[BuildACNC]

Hi All,

This is my first post and I'm designing a new mini desktop CNC router that I thought I'd share with you guys.

My background is about 10 years as a CNC machinist and metal fabricator. I have used equipment such as a HAAS VF2 mill, Daewoo Lynx L200 lathe, Mazak Laser, Flow Waterjet, and Strippet Turret Punch. I have always been an electronics enthusiast and for the last 6 years I have been a 3D CAD designer. In my home shop I have a 40 watt laser engraver/cutter, 3D Printer, vinyl cutter, and other various tools.

My goal is to create a small, open source, desktop CNC router for everyone interested to enjoy. I am close to having a working prototype and wanted to share my design progress thus far.

The design will use an Arduino controller loaded with the GRBL firmware for motion control.

Here are a few picture of the progress I have made so far.

Thanks for viewing,
Scott

Attachment 249572
Attachment 249574
Attachment 249576

[Tkamsker]

I like the last picture Most -
Looks like an i3 Design to me but . .
I have an proxxon mf70 70 cnc on an twisted marlin System is able to do pcb-gcode Milling maybe an Inspiration for you ...
Chance of using LCD cards and so on ..

[BuildACNC]

Thanks Tkamsker, the design is inspired by a lot of different machines

I hooked up the Y Axis to a circuit I made a while ago for manually jogging a stepper motor. Here's a video of it in action:

[wizard]

I noticed you have some experience with sheet metal oriented equipment. I have wondered about the feasibility of doing one of these low cost and light machines with sheet metal. That is cut, fold up and weld the basic structure of the machine. I have little knowledge though when it comes to modern sheet metal work. Maybe that isn't possible due to distortion and final assembly accuracy.

[BuildACNC]

Wizard,

It would definitely be possible to make one of these out of light gauge (18ga or so) sheet metal. I currently work for a metal fab shop where we have all the equipment to make such a machine. I opted to work with wood for this one since I have a small 40 Watt laser cutter in my home shop and the eventual goal of this build is to sell kits if there's enough of a market for them.

As for an all metal, low cost version, I would probably opt for a bolt together design as opposed to a welded design for the simple reason you mentioned, distortion and warping from welding light gauge metal. I designed a CNC Hotwire Foam Cutter along those lines a couple years ago.

[BuildACNC]

More parts for the Mini Desktop Router hot off the laser! After assembling parts of the prototype, I found multiple areas that needed improvements.

Attachment 250856

[Spotswood]

Hmmmm...what is your goal for repeatability +/- 0.01”?

[BuildACNC]

Spotswood, it's going to be +/- .01 to .020. My goal is to make a hobby desktop CNC router that can do printed circuit boards and low tolerance wood and plastic parts. I think it would be especially useful for making balsa wood molds for vacuum plastic molding and PCBs.

[wizard]

More parts for the Mini Desktop Router hot off the laser! After assembling parts of the prototype, I found multiple areas that needed improvements.

Isn't that always the case. A project can one or a hundred engineers and almost every time something is discovered after or during assembly that could be improved.

I must say though having access to a laser must be very freeing design wise.

[wizard]

Spotswood, it's going to be +/- .01 to .020. My goal is to make a hobby desktop CNC router that can do printed circuit boards and low tolerance wood and plastic parts. I think it would be especially useful for making balsa wood molds for vacuum plastic molding and PCBs.

+-0.20 might be a bit loose for circuit boards depending upon what needs to be achieved. It is too bad there isn't an off the shelf spindle solution, for this size machine, that isn't noticeably better than a Dremel. The Dremel puts limitations on your machines accuracy.

[BuildACNC]

Having a laser and 3D printer in my shop makes so many things possible that I couldn't do before! It's amazing what can be done them. I started out buying a cheap laser cutter off Ebay for less than $800. After running it for a few weeks I found that the software and electronics were unbearable to use. I knew this before buying the laser from reading countless reviews online but I thought I could make due with the drawbacks for at least a year or more. But within a month of buying the laser, I found myself buying all new electronics (controller, laser power supply, stepper motor drivers, control panel, Z table) and reworking the laser into something useable. The only original parts are the enclosure, laser tube, mirrors, and XY gantry. It's a pretty awesome machine now!

I agree on the tolerances being a bit loose but I figured I'd start out with loose tolerances for the first version and then make small improvements to the design to tighten things up.

[BuildACNC]

Here are a couple more pictures of the build progress. I redesigned the X Carriage and Z Axis assembly to make it easier to assemble. I have a few more ideas that I'm going to try in the near future for holding the bearings in place. I'm getting ready to hook up the electronics and give it a quick test.