Hi everyone. Love the site. I've been wanting to make my own CNC router ever since seeing some examples (here or at buildyourcnc) of people fixing them up out of MDF and using skate bearings.

I recently gained access to most of the significant machines I've needed by joining the local Tech Shop. It's been great. Primarily, I've been without a table saw, router, sliding compound miter saw, and drill press, but now they're available to me. I also have access to a laser cutter. And yes, the Tech Shop also provides a CNC Router, but I figure I have to make one without first, and then make a second using my own JGRO. That's the tradition, right?

I chose to go with the good old JGRO router plans that have been online for so long. Unbelievably, the plans are almost 10 years old now -- dated 2/11/2004! -- so part of me feels like I'm 10 years behind but I also want to get one of these under my belt before attempting anything fancier.

I also only have the plans. I've not seen any step-by-step instructions on how to build it. As such, it's been a great spatial learning experience, figuring out what goes where.

I'm approaching the build from the inside out, starting with the Z axis, and eventually moving up to the Y axis, and then constructing the beds. Partly, I want to do this because the small parts exercise some of the "hard" parts of build for me -- routing grooves, precision drilling, etc. -- and partly because I'm undecided on how big I want to make the X and Y axes.

The initial build steps are going well. As a starting point, I used the Tech Shop's laser cutter to create numerous jigs from 1/8" acrylic, thus getting precise pilot hole points everywhere. I also used the acrylic jigs for router distance placement, and then had more jigs set up to try to figure out router depth. The router depth jigs didn't work as well, but got pretty close, and I was always careful to cut test wood first and measure, rather than go for it all and cut too much. The pilot hole jigs were invaluable -- saved tons of time. (The drill press I'm using doesn't have laser guides.) For holes, I've been measuring drill bits with digital calipers to make sure they're the right diameter. All in all, it's been a great exercise in precision woodwork.

I'm at the point where I've gotten most of the main, small pieces cut, and some of them drilled. I sourced the 1-1/4" aluminum angle online and am about to cut it up. I got bearings from freebie rollerblades (freecycle). A local restaurant supply shop had great 1/2" plastic cutting boards that will become my lead screw nuts. It won't be long before I get the 1" and 1/2" pipe.

The things I'm wrestling with:
- Strengthening the holes before screwing to them. From what I've seen, I'll probably do the soak-with-superglue thing.
- Black pipe vs. galvanized steel? I'll probably do black pipe and sand it down.
- Lead screw and tap. I'll probably get Acme 1/2"x10, single start. It appears to be the least pricey of the bunch. But to tap the holes, I'm not as sure what to do. It'd be great if this group could start some kind of tool lending program. I'm intrigued by those who have made their own taps, and might take a shot at doing that. But I have zero metal milling skills.
- Adjustment blocks. I'm worried about these, as the original plans call for MDF, but most everything I've seen says that that's not going to work for the Y axis blocks.

Things I just don't understand:
- The plans call for 1/4x20 screws for connecting MDF to MDF with no bolting (e.g., connecting Z axis platform to Z axis bearing support). That doesn't make sense to me. Seems I'd be better off with either wood screws or machine screws with cross-dowels / barrel nuts.
- The pipes that are connected through the X axis top and bottom plates, and thus allow travel of the Z axis bearings, appear to go through the holes and therefore they're not really supported from below. They're only held in place by the adjustment blocks. That seems, well, unsupported.

Things I've given up wrestling with:
- Shouldn't I just bite the bullet and make it out of extruded aluminum? Well, I got this far and like the woodworking aspect...
- What about the first question they ask when building a DIY CNC Router: "What will you do with it?" Well, basically I don't have a plan for why I'm doing this, other than "It looks like a really fun project." I supposed once I've built it, I'll get on with building another one, using the one I'd made.

Anyway, that's where it is right now. Lots of MDF dust flying around as I build all these little blocks and get ready to join them together. Any pointers would be appreciated, though now that I've found this forum, I think I have more reading to do...