First off, thanks for this forum and for all the great information! I'm a new guy building my first CNC Router and I'm on the fence as to if I want to buy a kit or build from scratch. I do have a pretty good skill set so I think I'm up to the challenge, just stuck on pro's and cons of the different designs. I'm looking at a machine that is around 750mm x 750mm. The kits I have been looking at use a V-Slots with wheels for the various axis with a screw drive (acme thread) and if I build I was planning on using a linear bearing slide system with a ball nut drive for the axis. I have plenty of aluminum I can use for the frame, however, don't want to do the project if it doesn't make sense. My question is how does a V-Slot system with wheels stack up to a linear slide. I mainly do farewell plaques and would also like to do some signs and have the option to do some light aluminum work. I have lot's of electronic questions, but I would like to get the mechanical portions knocked out first. I plan on using NEMA 23 driver motors and a Makita or Dewalt router for now. Thanks in advance for advice and sharing your experience!
Your decision probably comes down to cost and time. Openbuilds machines like the Lead and Workbee are capable (as are the C-beam and Sphinx) and will get you a working machine faster than building your own design. Linear slide has some advantages over V-wheels, but can be added to the Lead or Workbee later if you feel you need the extra rigidity. There are build reports on here from people who have done this. As far as electronics are concerned you can't go far wrong with the blackbox. Alex.
Thanks for the quick response Alex and the black box recommendation, sure does simplify the electronics build. Didn't consider that the wheel system could be retrofitted with something different in the future. I'm sure they are a better quality and much tighter tolerance but I kept thinking about appliances around the house with wheel systems and how sloppy the fit was. Again, thanks for the info!
A (well built) leadscrew machine using V-slot should be capable of +/- 0.1mm which is certainly accurate enough for woodwork projects and probably most "engineering" jobs using plastic or aluminium. Alex.
If I can ask another question Alex, weighing all factors here and I did some studying over the weekend on the Open Build Blackbox and I am pretty convinced. Only question is during the setup they ask which OpenBuild machine you have and it uses preselects. I f I build a machine from scratch I will have to set all those parameters myself, how difficult is that? Again, thanks for taking the time to respond
I don't actually have a blackbox (yet - planning another build one day) so I can only pass on what I have read others doing, but it should be straightforward. You will need to read the gnea grbl wiki (good idea anyway if you use grbl) to see what settings you will need to change. Lots of people have used the blackbox with custom builds and you would be supported every step on the forum. Alex.
Pick a similar machine and then customize the default settings as needed. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. The Black Box makes it pretty simple.
you can manually type in the settings in ob control you dont have pick a certain machine. EX i have 1605 ball screw so i used the calculations for that mm/step instead of the default.
And for any advice on custom settings, read gnea/grbl (Read the whole wiki, not just that page, the Grbl wiki is a goldmine of information!)
