So I have decided its time to build my first CNC mill and I want an OX. but i have a few questions that I hope some people can shed some experience on. Here are the questions in no order. any help would be great ! 1) what Driver board and software to use, I see in the store there are a few options but when i look at people build they use a wide variety of boards for different prices. what is a good board below the $100 mark ? 2) Space- I see everyone builds their machines to stand flat on a table. and to cut in the horizontal plane. but what if you mount the machine vertically on a wall ? My thoughts behind this is. a) The shavings will fall away from the workpiece so no vacuum required. maybe have a collecting slot at the bottom for shavings. b) The workpiece has to be fixed to the table anyway, so doesn't matter if the table is vertical or horizontal. c) Uses less space in the workshop. thoughts are welcome ?
I would rather build a folding table so I could put the machine up against the wall after use. Youtube has a examples. Gravity is not going to be your friend should you choose to tilt an Ox based machine 90 degrees.
First welcome to the world of cnc!!! taking your questions in order. controller boards vary can go cheap Arduino based boards, raspberry PI boards. Then the next step is Chinese gecko drives and break out boards, then there's the real deal gecko drives. Ok being new what does all that mumbo jumbo mean? Lets work backwards You have to control those boards with your pc/mac The software you decide you want to use may help you to decide at least a general direction on which way you want to go. Arduino uses grbl to get the job done. so you have to use something like universal g code sender. for PI bcnc seems to be the answer, although you can use Arduino based software also. then the last step is something like mach3. Ok so you figure out that part now you want a board? not quite so quick.... what motors are you going to be using? what are their current requirements? Arduino/rPI generally use 8825 chips as drivers but their current is limited. the gecko's real or otherwise can handle more current. if you go with Arduino there's simple to cheap, simple is something like the cncxpro plug it in adjust the current and go. cheap buy a Arduino board and the drivers load the code on to the board adjust current and go. the gecko's mostly use a parallel board, so if your computer doesn't have one then you need get a way to have a parallel board in your computer. then there's a break out board, then the controllers. adjust current and go. What you choose is based on your needs/wants.... next question Vertical cnc yes it does work, but if you have wall space just hinge the table it rests on to the wall and tilt it up when not in use. belt slippage, accel, decell, holding current. all are things you would need to address, that go away when you go with a "standard" build. have fun Bob
The vertical mounting issues can easily be resolved with constant force springs. Example - Source - Alternate Source They're not terribly expensive and are a far better alternative than adding counterweights as additional weight means additional inertial mass which has to be overcome by the motors. You will want to mount the system with the Y-axis rails vertical such that chips don't fall into the track. One thing I might add to snokid's post would be the cost of software for the Gecko or other parallel port systems. If you're handy in linux, linuxCNC is a good free option. If you're not, expect to add $150 to the cost of the system for a Mach3 license.
