I guess I'll document my build here for the benefit of others.

I just got the machine about a week ago. It's in good condition but requires a lot of cleaning (dried-up grease and gunk). Working on that right now.

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I am thinking of ordering this setup for the motors:

4Axis NEMA 34 Stepper Motor 1600oz Driver CNC Router Mill Longs Stepper Motor | eBay

I don't need a 4th axis. The 3 axis kit is $450 so I figured it is well worth another $50 to get the fourth axis motor, driver and power supply. The only detractor is that shipping costs $125. Not sure how this might compare to other offers with free shipping from China and the potential to have to pay Customs fees. I'd appreciate feedback on this.

I have three Oriental Motor Super Vexta stepping motor drivers I am going to be selling on eBay. They are great but they are not powerful enough for the size of motor I want to put on this machine. I should be able to break even between selling the motor drivers and buying the kit I need for the mill.


As far as construction, I am going to convert the mill with the standard screws and convert to ballscrews as a second step later on. I might get brave and do it all in one step. It really depends on what kind of machining I have to do to make parts for the ballscrew version.

I am going to borrow ideas from Flashcut CNC and build my transmissions inside rectangular aluminum tubing. I just got a length of 4 x 2 x 0.25in 6061-T6 for the three transmissions.

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These brackets should not be all that difficult to make manually. It'd take longer than CNC but I'll use it as an opportunity to teach my oldest son about machining: Counting turns and learning how to deal with backlash by hand, feeling the cut, etc.


Thoughts, ideas, criticism and donations always welcome.


-Martin