Gabriel's CNC Build

[Gabriel]

Here are some pictures of my latest CNC build. I've been meaning to put them up for awhile now, but haven't had the time until now.

I dissembled my old CNC so that I could use the parts from it to build the new one. My old CNC wasn't terrible accurate, so the goal with this build is to make a CNC which is as precise as possible which also doesn't cost a fortune. In fact, I have managed to get this far using scrap material that I had on hand, so, thus far, it hasn't cost anything.

I stole part of Travis's CNC design (Here is the link http://cerebralmeltdown.com/forum/index.php?topic=33.0). Like his CNC, the one I'm building has a fixed y-axis, which means that the x-axis table moves underneath of the y-axis instead of the y-axis moving over top of the x-axis. This should make the CNC more rigid. The downside though is that it takes up about twice as much space. Of course, I can build shelves over top of half of it to reclaim that space, so I guess the downside kind of evens itself out.

What also worked out rather nicely is that I have actually increased my cutting area while still using the same leadscrews from my old CNC. The old one had a cutting area of 2'x4' and the new one should have a cutting area of around 2.5' x 5'. Not a bad deal.


Here is a few pictures of the linear slides that I made. They are a different from the type that people usually make out of angled metal. These can be adjusted for a tight fit. Sometime I want to make them out of metal instead of wood to make everything more ridgid. I don't have a drill press though, so I'll have to stick to wood for now.

These pics are from the y-axis slide.



This pic is from the z-axis slide.




Here is a picture of the y and z-axis.




Here is another of it almost finished. It looks kind of rough, but it should get the job done. There isn't a whole lot left to do, but I haven't had much time to work on it lately. So far, it has come together fairly quickly so, hopefully, it will be finished fairly soon.

[travis77]

Looks good so far. How's the rigidity?

I really hope I have time this summer to start building a new version on mine. Getting to play with high end machines makes me realize how much money I'd have to dump into a DIY machine for it perform. I now also realize why they are so expensive. I hate the "get what you pay for" its frustrating.

Keep posting some pictures along the way!

[ljd10]

if the y axis dont want to work right. you can use steel  round rod and the bearings made out of plastic or acetal which is a bearing material fixed to a base screw driven for your z axis.

[ljd10]

you may have to use 2 screws instead of 1 up and down the lenght to drive it squarly with that width.
I see some builders have used bicycle type chain on both sides ran on sprockets and a tightner with shaft
or rod between both chains driven by 1 motor. I have used angle iron and mounted bearings like you have
as rollers to carry all the weight and a piece delrin or grooved plastic to ride the angle to keep it in alignment. and you can also use timing belts and pulleys which gets alittle spendy.
on the one I made before adding the second screw it wouldn' make square pieces exactly square. the one that I used the angle iron on with double drive seemed to work the best

[Gabriel]

I think it has the potential to be pretty rigid, but I still need to work on it some more to get it right. It's already better than the old one though. At the moment, I am stuck on trying to figure out what to do with the x-axis.

I have put the project on hold right now because I am concentrating on getting my sun tracking / heliostat program to work with an Arduino microcontroller.

Thanks for the tips ljd10!