[sendoushi]

Hi people,
I'm completely new to this thing of the CNCs and stuff.
The one I want to build is only for hobby. From what I know, I want a "miller" for wood. I'm not thinking about precision right now (since I know it will be more expensive). I'm thinking of using the CNC to do rough cuts on a piece of wood, guitar shapes and rough cuts on the interior and then I'll use my hands to sand it and stuff.

I bet you've heard this a million times but I want to keep it cheap.

Found this link:
How to Make a Three Axis CNC Machine (Cheaply and Easily)

But there are some values (specially on the electronics) that really fright me. Then there is another problem. All the hardware that he says there is US based and I'm in Europe so... I would have to pay customs! Not even mentioning the different AC / Volts from country to country.
Since you're more used to the CNC stuff... What could I search for? I'm talking about controller, stepper motors... The expensive things. So I can lower the prices.

[flojor10]

I use the tb6560 kit, it won't give you rapids, and it's Chinese. You can get this kit with everything for about 200$. This is by far the cheapest kit, but like I said if you need quality I would stick with American, but if you have a low budget use this.
TB6560 3 Axis Driver and Nema 23 Stepper Motor CNC kit | eBay

[flojor10]

The kit that I bought even came with a pirated Mach 3 and ArtCAM license! I already had these programs though, and I didn't want to risk anything happening to my computer, or getting caught. I have burned my driver once, but I got a replacement chip and the fix was<5$. Overall I think it is a good product for the price.

George

[tracyranson]

I built my machine for around $800. Foot print is 27" x 27" the z is a 4 inch travel. Frame is 1020 and 1030 t-slot .375 t6061 flat bar $64 all found on eBay. The x and y linear rods were purchased used on eBay in very good condition $10 each 3/4" dia. Six pillow blocks were purchased new for $15 each on eBay. I bought z from John at Microcarve VERY HIGH QUALITY and for the $132 that I paid was worth every penny. Bosch mount bought from KN2CNC 65 bucks of money well spent on a high quality part. Bosch colt variable speed router remain purchased on eBay reman seller for Bosch 67 free shipping. 300 oz/in bipolar steppers were purchased from wholesaler in China for $15 each and $40 shipping. Rod mounts came from VXB bearing 8 at 16 each. I purchased 4 L298/L297 PCBs from PMinMO.com and made my own drivers for less than the chinese made TB6560's that keep burning up. My drivers are running great with no problems. Cost me about $65 to make four drivers and a BOB. If you shop around you can find some great deals if you know what you are looking for. It took me a year to find all the parts that I needed. I bought a refurbished Dell with a 19" LCD flat for $50 from a recycling company in Utah. My machine is heavy duty can be disassembled and put back together in less than two hours. If you are in no rush to get your machine together I suggest looking for those deals on eBay or Amazon.com and build something that will last you awhile. There are machines out there that are equivlant to mine that cost upwards of $4000. I use my machine for wood crafts and I am very happy with it. In my opinion I got more than what I paid for.

[sendoushi]

flojor10: so I think that for this electronic hardware I can't go under 200$ right? even if i don't want nor speed nor quality right? that one you showed me it's outside EU. What about this one eBay ? It doesn't have those... damn I don't remember the name but it's in UK already so, no customs! (Inside EU there is no customs)

tracyranson: that's kind of expensive for a hobbyist. I won't have professional work on it to sell. If I had, well, that would be another thing. that way I could at least pay the cnc. Maybe I should think about making some profit with it (I don't know how). The idea of the Dell for 50$ is amazing by the idea. Unfortunately, here we don't have those kind of deals. We don't have pawn shops and stuff.

[tracyranson]

flojor10: so I think that for this electronic hardware I can't go under 200$ right? even if i don't want nor speed nor quality right? that one you showed me it's outside EU. What about this one eBay ? It doesn't have those... damn I don't remember the name but it's in UK already so, no customs! (Inside EU there is no customs)

tracyranson: that's kind of expensive for a hobbyist. I won't have professional work on it to sell. If I had, well, that would be another thing. that way I could at least pay the cnc. Maybe I should think about making some profit with it (I don't know how). The idea of the Dell for 50$ is amazing by the idea. Unfortunately, here we don't have those kind of deals. We don't have pawn shops and stuff.

You can make a machine as low cost as you want. The question is what are you going to make with it and how long do you want it to last. Shop around, you can purchase kits starting as low as $499 that's just for the wood frame, z-axis linear rods, bearing and lead screws. You need to dump an additional $200 to $1000 for the steppers, the electronics, router, tooling, etc. Basically it really does not matter what you construct your machine from. There are plans available that claim you can build a cnc router for less than $200 again it depends on the application and shopping around for the parts.

[tracyranson]

I use the tb6560 kit, it won't give you rapids, and it's Chinese. You can get this kit with everything for about 200$. This is by far the cheapest kit, but like I said if you need quality I would stick with American, but if you have a low budget use this.
TB6560 3 Axis Driver and Nema 23 Stepper Motor CNC kit | eBay

What is the torque rating of the motors? I have a friend who uses the board that you are showing in the kit, has replaced it 4 times until he learned that it needs more cooling and that there is also a special start up sequence that should be followed, not to mention that you have to run in 1/8 or 1/16 step mode to get the drive to run effectively. Have you had this same issue?

