Hi all, im new to cnc but not computers, however im not quite ready or have place for a large cnc machine and cost but i do need to do inlay, wood and pearl mostly and would like to setup a small cnc to do this and to learn and work into a larger machine as needed.. literally small 5 inches by 5 inches would be actually generous! lol just something small and fun and can learn the software side of this better! wasnt sure where to post this hopefully this is ok!
MiniMill or C-Beam Machine, if you want off-the-shelf, ASAP, developed for you. I'd go C-Beam- it's gantry-style, so you'll get used to visualising "moving head" rather than "moving table", it's got a little extra room- maybe 3" around the outsides of your 5" square- for workholding (which you could well find you need), but it's not so big that it's unmanageable, unusable on a desktop, or loses rigidity. It's about a 20" square with a 12x12" envelope or thereabouts.
great Ill check it out! im not opposed to building either! looking for way to get stareted.. thanks Rob!
hmmm checked out the c-beam.. its sweet but it far exceeds my budget for a small cnc.. at this point i think id go with what I eventually need that would be 2'x3'or 4ft would do everything i needed but that is for phase 2... i was hoping something really small just for tiny inlays the 699 was right there in my budget but that was basically the frame with nothing so its not a working cnc and when i started adding up things id need minus a router which I have a small porter cable laminate trimmer i was going to use... price soared over 1000.. anyway not sure what next step will be...
No matter how you do it, decent quality motors + drivers + controller are gonna be in the ~$350 range. If you went MiniMill style so you only needed 3 motors and drivers, skimped a bit on quality, and flashed your own grbl firmware to an Elegoo Uno, etc etc, that might come down to $220 or so. From there, probably low cost MGN12 linear rails would be a better option than V-Wheels, though they need more prep and more careful installation, which is gonna be ~$100-150. A couple of pieces of C-Beam to chop up, some 2040 V-Slot to frame it up with... Cheap 8mm leadscrew and some luck on the motor couplers (those things are expensive!)... You might- and this is a very strong might- be able to come out around $500, more likely $600, with a period of intense research and learning about machine design followed by some extremely careful shopping. And not needing a spindle straight away. Probably get about a 6x8" work area or thereabouts. It's doable, but not if you need to involve other people. Reading the grbl wiki top to bottom, front to back, and back to front several times should help- both understanding the operation of the type of machine you're working on, as well as introducing CNC-specific topics that you can lose yourself in on Google rabbit holes. You make up the other $400-1000 with 6 months of your own time, basically.
@Archtop67 Welcome to OpenBuilds! A MiniMill with a BlackBox is a great way to get going you will be up and running in no time and have fun with a great community backing you up the whole time!
i have used adobe illustrator since is came out in 80s... what all software would I need besides this if I went with the minimill and added the blackbox? i use a Mac... i rally liek that C-Beam but its just out of my budget and need at moment but the minimill makes sense .. still closing in on 800 bucks .. am i supposed to add the nema motors? or are they an upgrade? i dont want to buy one of those kits and realize i need another 300 in motors and gear.. my total budget id wont to be no more than 600 ? not not wanting to take a year to source it all... by December i could buy a larger one since thats best time of year for sales for me... anyway i really appreciate the advice!
You do need motors, etc. The High Torques are the upgrade option (but not needed on a MiniMill) docs:software:overview [OpenBuilds Documentation] explains the software stack. You can use VMware Fusion or Parallels to run Vectric etc for applications without a Mac equivalent. Our free softwares run on Mac. Many others have Mac versions Openbuilds Black Fri sales are always a good time to upgrade (; - your electronics kit is an investment to take from machine to machine for many years to come. Self sourcing is sometimes not cheaper. Accidental buying the wrong part, versus trusting that OpenBuilds covered the R&D to make sure it all matches nicely right? (;
I learned the hard way on the laser that "I can build this for $250!" doesn't exist. It's been a great project and forced me to learn a ton right when I needed to, but DIY is better served for getting very specifically what you want, not trying to meet a budget (except when you get into 5-figure machines, then you can totally beat the budget... It just may or may not be worthwhile).
can the mini mill be lengthened to deal with lets say 14" by 5 or 7"? if so it can do a LOT of what I really need!
Totally. Just need the extra piece of C-Beam, longer screw, etc. There should be builds right here on the forums that have done exactly that.
GREAT! maybe thast what I can do! how far out can it expand and keep ridgid? this seems very modular! VERR EEEE COOL!
