[Macwood]

Hi all,
My name is mac and I design and make bespoke furniture.
I am interested in building a cnc router for primarily for milling hardwood component’s and with a minimum work envelope of 600mmx1200 (48", 24") or ideally 1200mmx1200mm (48", 48").
I have access to a cnc cutting service locally (UK) for both wood and metals so it would be great if I could find/purchase plans with digitalized drawings that could go straight to cnc.
I currrently use sketchup pro for all my work.
My build budget is about £2500 ($4000us) not including pc or software as I have these.
I purchased Momus cnc plans a few years ago but the build is too small now for my current requirements. (Great detailed plans tho).


It would be great the hear the forums views/advice on potential plans and level of accuracy I can expect with this kind of budget.

And I’m looking forward to being part of this forum.

Best
Macwood

[awerby]

I like the Mechmate plans; it's a pretty well thought-out system that doesn't rely on a lot of expensive aluminum extrusions: MechMate CNC Router - Build your own with our detailed plans

[wizard]

Hi all,
My name is mac and I design and make bespoke furniture.
I am interested in building a cnc router for primarily for milling hardwood component’s and with a minimum work envelope of 600mmx1200 (48", 24") or ideally 1200mmx1200mm (48", 48").

Which a venue you take depends upon many factors. For example what shop equipment you have, mechanical skills and free time. Since you apparently have a professional wood working shop many of the tools you have can be useful for fabrication of aluminum components, steel becomes more difficult but you can always have another shop do the machining work. You can also build out of wood.

In the end you need to understand what you want to achieve and also what you need Z axis wise. I mention the Z axis because you didn't in the above dimensions. The problem is working with hardwoods implies a different machine than one designed for sheet goods only. Depending upon your interests you may need a lot more Z clearance. In the end you need to nail down what size machine you will need before looking at too many plans.

I have access to a cnc cutting service locally (UK) for both wood and metals so it would be great if I could find/purchase plans with digitalized drawings that could go straight to cnc.
I currrently use sketchup pro for all my work.
My build budget is about £2500 ($4000us) not including pc or software as I have these.

That is a realistic budget that should be able to produce a decent machine for a working shop. This given that you do much of the work yourself.

I purchased Momus cnc plans a few years ago but the build is too small now for my current requirements. (Great detailed plans tho).

Funny I was just reviewing that machines web site yesterday! It is an interesting machine but as you note not really suitable for a wood working shop. You could scale the design up some. The one thing I do like about the machine is its totally enclosed design which is great for dust control.

It would be great the hear the forums views/advice on potential plans and level of accuracy I can expect with this kind of budget.

And I’m looking forward to being part of this forum.

Best
Macwood

Good to have you aboard! We have a broad array of backgrounds here.

The best thing you can do right now is to fire up a web browser and search for all of the DIY CNC router builds out there. Also consider kit suppliers like CNCRouterparts.com. Get a good idea of what is possible and then learn what to stay away from as far as poor designs go. Speaking of which there are many good build threads right here in these forums.

I suspect, due your focus on hardwoods, is that you may have higher expectations when it comes to the quality of the machining relative to say someone doing sheet goods all day. If so gravitate to stiffer machine designs that are mechanically correct.