[UnfoldAntwerp]

Hi all,

New to CNC/routing and the forum here but have a lot of experience with 3d printing/RepRap, mainly as pioneer of ceramic 3d printing (check unfoldfab.blogspot.be, Projects - Unfold Design Studio). But now I want to make bigger stuff

I am looking to build a 4'x4' or 4'x8' CNC router for doing 2D and 3D work in foam, wood & plastic (optionally aluminum). Just like with my 3d printers I am not looking to completely design a system from scratch myself but I would rather start from a well documented and broadly supported open source, DIY design (or alternatively a kit) and start customizing from there. We love doing new and exiting stuff in regards to applications so the software/electronics side of the thing should be open/flexible. Since we want to do 3D milling as well we should have a reasonable Z (100-150mm min.). And as we are located in the EU the design should best be metric and it should be easy to find the parts here as well.

What are your suggestions? What is a well documented open source/DIY design that has at least a 4' wide gantry?
After some googling and browsing in the forum I found the Kronos machines, CNC Router Parts 4896 or Joe's Hybrid 4x4 CNC Router which all seem to have plans that you can self build with kits/parts available.

Any pointers to machines/plans that could work for us are very appreciated! Thanks in Advance

[jueston]

i own the pro4848 by CNCRP and i really like it, the Kronos machine looks really heavy duty, but it relies on some metal cutting and hole drilling in steal, and i assume that if i can't do that accurately accuracy of the machine would suffer.

i liked the fact that the CNCRP machine was very open to being modified and added too but at the same time was completely finished and ready to use upon assembly.

[UnfoldAntwerp]

i own the pro4848 by CNCRP and i really like it, the Kronos machine looks really heavy duty, but it relies on some metal cutting and hole drilling in steal, and i assume that if i can't do that accurately accuracy of the machine would suffer.

i liked the fact that the CNCRP machine was very open to being modified and added too but at the same time was completely finished and ready to use upon assembly.

Thank you Jueston,
I've done some further research and came to the conclusion that I really like the CNCRP Pro machine. Seems to be a good compromise between price, quality, and openness like you mentioned. I think the most important part is to get started and improve/upgrade along the road. I'm realistic in that I

This movie series by Frank Howarth also convinced my:
Frank Howarth Shows Us How to Build a CNC Machine from Scratch - SolidSmack
While it's not technically a CNCRP machine he got some of his part like Z axis there and the design is very similar. Since CNCRP also sells kits excluding all profile, it's more affordable to ship it to EU and source all here from Misumi.

[jueston]

Thank you Jueston,
I've done some further research and came to the conclusion that I really like the CNCRP Pro machine. Seems to be a good compromise between price, quality, and openness like you mentioned. I think the most important part is to get started and improve/upgrade along the road. I'm realistic in that I

This movie series by Frank Howarth also convinced my:
Frank Howarth Shows Us How to Build a CNC Machine from Scratch - SolidSmack
While it's not technically a CNCRP machine he got some of his part like Z axis there and the design is very similar. Since CNCRP also sells kits excluding all profile, it's more affordable to ship it to EU and source all here from Misumi.

i didn't know that frank howarth had a cnc machine. i love his videos on youtube, they are awesome.

[wizard]

I don't have an answer for you but have are w comments that may give you food for thought.

First you need to have realistic expectations and be able to sate those expectations. Many of the open designs are a bit on the light side if you are serious about accuracy and repeatability.

Hi all,

New to CNC/routing and the forum here but have a lot of experience with 3d printing/RepRap, mainly as pioneer of ceramic 3d printing (check unfoldfab.blogspot.be, Projects - Unfold Design Studio). But now I want to make bigger stuff

Having any CNC experience will be a great help. The question then becomes how big do you want to go.

I am looking to build a 4'x4' or 4'x8' CNC router for doing 2D and 3D work in foam, wood & plastic (optionally aluminum).

Each time you go to a more difficult material the more likely you will need to beef up your machines design. Of course the specifics of how and what you do with respect to machining aluminum are factor but if you want to do aluminum well you need to build a stiffer machine than is required for foam or even wood.

Just like with my 3d printers I am not looking to completely design a system from scratch myself but I would rather start from a well documented and broadly supported open source, DIY design (or alternatively a kit) and start customizing from there. We love doing new and exiting stuff in regards to applications so the software/electronics side of the thing should be open/flexible. Since we want to do 3D milling as well we should have a reasonable Z (100-150mm min.).

3D milling can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. However a Z clearance of 100mm isn't much and frankly machines primarily doing sheet goods will have more Z travel than that. I'd seriously put some though not what you mean by 3D here. For example 3D molds in foam are often thicker than 100 mm to start with. On the flip side the more Z you add the stronger and more robust the machine needs to be to machine harder materials like Aluminum.

And as we are located in the EU the design should best be metric and it should be easy to find the parts here as well.

