[shawnc515]

Hi there CNC Zone, a friend and I have been working on the design of a low-cost CNC router that the average person can afford for their home shop. We plan to have many upgrades available for the machine, such as a 3D printing head and a laser engraving head. The aim is to keep the cost of the machine under $1,500. The machine will be using profile linear rails and precision ball screws. At the present time, we would like some insight from the community regarding thoughts on the cost and possible machine features. We are aiming for the machine to be ridged enough to be able to cut aluminum and possibly steel.

Any ideas provided here on CNC Zone will be credited to the original contributor. Once ready, we will provide some CAD renderings of the machine.

[awerby]

If you've priced out new profile rails and precision-ground ball screws, you might have discovered that these things alone would come up to - or past - the projected total price for this machine, unless it's really tiny. Have you ever built a router before? All those little bits and pieces tend to add up; you might be surprised. And machining steel, even on the best shop-built routers, doesn't usually work too well - have you tried it? If you've got sources for all the required parts to build a sizable router this inexpensively, consider offering them as a kit, since most people would have to pay a lot more.

[shawnc515]

Hi there Awerby,

Thank you for your interest in the project, The machine is in fact a smaller machine having a cutting area of about X 9", Y 9" and Z 5". I do understand that the rails and ball screws are very expensive and may very well break the intended budget. For the machining, I am a machinist by trade and work at a small company where I design and build resistance welding equipment. I also own a Bridgeport BOSS CNC mill that I will be using to make most of the part, the parts are designed to be simple to make while retaining stability. As for having built CNC routers, I have built 5 routers so far. My first one was years ago in high school machine shop class where I built the JGRO MDF router, it was a great learning experience and worked good enough to make a number of signs that my neighbors asked for. The other four machines were ones that I built out of scrap steel that I had available. I will admit that I never got to actually try all of them. Being a machinist, I fully understand just how hard steel can be, currently at work I am working on a 10' long bar of hot rolled steel that has been chewing through carbide inserts like butter. As for kits, that is an interesting thing to keep in mind. Currently, I am not willing to release the drawings as I am worried about somebody simply copying them and calling the machine their own. I think I addressed everything, if there are more questions please let me know.

Thank you,

Shawn

[ger21]

I don't think that there are very many people interested in building a machine that small.

Does your $1500 include electronics and control software?