Hello everyone,

I am looking into building a CNC routing/millingmachine. I am fairly new to the idea buthave been researching a little about what to look for and other peoples “If Icould do things differently” notes. Please also note that I have not yet gotten into any calculation,yet. I am purely going off what I haveseen and researched.

THE DESIGN
- Try to keep costs low without sacrificing toomuch quality.
- Maintain a sturdy construction, especially forthe gantry.
- Able to cut a variety of materials includingwood, plastic, and some aluminum.
- Able to plug into a 120V socket.
- Able to be upgraded if needed.
- Replaceable parts


ELECTRONICS

Stepper Motors
- I decided to go with NEMA 23 motors afterreviewing NEMA 23 vs. NEMA 34. NEMA 34seemed to be a little overkill and a lot more costly.
- https://www.omc-stepperonline.com/cnc-kit/4-axis-cnc-router-kit-31nm439ozin-nema-24-stepper-motor-and-driver-4-dm542t-24hs34.html
Breakout Board
- https://www.omc-stepperonline.com/stepper-motor-driver/5-axis-cnc-breakout-board-interface-mach3-cnc-router-kit-st-v2.htmlSpindle
Spindle and Drive
- I decided on a 2.2kw air cooled spindle.
- I plan to purchase the common Chinese spindleand drive from eBay.
Other parts
- I was thinking that the E-Stop and limits I canfind for a good price on AutomationDirect.com


MECHANICAL PARTS

Frame
- I plan on using 8020 extruded aluminum. I plan on searching eBay for this portion. I also plan on having some 0.5” thickaluminum for additional custom parts.
Linear Motion
- Was looking into ball screws for the antibacklash and the precision.
- I am looking into using the linear slidescurrently, because they seem to be a lower cost without losing too muchquality. I wanted to use the Hiwinblocks and rails, but they are pretty pricy.


Please give me any insightabout the decisions I have made so far. I am an open book. Please add any helpful words you may have, helpfullinks, brainstorming ideas, and more. I plan on compiling all the informationfor this build to help others out as well.

One big issue I am runninginto when trying to keep costs low is finding parts and purchasing parts. I want to build the machine so that if a partfails I can replace it. I am trying tostick to standard parts or catalog parts (other than the spindle and drive,only because they are everywhere and can be replaceable). If anyone has good places to buy parts,please, please let me know.


Is going with lead screws initially a bad idea?
Is going with wood in place of the aluminum plates initiallya bad idea?
Does anyone have places they like to purchase partsfrom? Especially anything to do withball screws, lead screws, linear slides, and linear blocks.


Thank you for your help. I appreciate it.