Sorry to hear that you are in the EU as I can't help a great deal with finding things.

What are your suggestions? What is a well documented open source/DIY design that has at least a 4' wide gantry?

My suggestion is to step back and really get a handle on what you are expecting to do with the machine Make sure you define the working envelope reasonably for those goals. In my estimation 100 mm Z clearance is a bad idea for most router implementations and even a 150 mm may be to little. Getting the Z clearance right will save you considerable frustration latter on. You need t think about the types of tooling you will be using when considering Z clearance.

After some googling and browsing in the forum I found the Kronos machines, CNC Router Parts 4896 or Joe's Hybrid 4x4 CNC Router which all seem to have plans that you can self build with kits/parts available.

If you have any expectation of doing aluminum well, a lube or coolant will be required, as such that rules out and machines with work in their designs.

Any pointers to machines/plans that could work for us are very appreciated! Thanks in Advance

No pointers to plans.

One thing I would point out is that you need to either buy a kit or enlist the help of a local machine shop or fabricator is you don't have a lot of tooling on hand. The best savings come from being able to fabricate much of a machine yourself. The fabrication isn't difficult if you have some experience but can be frustrating if your skill set and tooling situation don't allow for good results. A fabricator does add to the cost though so that is something to consider.

A second thing here, The greater the importance that you place on the aluminum end of the machinable spectrum the more robust you should build this machine. At some point the kits I know about simply won't do as they are not robust enough for a machine primarily focused on aluminum. If you only expect to attack aluminum once in a great while then the story here is a bit different but too loose of a machine can be a huge issue even for minor one off projects. It comes back to expectations.

[UnfoldAntwerp]

I don't have an answer for you but have are w comments that may give you food for thought.

First you need to have realistic expectations and be able to sate those expectations. Many of the open designs are a bit on the light side if you are serious about accuracy and repeatability.

Thank you for the input Wizard! I hope I am realistically aware of the restrictions of the open designs and think I am not over-estimating them. My experience with DIY 3d printers hopefully gives me some perspective here.

Having any CNC experience will be a great help. The question then becomes how big do you want to go.

Each time you go to a more difficult material the more likely you will need to beef up your machines design. Of course the specifics of how and what you do with respect to machining aluminum are factor but if you want to do aluminum well you need to build a stiffer machine than is required for foam or even wood.

3D milling can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. However a Z clearance of 100mm isn't much and frankly machines primarily doing sheet goods will have more Z travel than that. I'd seriously put some though not what you mean by 3D here. For example 3D molds in foam are often thicker than 100 mm to start with. On the flip side the more Z you add the stronger and more robust the machine needs to be to machine harder materials like Aluminum.

Thank you for clearing this up. I did a little bit of googling to get a better grip on CNC vocabulary. So I should not take about milling when I mean routing
I was conservative on Z because I noticed that a lot of machines go to about 16cm (6.5") but I now have my eye on a CNCRP Pro which is 8" with an option for 12". This seems enough for what I have in mind when I say 3D. For foam moulds I can segment in parts. I need to find a compromise between 3D and speed/stiffness/accuracy for 2D.

Sorry to hear that you are in the EU as I can't help a great deal with finding things.

A combination of CNCRP kit w/o alu & steel extrusions seems to be a good way to save on shipping.

My suggestion is to step back and really get a handle on what you are expecting to do with the machine Make sure you define the working envelope reasonably for those goals. In my estimation 100 mm Z clearance is a bad idea for most router implementations and even a 150 mm may be to little. Getting the Z clearance right will save you considerable frustration latter on. You need t think about the types of tooling you will be using when considering Z clearance.

Yes, refining my expectations while I dive deeper into the matter.

If you have any expectation of doing aluminum well, a lube or coolant will be required, as such that rules out and machines with work in their designs.

No pointers to plans.

One thing I would point out is that you need to either buy a kit or enlist the help of a local machine shop or fabricator is you don't have a lot of tooling on hand. The best savings come from being able to fabricate much of a machine yourself. The fabrication isn't difficult if you have some experience but can be frustrating if your skill set and tooling situation don't allow for good results. A fabricator does add to the cost though so that is something to consider.

A second thing here, The greater the importance that you place on the aluminum end of the machinable spectrum the more robust you should build this machine. At some point the kits I know about simply won't do as they are not robust enough for a machine primarily focused on aluminum. If you only expect to attack aluminum once in a great while then the story here is a bit different but too loose of a machine can be a huge issue even for minor one off projects. It comes back to expectations.

I was overreaching a bit with mentioning aluminium If the machine is able to do some thin alu sheet routing that would be great but not essential, definitely not large 3D milling.
Thanks again for all the advice!

[Tkamsker]

I own a Heiz 400t and do Aluminium With it so Maybe That will help You to Point in a good Direktion


Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk