All Units are in MM
Physical Dimensions
Min Size 250x1500
Max Size 3250x1500
Average Size 1500x1500
Electronics
Steppers 425oz Nema 23
Drivers M542t
Controller LinuxCNC running on ITX Motherboard
Tooling
Laser OptLaser PLH3D 6W
Kress 1050 FME-1
Location
Guest Bedroom in my Apartment in Berlin, Germany
Latest Status Updates
18.03.2017 - I decided to finally write this build page as this has been a work in progress for a while.
27.03.2017 - Well, The x axis has been almost done for about a month, I was working through some issues with the y axis but that is all finished now. The base is complete and now I'm getting started on the electrical side of things. For the prototype I am building only one section (out of the 3 final) so that is what you see in the pics.
X Y (section 1) & Z are complete!
60mm of Z Travel... Will have to increase gantry plate height for v1
This is the cross section, and other sections will join to this face. How they're going to be secured and aligned is still being fine tuned.
Time for the electrical work. Yes everything is hanging off the back, No its not causing too much flex, yes that is a Mini-ITX board running LinuxCNC, no I didnt find any other controller that gives me the flexibility I need.
NOTE!!!!
I know the machine is on the floor. Its in my guest bedroom and I havent built a table yet. It has adjustable feet in either corner to get it level. And it will probably stay like this till I move into a proper workshop.
END OF UPDATE
The Background
I am a Tech Guy but I've always loved working with wood. So when I moved into our apartment in March 2016 with my then Girlfriend (now wife) I promised her I would build the furniture myself instead of going to Ikea.
I came up with a great design Idea for furniture and built some prototypes. The idea was so great that we both agreed we should build them and sell them. But doing all the work with hand tools is not possible so I decided to convert my Circular saw into a table saw... Then we had the Idea of laser engraving all of the items so its nicely branded... So I bought a 3D Printer and was planning to make a MPCNC (Mostly Printed CNC). After messing with the 3D printing for a while (and getting amazing results) I decided that a small CNC would be a waste, I might as well GO BIG and use the machine to do all the cutting for me.
The Problem with that: Limited Budget & Limited Space
How did I overcome the problems (I'm a consultant by profession so this was easy)?
For the budget problem - Instead of buying a big kit from CNCRouterParts and shipping it to Germany I decided to build an OX CNC - For the space problem - I decided to make the unit Modular so it can grow/shrink in length (No Penile jokes please )
So thats the backgound.
What is the Machine?
V 0.5 is based on an OX CNC (V1 will have different plates/setup) but the difference is that the base comes in 3 sections, one 250mm and 2 1500mm. The sections can be attached together as and when I need more length. To accomplish this I had to rethink the whole base of the OX and I found a solution that should work smoothly.
But why a 250mm Section? So I can move the Gantry on it, then remove the other 1500mm section... That way when I dont need the machine for a while (and I need the room for other purposes) my cnc will have a floor footprint of only 250x1500mm... Hardly noticable!
Need a catchy name - enlarging CNC
Build in 'Cartesian Style CNC' published by McAdam, Mar 27, 2017.
The aim of this build is to have a CNC that can cut a FULL sheet of wood when I need it to, but also shrink down and cut smaller sheets the rest of the time. The prototype is based on an OX cnc but soon it will be completely custom using Openbuilds Parts
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- Build Progress:
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- Build in Progress...
MaryD likes this. -
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Build Author McAdam, Find all builds by McAdam
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Build Details
- Build License:
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- CC - Attribution - CC BY
Reason for this Build
I need a CNC that will fit my needs, or should I say will grow and shrink according to my needs and also be Storable as I do not have the luxury of a workshop.