Overview of my DIY CNC Router
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- Опубликовано: 30 окт 2016
- List of major components used: amzn.to/2i86rkt
It has taken forever for me to get this footage edited, but it is finally here.
Please leave comments on areas you would like me to explore further...and faster. I need to learn to make shorter videos.
Sketchup drawing of the major components: Here is a link to the plans. It is a Sketchup file with different view tabs and all the main dimensions.
www.dropbox.com/s/1jw01mvd50g... 
Хобби
Thanks so much for documenting all of this for the rest of us!
Exactly what I have always dreamed off. Have started building an exact replica. Thank you for sharing experience and plans and comments. You are a very generous person.
You're one of the cooler boomers i've come across on youtube. seizing the means of production, looking forward, and doing cool stuff.
Well done, sir! Digging info on building my own and you have presented the key aspects in a very informative manner. Looks very solid and easy to understand the structural components. Thank you!
Thank you for showing us your work. You are very gifted. I enjoyed learning something
Impressive design and fab. I’m building a single axis stepper driven plasma cutter. This video and the one on servomotor sizing was very helpful. Thank you for posting.
Thanks for your time going over this. I am interested in CNC and possibly building my own. Your input/advise has been very helpful.
Thanks and good luck. The whole home CNC thing is really growing. I think the trend is being over shadowed by the excitement of 3D printing. P.
great job! They run the coolest lines through the cable tracks with the wiring.
This was very nicely done. I like the fact that you mounted the bearings facing up. Many DIY'ers side mount these which significantly reduces the lad bearing capacity of the assemblies.
I appreciate your build and video- I am just starting my journey to build a CNC 3 axis router similar to yours.
I look forward to the plasma build.
J
Nice Job! I'm just embarking on a build myself. Thanks for sharing your ideas and experience.
Wow, thank you for sharing this with us and especially giving back and making your Sketchup file available for us. That file makes such a difference for replication. I will try to make something using yours as a base for creating mine.
Good luck on your build. Send me some pictures. There is one up and running 'down under' already.
Nice video tour of your CNC. I in the design/build phase of my own and love to see others ideas and designs. Subscribed and looking forward to more videos!
Nice, organized setup. Well done.
Who but a woodworker would build a machine with WOOD parts! I had not seen your design (this video) before I started my designs fo a machine, and it is amazing how I came up with very similar designs; except for the horizontally mounted X axis; have not started the build and this video is making me re-think my deigns. Thank you for posting it!
Even though this video is 5 years old, it's still full of good material. Thanks. And thanks for including the sketch-up file (I'm doing my design work in Solidworks, but that's not a problem).
It is still relevant. The machine is still working great. I only have made a couple upgrades, primarily to the rails. ~P
Great video. You put out some very usefull info on building a nice looking CNC. Thanks.
Looks like a really nice build. I am looking at doing the same thing. Thanks for the video on it!
very nice table, I like the clear design. It Looks stable.
Very nicely done. Congrats!
Awesome project. Looks fantastic.
Greta video, thanks for a really good overview of your machine. really nice work you have done.
I am very slowly putting together a CNC of my own and given me some nice ideas.
Just found your channel, beautiful job on the CNC machine. I am subscribed!
Beautiful machine you built. Well done.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Great stuff,..Your'e absolutely right about grounding everything Preston. You can tell how over the years grounding has become more and more important and since the advent of smaller and smaller voltages I/E computers they've gone and increased the size of the common or neutral......I wont start in on clean power....lol
Very well built machine. Thank you for sharing.
Looks great, awesome job and thanks for the video.
looks solid - great job
Great video man, really appreciate you sharing it!!!
Interesting and helpful. You're a good teacher. Thank you.
Great build and really nice vid. I appreciate this has all good info for my build. I’m going with all rack/pinion and v-quad Linear rail sutethe x/y
Incredibly inspiring build summary! One of these days I'm going to pull the trigger and make something like this happen. I still feel I have so much to learn. May I ask what your background is? Just subscribed and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your videos. Thanks for taking the time to record, edit and share. I, like many, really appreciate it. Joel
Wonderful, thanks for sharing, still dreaming of the day...
Hell of a machine. Fantastic work!
Thanks ~P
Very well done, considering that you've literally custom bult it according to your criteria. Look forward to seeing more soon. Kind regards.
Great build there. I also use Mach 3 on my scratch built CNC
I really like your design. I think i will do something similar for my next machine. I like that you can feed and index a 4x8 sheet.
Nice work! Love the controller podium idea. I hope you post a schematic for your control cabinet.
