[drdonh]

Hi,
Thought I would share just a few pics of my almost completed CNC project (is any project ever complete?), where many ideas came from this forum. It uses an old drafting table as a base, and in keeping with the office furniture look, I sought simplicity in design, with copious use of wood. It uses drawer glides (three 1 foot sections assemble end to end) for the Y axis, aluminum broom handles and nylon pulley bearings for the x axis, and drawer glides for the z axis. Nema 23 motors for X and Y, and Nema 17 for Z (which I think I will ugrade to 23). I am very happy with the stiffness and precision of the resultant machine. It is shown here with a Dremel type spindle, but other tools I would affix for the stuff I do would include a vinyl cutter, a wood burning pen, vibrating metal engraver, and maybe a laser engraver one day. In the pictures is one milling a growth ruler for a grandson.

As mentioned, nothing special in the design that has not been covered in the forum before, but I would note some things that are bit different:
- Using double shaft motors to nest the motor inside the machine. These motors are a bit harder to source and more expensive, but it makes for a cleaner look.
- Braiding the gantry cables to make a "ribbon" that rolls in the cable tray. The wire is salvaged from some old damaged extensions cords (mostly AWG18) I had. Extension cord wire is made using finer wire strands and very pliable insulation, so it bends well, but the gage is certainly overkill for this application. The two stepper motors power (8), tool power (2), and limit switch leads (3) make up the cable. I use optocouplers for the limit switch circuits, and so far I have not noticed any interference issues.

[routalot]

Well done for being creative.There are some novel solutions there and the machine obviously works.Do you have a stack of projects waiting to be machined?

[fretman_2]

Cool idea!