IM IN!! Just placed my order! i just got basic with motors on a CC and going to use a debit for the other parts.. hate to finance it all if not needed lol
on the C Beam.. is that all I need is get longer C beam and lead screw? and how do I size a lead screw? Im assuming get one the size of the beam and beam only comes is a few sizes so Ill cut it to the length I need? im looking at the 1000mm (39") but cutting it down to size I need and just get a lead screw thats a little longer than the length of the beam? sorry really new at cnc and wanna get parts coming asap ! overly excited lol im also thinking I could use the C Beam that is the larger of 2 that comes in the mini kit and use it to widen my smaller beam thats included and have a decent size setup right out of the box! so really one beam an screw upgrade but I can utilize the other parts and Im ready to go! P.S. I saw were you added the little "ect" after then Beam and lead screw and ect... so not sure what the ect would be! lol
It would probably be best to sit down and figure out exactly what you need before purchasing. Look at the CAD drawings. You will save money in the long run. basically, if you want 14" of cutting area you need a little longer that 28" of Cbeam for that axis which will be over 700mm (ie. a 1000mm long piece of cbeam. Also, here is a conversion someone did for less than $200 using most of the existing parts and ordering a few new ones. MMXL - A MiniMill Conversion
nice! ok that is what i was thinking! I really like the build MMXL. i may end up doing that eventually! Im making room for the CNC now but it can easily be updated where Ill have it
well so far I have purchased the minimill and motors but nothing else so now Im thinking I shou.d have just got it all same time lol. i need the black box and im assuming the 24v power supply.. when I make these purchases will it include all the wiring i need as if I had bought it with the kit? i really should have done it all together to save the complication lol. also if Im goign to start by jst cutting inlays which bit would I need?
It all depends on how you do your inlays. Are you doing artwork, or letters? If you are v-carving your inlays, a good 60 degree v-bit would work.
i have one other question... since im already waiting for delivery for minimill, can I change the Y axis ( the one that travels left to right... can it be lengthened to 1000mm C beam and still be inflexible or will there be an issue? Im goign to eventually reconfigure into a C Beam style now that im seeing what all this is... however not hurry for that today but I do need at east one axis as long as possible ...
I will say if you want 1000mm axes, go for the LEAD1010. MiniMill is designed to be, well, Mini. If it made sense to extend it - you can bet we'd have it as a stock item (;
well my Mini Mill arrives I think today lol. The Lead is awesome but i will have to wait a bit... it seems i can use some parts to upgrade and reconfigure to a lead but that would be totally optimal but just not ready for something that large yet... the one axis would be nice to get 14-20" as Id have room to do so but its not necessary since space is a huge issue also at moment... eventually I can spread out and having something like this LEAD would be great... i was looking at idea of turning entire workbench into a cnc and when not in use would lbe out of way and I could use surface as working space lol then when its cnc time its GO TIME! lol
Ahh ok, well, keep in mind extending minimill axes can lead to problems with rigidity (the cross-beam design means you can flex expecially in X - if the axes is longer. Stock mounted on the plate, moved far left, imagine the forces under the cutter, at a end thats not really supported anymore)
Did you look at this link I posted above? It seems a viable way to expand your mini-mill when the time comes. It uses much of the original machine. MMXL - A MiniMill Conversion
yup thats what I was talkign abut earlier, wasnt sure what it could take... id ruled out taking it out 1000mm but was going to get it and learn more about using it and then start making some changes.. minor but while accumulating space and parts to turn into something like the lead or maybe build a lead style or the mini mill conversion Giarc is talking about once I get it in use... cost and space at moment were a little prohibitive... however that will change shortly the minimill does about 90% of what I need but a little larger would really be a treat! im actually learning a lot more JUSt because I bought it and its making more wince but havent used it or received it yet lol you all are helping immensely though and like most nee things there is going to be a learning curve lol
Yup! I saw that and thats got me thinking! once I get this initially up and running ( my minimill ill assess the room I have space for and see if I can enlarge it to this conversion! that is VERY close to perfect and of course the Lead would do everything Id be interested in currently bu had to jump in someplace! lol. thats a great video set! THANKS!
ITS HERE!!!! A DAY EARLY!! SO EXCITED!! I took an STL file, and imported it into FreeCAD to convert it to a solid STEP file so I can take into Fusion360 ( trial ) to convert to dwf but after 4hrs and a file looking to be 40gb seemed too large I assumed it wasnt working so stopped... still learning.. it was a really pretty relief I wanted to try for fun of some trees and birds.. still learning how longs some of this takes.. running a 2012 MacPro 4gb Nvidia K5000 card... for this should be ok SSD drives and 32gb ram.. I know there are faster just was thinking for what I need it should suffice for now