Awesome build!!!
well done all the best from John in Texas
Looks real good and good work
Thank you give me some great info and ideas for my first project
I could NOT do it, you did fantastic, keep it up...
awesome. I envy your shop and knowledge.
Very nice work !!!
Nice build and good narration and thank goodness no inane music. Enjoy your machine , I have just about finished putting my 1075 openbuilds machine together and have done something very similar with the electrics, , nothing on the machine and all in a ventilated metal box and a big paddle on off switch on it. I'm just using the black box grbl controller and dont need separate driver modules so its a little bit smaller but just as enjoyable. I do not understand why so many people don't do the electrics in this way.
It is the best and safest option IMHO and keeps all the crap out of the main system brain. I live in 240 volt land so I will also be using a VFD spindle and hope to also build a fully insulated enclosure over the whole machine but allow for tiling , I too have tried a router and the noise difference is huge, with an enclosure as well even more I am hoping as that will have soundproofing but its going to cost half as much as the main machine so its another year for that bit.....Cant wait for the spindle to arrive now.....Many thanks for sharing.
Just subscribed. A lot of good information in your videos. I look forward to viewing future videos.
roireb1 thanks for subscribing.
Great vid man, thanks for sharing!
Looks like a lot of thought and effort went into this machine! I'm building one from scratch now and can assure you it isn't that professional looking... Cheers,
I am impressed with your build and the first run of end results. Thanks for sharing. I too am thinking of one day constructing my own CNC table and given I have a MIG machine, steel and can produce nice welds (as opposed to yours - tongue in cheek!), will go on the fundamental design of welded cut steel. I can also MIG weld aluminium > 3mm thick and may decide to construct the framework out of aluminium extrusions, but not the fancy T-track ones you see most CNC machines made from but solid chunky bits of framing into which I can drill hundreds of holes & taps. That way, if heaven forbid I needed to move it, I could actually lift it with a couple of guys.
One snag is the box for the controller gear - out of my league but hopefully I can find someone who will help me out there.
Whilst you have over-engineered it to billy-oh, it will work true for decades and as long as the motors don't burn out, you could run this machine as hard as you want and it won't miss a beat.
One thing does concern me however: the round bar / linear bearings and the ballscrew / bearings are open to the air and dust and chips will settle on them. I presume you will add a vacuum cleaner head to trap 90% of the flying debris but do you think constructing covers for your railing would become necessary - or would a good old fashioned broom and dust cloth do the job?
Overall a very impressive example of home-made ingenuity.
pretty interesting cnc design, especially Y axis. subbed ))
Awesome work! I'd love to recreate this same build for a plasma table... Currently fabricating a small turn table for welding with a NEMA 23 Stepper motor. Those motors are awesome!
I can't guarantee timely, but I am working on a plasma table next. I have a rough design in my head and have started collecting parts. I hope to start over the holidays.
nice explanation, nice machine, congrats my friend.
Well thought out setup. If anything can be taken away frm this, wld be the reminder that you can mock up on wood etc before hand as you did w your plate. AND mocking up even the electrical boxes will save time and space. Anyone cld look at your setup and know what was what AND how much thought went into each part of the sum.
Very smart design of X-axis. Less height=extra rigidity!
Yes, I noticed that aswell - going to build the same type.. Wonder why so little people build it this way?
@@tadasrudnickas3132 because the rigidity there does nothing.
good job I'm a tool and die maker and I'm impressed. once you get you speeds and feeds down that things gonna be unstoppable
Thank you. That is high praise to me coming from someone with tool and die making skills. ~P.
Awesome job Preston! From the square steel legs to the best x axis I've seen on RUclips this is a great build!
Just a thought, but if you continue with your plan to leave the steel uncolored, you might want to give it a light coat of clear poly to keep rust down some. I'm a fan of the bare steel look too, but in a couple years you'll get less happy about rust stains on your pants, hands and all your projects.
Thanks for the compliments. As for the bare steel your point is well taken. It is coated right now but not with poly. A little secret I learned from an old timer that used to do some auto restorations. Go to the auto parts store and pick up a can or two of 'battery and ignition sealer'. Spray can of this clear stuff that goes on very thin and lasts for ages. It can be removed with solvent if you want to paint later, or I have painted right over it. It dries super fast and leaves no glass. It does however have a nasty off gas smell. I will only use it outside. Makes lacquer smell good.
I had a similar issue with building too heavy of a frame to move easily in the workshop. Might try setting up the bottom side to accept a pallet jack to aid in the moving process.
