[malibuss]

Been lurking here for a week or so gathering information on purchasing and converting a bench mill (ZX45) to CNC and belt drive so I thought I would sign up as it has been a awesome place for info!!

I am into building Sand Cars and Off Road vehicles.

[tota76]

Hi guys! I setting up a fab lab in my city, we are looking for a big cnc roter and a good laser cutter, we alredy have a 3dPrinter, CNC desktop and a vinyl cutter.

Antonio

[Winspear]

Hey! Been lurking here a while whilst messing around in Rhino3D. Finally time to realise some of my designs on my new Stepcraft cnc.

[coolhammerman]

I have a 2004 vintage ShopBot 4896 w Gecko upgrade (PK7518 Router) which I will be selling the end of March 2015 to purchase a laser. Looking at 60-80 watt and need to begin the education process so I joined. My interests and needs have changes quite a bit since I purchased the Bot so rearranging my shop and equipment. Mostly a turner these days so looking to augment those activities. Love the Epilog but way to pricey for me. Thinking about Chinese and don't want to make a mistake. Import directly or go with US reseller?
Merry Christmas.
Ron

[n00b101]

Hi I am new to machining. I purchased a CNC ready Sherline 5400 mill and a CNC ready Sherline 4400 lathe from a local supplier in Toronto. I also ordered stepper motors and a TB6600 controller from China. I'm in the process of setting all this up with LinuxCNC. I hope to eventually make an internal combustion engine using these tools.

[AxelFoley]

Hello everyone,

My initial interest in machining sprang out of my desire to fabricate my own gun/auto parts.

I am currently building a lathe that is somewhat gingeryish (inspired), but utilizing different materials in many cases.

[eau]

interested in building a wood cnc machine for making grnadkids toys, maybe a guitar. I hear that this is the best place to obtain info, and i hope if possible share
eau

[Inquisitor28]

Hey guys,
I'm completely new to CNC but its something I've been wanting to do / learn for quite some time.
I plan to build my own CNC mill over the course of the year so any tips / help would be welcome!

[key2city]

hello all metal surgeon half blind but now I see metal is in my blood thanks for all your support

[CHITT]

hi friends! great to be here with an intention to learn different techniques for profile cutting of acrylic with waterjet cutting.
shall be happy to share my experience with Maxiem 1530 waterjet cutting machine also.

[MtlManipulation]

Good Day!

My name is Joe and I'm an experienced CNC Programmer/Setup/Operator setting up my side business called Metal Manipulation. Starting out with a simple 2-axis Lathe and a 4-axis Mill, both CNC. Mostly looking for small batch runs (1-500/month), prototypes, and tooling for the foundry, injection molding, and thermoforming industries.

Feel free to PM with an RFQ and I will do my best to get back to you in a timely manor. Thank you very much for your time and have a good day.

[ilkekko]

Hi, I'm Francesco from Italy!
I'm a programmer and I like CNC. I will use it only for hobby.

[Rtswalow]

I have a small business. I design and build small prototype and production run wood products for manufactures, retailers, and my own retail business. One year ago, I augmented my business base by including a 24 x 18 Shopbot CNC. I am now making detailed 2d and 3d products. I am joining this forum to learn how to optimize my CNC routing capabilities so I can meet the needs of my old and new customer base, with greater custom and non custom detailed American made high quality wood products.

Rog Swallow

[JesseBusenitz]

Hi guy and gals! I'm a self employed cabinet/furniture builder looking to get into cnc, so bear with me and my stupid questions

[Preator]

I have a different idea to get some feedback on. Has anyone ever thought about mounting a mid size CNC roughly 2'x4' vertically on a wall. Not a heavy duty one but a aluminum frame. Other than getting big enough motors on side rails to make sure that they do not bog down with the weight of the gantry I have never seen anyone try this.