[flojor10]

I built my cnc out of mdf it has 17x17x5in workable area. I spent less then 400$ for everything and it gives .01in precision on wood:cheers:! I'm going starting a new build thread tomorrow and I should finish by X-mas. I have the 270oz kit from goodluckbuy.com. I use 1/16 step and I haven't had any real problems with my board. Mine messed up when I had it running for 10hrs in a closed and taped box without any circulation (completely my fault, I wanted to keep dust out then forgot about it:violin. If you use the right motor and power supply match you won't have problems. Just remember add the motor amps from all 3 steppers then add 1 amp to find the power supply you need. Then find a supply with between 24-36 volts. The tb6560 board is cheapest one available aside from an arduno setup, trust me I've spent hours searching, I to was on a budget, goodluckbuy.com has the best tb6560 kit deals. If you have any more questions about mach3 configuration, powersupply, limit switches, ect. I would be glad to help.

[sendoushi]

I built my cnc out of mdf it has 17x17x5in workable area. I spent less then 400$ for everything and it gives .01in precision on wood:cheers:! I'm going starting a new build thread tomorrow and I should finish by X-mas. I have the 270oz kit from goodluckbuy.com. I use 1/16 step and I haven't had any real problems with my board. Mine messed up when I had it running for 10hrs in a closed and taped box without any circulation (completely my fault, I wanted to keep dust out then forgot about it:violin. If you use the right motor and power supply match you won't have problems. Just remember add the motor amps from all 3 steppers then add 1 amp to find the power supply you need. Then find a supply with between 24-36 volts. The tb6560 board is cheapest one available aside from an arduno setup, trust me I've spent hours searching, I to was on a budget, goodluckbuy.com has the best tb6560 kit deals. If you have any more questions about mach3 configuration, powersupply, limit switches, ect. I would be glad to help.

Please let me know about that topic

[flojor10]

It seems to me you want to start the hobby, and you have a tight budget. This is how I started a year ago, if your looking to save money these are some componets I would use; my current machine uses 3/8-12 acme 2C leadscrews, chinese 1/2in chome plated supported rails w 12 bearing blocks, anti backlash nuts, tb6560 270ozin kit, and a Rigid 1hp 6amp router. However if you wanted to build the cheapest cnc possible you could use Acme 3/8-12 2G leadscrews, regular nuts, Thomson 1/2 regular steel shaft, Bronze Bushings, tb6560 180ozin kit, and a Dremel tool. This would allow you to make a cnc for about 250$-300$ with electronics already included. The goal of my new build is to make the most cost effective cnc possible, but still make it so it is good enough for hobby use, and be able to cut aluminum, mdf and wood. It will have a workable area of 15x15x4 and accuracy of about +/-.005inches. I want to sell the new cnc I'm making for about 500$ with everything you need to start the hobby.

[flojor10]

Please let me know about that topic

Specifically what do you want to know more about?

[tracyranson]

I built my cnc out of mdf it has 17x17x5in workable area. I spent less then 400$ for everything and it gives .01in precision on wood:cheers:! I'm going starting a new build thread tomorrow and I should finish by X-mas. I have the 270oz kit from goodluckbuy.com. I use 1/16 step and I haven't had any real problems with my board. Mine messed up when I had it running for 10hrs in a closed and taped box without any circulation (completely my fault, I wanted to keep dust out then forgot about it:violin. If you use the right motor and power supply match you won't have problems. Just remember add the motor amps from all 3 steppers then add 1 amp to find the power supply you need. Then find a supply with between 24-36 volts. The tb6560 board is cheapest one available aside from an arduno setup, trust me I've spent hours searching, I to was on a budget, goodluckbuy.com has the best tb6560 kit deals. If you have any more questions about mach3 configuration, powersupply, limit switches, ect. I would be glad to help.

I want to thank you for your comments. The TB6560 chip has a special start up sequence and gets really hot, really fast requiring constant direct air flow on each chip to keep the temp low as these chips tend to fault out when they get hot. I like the fact that it is a dual purpose chip what I don't like about it is it takes high voltage and at the minimum 3 or more amps to operate. I also do not like the fact that they do not operate well under all step conditions. It seems that 1/4 step or less works the best. I found a supplier in Canada that makes an awesome 3 axis setup using the TB6560 with the BOB if I recall it was modularcnc on eBay and they had auction for 3 and four axis drivers and they were affordable. I purchased the 3 axis driver for one of my customers and it cost less than $40 U.S.$$ to ship. That was a year ago and my customer is still using the same drivers.

[flojor10]

Wow I haven't seen those drivers, they look high quality and still very affordable! If my driver ever totally burns out I'll have to give it a try. I like how the drivers are each individual and the toshiba chip is elevated so if the driver is laying on a flat surface it still gets air flow. I've been looking for better drivers that are affordable and this is definitely one of them. I also like the tb6560 board
in the red color. The chinese say its better but I doubt it.

George




MK4 + 4 MM160 4 Axis CNC Bipolar TB6560 Stepper | eBay