Awesome build guy
Joe Eichholz he's not your guy, buddy
Good job thanks for going to the trouble of showing us your project very nice :)
Very nice job and nice improvements on the machine. Would you have a parts list for the control panel box and wiring diagram for it?
Great looking machine !
Excellent video!
Subbed
Very nice ...Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the video, I love your design. Sorry if I missed it but what size motor are you using on the Z axis? I'm designing a machine that is very similar to yours where the ball screws will be exposed. Have you had any issues with loose clothing or anything getting caught in them? I'm thinking I might make a cover.
very nice build..
Great build!
I have a 4'x4' router I built from a FineLine Automation kit for the mechanicals. Right now it has the original rack and pinion drive and bearing blocks with 6 roller-bearings each, riding on 1/4"x4" x6" steel rails for the X and Y and a ball screw and linear rails for the Z. Dual Y drive and all NEMA 23 steppers. Trying to keep the bearing blocks adjusted for the 2 ends of the gantry are a nightmare. I had paying jobs lined up but had to cancel them because I could not hold the accuracy on the Y.
I would calibrate and be cutting perfect circles, all backlash compensated by Mach 3. Then 1/2 way through a job, I would be cutting ovals. X and Z are fine. I can hear the gantry binding and releasing as I traverse it back and forth on the Y with no load. I scrapped the steel rails to 12" flatness (longer than the bearing blocks) but no improvement.
I have purchased 2-15mm ballscrews with nuts and bearings from china and they are very clean and precise with no discernible (by hand) play. I also bought 2 Japanese linear rails removed from machinery in Korea ( the profile kind with 2 bearing blocks each with recirculating bearings.). I cannot tell they have ever been used and are smooth and tight. All these are 6 feet long. I have 2-960oz NEMA 34 motors to drive them, one on each side of the Y. Getting rid of the rack and pinion and the finicky original bearing blocks.
I assume this is overkill grunt for my gantry. All of my framing is 3x3" alum. extrusions and spindle mounting plates 1/2" alum. Even with a 6' steel rail, I can lift the gantry by myself. I didn't think to weigh it before assembly but I would guess less than 200 pounds.
My question: Would it be better to keep the dual Y drive with the ball screws and 2 NEMA 34s OR redesign the gantry to be driven from 1 motor and ballscrew under the center of the table and save one of the motors and ballscrews to convert the X axis?
Is that enough info. The reason I would want to is I would only have to buy 2 rails to complete an X upgrade. Perhaps even round like yours.
Sorry. My bad. I just mic-ed my balls screws and they are 2005s 20mm x 5 pitch.
I thought they looked better with those massive 34s. Esthetics is everything. :-)
Hi, thank for your video. What is the wall thickness of steel sq tubes you used for the frame?
Very nice build. Do you have any cad files for the control podium?
Thank you for share it, and for give us your time on making the video. Great.!!
Your welcome.
@Simon Messer Kit for what part of this build?
I seen you video on your CNC, like it. It's the TOP
I wish I know what the total cost was, I would to build one myself.
you know what might be a sweet project to do in aluminum, some end caps for that square tubing. I think that thing is sweet though, good job for sure.
you made no mistake. no matter the windows environment, a dedicated pulse train generator is a GOOD thing to have. Be it ESS Smooth Stepper, UC100/300, centroid acorn etc etc etc. you made the right choice.
I'm looking to do a similar design. I'll probably start with a plywood structure just due to metal working tool availability. I had a question about whether you can mount that style of rails vertically, versus horizontally like you have them. Is there a limitation to that style of rail?
I was thinking about doing the platform to take 4x8, but after you said why you did 4x4, I think it makes a lot of sens to do only 4x4 now.
My question is, is this setup capable of machining 6061 aluminum alloy, brass and copper. Thanks.
¡¡ I loved the bucket !!
nice machine! I am using those spiral cut aluminium motor/shaft couplers too. but they are springy on the axis that moves the gantry and router. how is it that yours aren't springy?!
I had to cut up a credit card and shove the pieces between the spirals to reduce the spring. but the gantry still bounces a little.
Wow, super job :)
What stepper and controller system did you use. Also motor torque. Nice job.
Great Job!
All good. I don't think you are missing out much (apart from some possible job screw ups) by skipping the centronics port and going to an ethernet smoothstepper. All of my glitches were eliminated by spending the extra $ for the smoothstepper. My machine even sounds better when it is running! All the best with this beast.
