Has anyone made their own CNC machine?

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:52 pm

Hi, I have been mulling over the idea of building my own CNC machine if it was possible and found this web site:
http://buildyourcnc.com/stuffforsale.aspx

Has anyone here made one off of this site or any other site?

I am looking at fabricating my own model parts.

Umi_Ryuzuki · Post by **Umi_Ryuzuki** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:12 pm

One of my friends, Casey built one, or one of the DIY, or instructables versions.
Another friend, Macona modded a harbor freight mill for CNC, but Macona thinks building machines is a hobby...

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:14 pm

thanks, your friend who built it, did he find it pretty straight forward and did it work as expected?

Umi_Ryuzuki · Post by **Umi_Ryuzuki** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:42 am

Both people are of the mind that stepper motors and programming are simple things to accomplish.
Casey's self built CNC carriage worked out really well. I never got to see it run before Techshop closed.
Macona's only critique of it was, "technically the dremel bearings are not
designed for lateral stress, and it would be inaccurate." But for foam or light
duty cutting it would work fine.

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 11:41 pm

Thanks Umi, I am looking at milling styrene plastic or softwood to create masters for molding. In your experience do you think this would work. i am completely new to this technology so forgive the question if it seems trivial.

Umi_Ryuzuki · Post by **Umi_Ryuzuki** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:58 am

You could probably make a good go of it if you understand the components.
I wouldn't mill styrene though, it would be a melty nightmare.
Consider milling Polyurethane, like renshape, or a tooling foam.

And don't forget the vacuum system. You won't want that dust everywhere.

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:22 pm

thanks good suggestion on the vacum. Perhaps I should only consider using plexi glass or polyurethan as you have suggested for milling

Tankmodeler · Post by **Tankmodeler** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:26 pm

As UMI suggested, tooling board (also called tooling foam) would be a great thing to use for CNC milling of prototype shapes. That is what it's for, after all.

The lighter densitiy foams are really easy to machine, even on a very small mill, but will beed to have the open cells filled and fine detail added.

The higher density proof or tooling boards are higher density, but not foams and would need less clean up.

If you check machinery or engineering trade magazines you frequently see ads for various types of proof board.

How much are you willing to pay and how big a part do you want to mill? You can get ready-made small CNC mills for $1500 or so. Look up Taig or Sherline and look for their CNC options. These will make parts up to 10-12 " x 4-6" x 6-8".

You will need someone to create your CAD files, of course, plus the CAM software to allow the CNC machine to create the parts. If you want to do this a LOT, then doing it yourself may be worth while. If you only want to do it infrequently then, perhaps, sending your CAD design to one of the sterolithography or 3D printing rapid prototype shops may be much more economical and result in parts that need less additional work to create useful master pattern parts.

HTH

Paul

Paul

nkuzmik · Post by **nkuzmik** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 9:41 am

We've used millable wax to proof CNC programs in some of the shops I've worked it. It gives a finish similar to metal, but it may require sealing for use as a mold component.

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 7:54 am

Umi, tank modeler and nkuzmik thanks for your help! I must confess I missed Umi's original reference to tooling foam until you elaborated tank modeler. Can you recommend a supplier and is it fairly reasonably priced?

Nkuzmik, I'll google millible wax, I've never heard of this stuff before so this is a huge help!

Tankmodeler · Post by **Tankmodeler** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 8:27 am

To be honest, I've never had to buy it. My company deals with a number of precision machine shops and many of them use various types of these materials. All I've had to do is to ask for their off cuts & I've gotten more than I'll use in a lifetime. You might want to try looking for precision machine shops & see if they have any waste you can scrounge.

Sorry I'm not much help.

Paul

DennisH · Post by **DennisH** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 6:14 pm

John Bear Ross has a cool little CNC set up you might be interested in viewing, also with machinable wax to boot!

http://www.johnbearross.com/prototyper.html

Dennis

eeun · Post by **eeun** » Mon Aug 01, 2011 7:20 pm

And one more that I've been watching develop:
http://www.mydiycnc.com/

Of particular interest is their adapting the machine for laser cutting.

I've considered going the home-built route first before shelling out for a kit, but the whole endeavour is one of those back-burner projects.

Darthsideous · Post by **Darthsideous** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 1:30 pm

Thanks Tank, Dennis, eeun, the laser cutter/engraver was the next item I was looking at for a workshop.