[billfle]

Hi Preator, I have built 2 CNC routers and have built both of them vertically. My reasoning is that the swarf and chips just fall off the board. If a tray is fitted along the lower edge and connected to a vacuum cleaner, it can collect most of the fall.Attachment 261908. My first one shown in red was mounted as you would expect to see a draftsmans table. This worked very well. I did not follow the usual design of large aluminium gantry. I preferred to design mine with minimal materials. I have also inserted a photo of the main mechanism of the X axis where it joins to the Y axis. From this you can see the simple componentry. I could have used a piece of RHS steel about 75mm square or a piece of angle iron suitably machined. I have used 30mm double linear bearing on the X axis and 25mm double linear bearings on the Y axis. 25mm Ball screws are used on both X & Y and there are two motors on the X axis. Each has it's own driver unit but the inputs are in parallel.Attachment 261910. This has resulted in a very tight structure and a cutting surface of 500 x 950mm. This machine works very well. It has a steel frame. I have also made it so the base board can be removed and sharp pins inserted at each corner. I can then place the machine anywhere on a large sheet and cut out that section. This would allow me to cut any size sheet by putting locating points in the software. Just move the machine to another location on the sheet. This design has allowed a cheaper construction, tighter and more versatile than the gantry types. It also keeps the mechanisms such as ball screws and linear bearings above the messy areas by letting the mess flow under them. By keeping the material count down it should allow many more enthusiasts to join in. Machining is simpler and cost is much lower.

My second machine which is still under construction is also almost vertical. I have avoided the use of linear bearings and ball screws as I have had problems when machining craftwood panelling. This machine uses synchronous H100 drive belt on the X & Y axes. It will also use a smaller belt for the Z axis. It is still under construction but I have added the photos for your interest.Attachment 261912 This machine is 1500mm x 2900mm cutting area and uses a water cooled 2.2kW variable speed router. I have carved the aluminium components on my KX1 CNC milling machine.Attachment 261914Attachment 261916Attachment 261918Attachment 261920. Hope this helps.
regards

Bill

[vbke]

Hi folks,
I just spoiled my self with a small laser, despite not enough time for my other hobbies (genealogy, motors, ....).
I hope to learn and find a lot of interesting stuff over here.

[Caramon6561]

Hi all,

Im a little bit of a newdie to cnc programming. A little about myself. I graduated in 2014 from kent state university with a bsm... i work for Exterran energy solutions in youngstown, Oh. I am the senior operaror of a ESAB advenger II.. I am waiting for an opening in tje engineering dept so i can move up with the company.

[melvynhiscock]

Hello, very new to the whole CNC world but eager to learn.

I have made the odd guitar and written a bit about it

[NWBEST]

Ok (lurker here)...I guess it's time to post some information :wave:. I have been putting together a 'largish' diy mill/router for about a year using a combo of new & surplus parts. . I figure I'm 75% done. Right now I am trying to find a match for 2 older Vexta PK299-02BA motors (3A...was planning on running unipolar with a Gecko G540). I bought the motors local from a surplus store (near Hillsboro Intel HQ). I unfortunately can't find any more used ones online (or even anything with similar specs). The only other option that I can come up with is to run 4 of the 465 oz. 3.5A motors from automation technolgies. Was really hoping to use what I had (tight budget 'wife'). Machine needs to be Nema 34.

So...anyone know of a used motor style that will match up to a Vexta PK299 (3A motor)? ...not the newer 4.5A

Any help would be appreciated...should I just go with something newer? If so I need to sell the 2 I have first (anybody interested?)


General Machine specs:

Cutting area will be (approx. 28 x 32)
6" Z drop
1000 mm THK HSR35 rails (new)
used pair NSK ballscrews for X
THK SHS25 for Z
NSK ballscrew (used) complete for Z
Star (new) ballscrew for Y (had to make the bearing mounts...couldn't find them online)
Heavy extruded for frame.
1/2 aluminum plate for misc parts.

I'll post a pic...kind of a mess...but you can at least see a general idea.

Thanks in advance