed router would not care but would only run 5/6 the rated speed.

There is a perfectly good reason it is rated at 60Hz on the label, it is for USA outlets 60Hz is required to get the 1HP and 24000RPM out of it that it is advertised as, the speed control is most likely just a variable pot, and not only does performance take a hit but so does MTBF. The lifespan of the router will be reduced since it is not running at peak performance. the only question I intended to answer was "will it work". Sure, it should work, is it advised...nope.

Mike, what company do you work for? With people like you they must have some solid products!

billj

[Michael In Cali]

Mike, what company do you work for?

The largest employer in the US.

[bjesson]

The largest employer in the US.

Walmart has a rocket science department!!

[groswald]

Gee, I thought he worked for my uncle, Sam!

:-)

Randy

[Michael In Cali]

Gee, I thought he worked for my uncle, Sam!

:-)

Randy

You get an A+. WM is the largest private employer, not the largest employer.

[ldanut]

I trying to buy all the bolts/nuts/washers required. I see that are lower grade (A2 A3 A4) or higher (A8 A9) stainless steel variants. The prices are quite different too. What should be better for this project?

[Michael In Cali]

Stainless steel is unnecessary and expensive.

Carbon steel, perhaps with some corosion type coating, is all that is necessary. 8.8 or 10.9 are both acceptable bolt strengths for this application.

[bjesson]

Stainless steel is unnecessary and expensive.

Carbon steel, perhaps with some corosion type coating, is all that is necessary. 8.8 or 10.9 are both acceptable bolt strengths for this application.

But stainless is so pretty!! Mike's right though, waste of money for this application.

billj

[Michael In Cali]

But stainless is so pretty!!

So is black oxide coated steel. My choice, just 'cause it looks cool.

[ldanut]

I want to give an update with my build. I ordered all the metal parts from US and now I'm watting them to arrive. I found a private company that was able to ship them to Romania cheaper but it takes around 6 weeks. They cost me $110 at online metals and shipping was $60. I got all the other mechanical parts and now I need to choose the electronics. I don't have too much money to spend here and I was thinking to use some old printer motors I have. Does anyone know if these are proper for this CNC? I attached a image with them.

Also for drivers I was thinking to choose from following but not shure whats the best deal. I can go with really cheap chinese kits with drivers motors and PSU or I can buy them individually and for a little more money get a better price/quality deal.

SOC Robotics drivers:
MK4 + 3 MM160 3 Axis CNC Bipolar TB6560 Stepper | eBay

HobbyCNC PRO Chopper:
HobbyCNC PRO Chopper stepper motor driver board - eBay (item 120721748643 end time Jun-06-11 18:01:33 PDT)

StepStick A4988 Stepper Driver:
StepStick A4988 Stepper Driver - Reprap : Free Shipping - eBay (item 320699041199 end time Jun-12-11 12:55:11 PDT)

CNC Single 1 Axis 3.5A TB6560 Step Motor Driver Board:
CNC Single 1 Axis 3.5A TB6560 Step Motor Driver Board - eBay (item 320693965990 end time Jun-02-11 00:05:36 PDT)

Chinese CNC 3 Axis TB6560 Stepper Motor Driver Controller Board:
CNC 3 Axis TB6560 Stepper Motor Driver Controller Board - eBay (item 220779282466 end time Jun-03-11 18:18:28 PDT)

200W 24V 8.3A Regulated Switching Power Supply
New 200W 24V 8.3A Regulated Switching Power Supply | eBay

3 Axis Chinese driver + motors + PSU kit
3 Axis Nema 23 stepper motor 287 oz.in CNC Router NEW - eBay (item 190515499473 end time May-22-11 00:38:18 PDT)

3 Axis Chinese driver + motors + PSU more expensive kit
3 Nema23 Stepper Motor 270oz-in+3 axis board CNC kit - eBay (item 300554323885 end time Jun-04-11 04:23:53 PDT)

Maybe someone can help me decide based on their experience with each type of driver.

[Michael In Cali]

I need to make some decisions myself...

My completely Newbie thoughts based on what I've been looking at...

HobbyCNC: Older technology and limits you to Unipolar motors which won't have as good of performance as a similar bipolar motor. have to solder it yourself.

Stepstick: Looks too small to use with decent power motors. haven't looked at it before though.

Chinese TB6560 based drivers: We have on working example on a Momus machine, so I guess it works. There is a big thread on "how I fixed my TB6560 drive" which indicates problems and fixes so it represents some risk. I might just do this though.

If I could get a deal on a used Gecko G540, I would do that in a heatbeat. However, $250-$300 is a lare part of my budget.

The most interesting choice you have is the SOC Robotics MK4/MK160 set-up. Not much more that a bare Chinses board but is represented with a well done manual, a Mach3 XML set-up file, and has replaceable driver daughter cards if you blow one up. I'm going to investigate this one further.


Regarding your stepper motors... At first glance, they look too small to be very useful. I could not find the Vexta listed on-line. I didn't try for the other one. Basically my limited research tells me that printer motors do not have the necessary power for this build. Also, you need to figure out if they are unipolar or bipolar before deciding on a driver for them.