Hi a gantry will be my second CNC build. My first is a Grizzly mill conversion. I also have a larger commercial unit that I like to make parts on for my own stuff. I like your design. How are you finding the rigidity of the square tubing? Any vibration? I was considering a 1/4" wall thickness on a smaller 24" x 36" strictly for metal.
wow man great work . I'm armrest . thanks for sharing
Excellent! Thank you.
Great Video nice machine! still building my system although not as intricate or massive as yours but fun none the less. Great job
As long as you are enjoying the build, it doesn't matter. Best of luck. I have continued to add to mine with air and vacume and such. It I even call it done someone will expect me to put it to use. :) ~P
Great video
do you reinforce the pipe wall for the installation of the rail at all?
That is the MOST overbuilt control setup I have EVER seen on a CNC router. If you had just shown the control boxes, I'd think you were running a 20,000 lb. VMC. Then there's the Nema 34's on a 4'x4' table...wow, way more than you need. Well at least you had fun and now have the strongest 4'x4' CNC router on the planet.
Yep. Learned a lot. If you watch my videos on practical stepper motors you will find that I agree (now) that 34's are too large. As for the control cabinet...I like it. I was inspired by another build I saw once. I don't like a mess.
Said another way, this is an incredibly well built machine for what CNC routers are normally used for... and this well built machine may be possible to use on materials not normally cut on a CNC router (or CNC router - plasma torch hybrid.) Amazing job. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your videos.
Learned a lot is an understatement. I did the same thing with my CNC mill; the Nema 34's and their massive drivers and power supplies alone are enough to assume I was controlling ten machines. It does pass the 'is it manly?' test, that's for sure, even if it just shows that I had no idea what I was doing for my first build...
With that said, you now have the opportunity to upgrade to clearpath motors in the future, put other cutters and hardware on the gantry, and tweak the system as you see fit. Because unlike those who purchase their own, you know literally everything about your machine, and can do whatever you want to it. Congrats!
Thanks a lot. I appreciate the good words. I am already designing my next machine, a plasma table.
Is your build somewhere on the internet to see? ~P.
No... I should probably do that at some point.
what did you set the microstepping 2 to git rid of the heat?
Awesome I am thinking about building one working on learning the drawing part first.
That is the key. It is also the part people overlook when they run out and buy one of them cool new 3D printers.
You can make some fun stuff and get your machine running quickly just by using Easel from Inventables. Good Luck. ~P
Bravo........heads up note.......two things........magnetic shield on cables motors and cross cables at 90 degress.....cheers
AUDIO QUALITY!AUDIO QUALITY!AUDIO QUALITY!AUDIO QUALITY!
The quality improved when you wear the microphone or have it very close to your head.
Sbirdranch, my name is Jacques, I come from Quebec and I wanted to ask you how you connect your 2 axes Y, serie or parallel I made a CNC practically the same as you but Yas 1 only Y that works even in Slavic A. As you the diagram of your engines or a video, passing my software is mach3. thank you to answer me
Great build and video. I look forward to seeing your plasma cutter. What is your maintenance plan for the ball screws and slides? Do you feel the need to shield these from dust and in the future sparks from the plasma cutter?
The bearings have wipers on them, but I still try and keep them from getting too dirty. With my change in plans, I won't use ball screws and linear rails like these for the plasma version. It is way more precision then I think a plasma table needs. That said, it was the concern for sparks and grit in my original plan that had me put the rails above the work surface.
Thanks from Bangladesh .
Have you had any issues running anti-freeze through your spindle?
Wished I saw your video before building mine. If I build another, going to incorporate lot of your ideas. Great job, both with the machine and your video.
Mike
Thanks Mike.
Thanks for sharing , I like your engineering . I was debating to build one myself with square block hiwin linear bearings . Wish I had enough confidence to weld the base and get it acceptably accurate. I was going to use t slot extruded aluminum, but your idea using steel is much better imo . Just a little harder for me to implement , so I'm sticking with the aluminum
A lot of the design features I built into the framework came directly from my consideration of not being able to fabricate a perfect frame. Once I had those adjustments baked in, it took all the pressure off of trying to make a perfect welded frame. Good luck in whatever you do.
+sbirdranch
Yes I realize that . You have some good ideas for levelling and squaring the gantry , and that should come in handy for tramming the spindle /router .
You do understand that all of the CPU's (after 2003) have 64-bit instruction set? Just reinstall the operating system to a 32-bit one if you like.
Not so, I work for a company that design and build point of sales machines and the last 32-bit processors we designed systems around were based on Pentium 4E processors which were released in 2004 and I think there were a couple of other 32-bit processors released after this but we did not use these
Great Job! Thanks!