Hey Guys, I'm just three months old into diy cnc machines. But the bug has bitten me and I have completed a small 500mm x 500mm hot wire foam cutting machine with 3d printed parts. I can not say much how much elated and excited I am at this point. But I quickly realized that 3d printed parts are not that sturdy and they started breaking apart just after a few days when I started tightening the nuts across them for better stability. So, now I want to have a mother cnc milling machine which can make custom gantry plates and other aluminium and ss sheet works : 3- 8 mm in thickness. I want to start building and selling these routers. Considering that shall I go with a branded one or go with diy machine. Would the diy router be able to provide finish acceptable for commercialization. In both cases, please suggest the options I have. I have budget of $5000 USD for it. Cheers
Thanks Peter.... I thought you'd suggest me Plate maker as its description almost matches with what I need : C-Beam® Machine - Plate Maker I saw a few videos of the LEAD 1010 but it looked it lack the power I need for a small scale business. : Like this here Why are there not much videos for metal cutting mills including from openbuilds :-( I could find videos on bigger and wider cuts but nothing on finer and precision machining... like gantry plates where dimentions come down to M3 or M5 size.
The LEAD is the bigger, more modular, flagship model. The C-Beam Plate maker is a little older, was the first of the C-Beam based designs. The moving bed is not quite as rigid as a gantry based machine, but, its smaller size in turn adds rigidity. The (my personal) best combo is actually the LEAD1010 with the High-Z Mod, - for metals, mounting the router low on the High-Z - takes advantage of the dual x-rails and longer Z axis to prevent twist about the X axis, for a really tough machine There are videos on our Instagram and Youtube as well as lots of videos posted by other customers and in the Facebook group. Aluminum is easy to cut. Stainless may be a bit hard for a desktop machine on a regular basis, but can be done with the right cutting recipes Considering all our machines run on the same basics (TR8*2 leadscrews, V-Wheels, BlackBox, NEMA23s) there's no real "power" difference, but the larger machines due have to contend with more deflection (True for any machine, any vendor) - so pick a machine that fits your working envelope requirements and expected future requirements, but don't go overkill big unless you need it. Have a read through How to calculate V-Slot® deflection
I have cut a lot of gantry plates and other aluminum parts with mine. I am just too lazy to record most things I do. Creating good quality video content is a lot of work and I assume most people that build these machines for hobby purposes just are not into making Youtube videos. Here is something I did from the Projects section of the forum. Adaptor Plates For Non-round Stock For A 3 Jaw Chuck
I would also like to say that if you cut the outer profile with a larger endmill like a 1/4", you will get a much nicer finish and you can cut faster because you can cut significantly deeper per pass. I am not too concerned about bolt/screw hole finish since they are filled. But even there, I use as large of an endmill as possible and avoid anything smaller that 4 mm if possible due to flexing of the endmill.
Thanks Giarc and Peter for helping on the platform selection... I think I'll go with LEAD possibly 1010. However, I am thinking to have laser instead of milling now. What do you suggest for 3-6 mm aluminium. Can I use LEAD with proper laser module ? Base requirement remains same... to be able to cut my custom made plates with holes 3mm wide ... If so what laser module shall be selected. Let me know If I need to shift this discussion to laser builds forum...
If you have a spare $30,000 and a 480V 3PH supply, this will cut 3-6mm aluminum and probably 1/2" stainless: 2014 IPG 4kW Ytterbium Fiber Laser System YLS-4000-S1T 4000 Watts Cut Weld Drill | eBay (I'm being mean- but seriously, forget lasers for metal)
Diode laser can engrave (cutting is a stretch even with the best marketing talk) on organics (paper, cardboard, wood, leather). 6w is the limit (technological) - some marketing guys claim 10/20/40w, on modules with a single diode inside - beware of them. Optlasers has a true 15w (3 diodes, collimator lensing etc) but its $$$ - that can laser paint off of metal, but wont make a dent in the metal itself Up from diodes, are CO2 lasers 40-150w range. Cuts plastics, wood up to about 8mm. Dangerous, not for the beginner DIY builders: multi kilovolt power supplies, and invisible infrared laser beams. Fragile glass tubes, water cooling loops, near very high voltages. Flying optics and mirrors to direct the beam. Can mark on metal, noncutting. Can get an Oxy Assist head and cut very thin soft metals, but not efficiently And up from that, is Fiber lasers. 1000-5000w range. Cuts metals. Lookup the prices of ones like Trumph 4000. Oh and yes, industrial power, on site nitrogen tanks. Alternatively, just get blanks lasered for you at an industrial shop? Sendcutsend for example?
This is the real answer. And, if looking to start a business or something here, possibly the realistic overall solution. You can cut a lot of custom parts for the price of a machine, especially locally, and you have to really want to be a machinist to get into production parts in the home shop.
Thanks Peter and Rob for advice. I will probably build one Lead 1010 with Zmod. Currently, I need to get more hands on with grbl. I shall come back later with my build
Ok ... After building a small hot wire router I guess now am ready to delve into aluminium I was about to order the lead1010 with zmod as suggested by Peter, but I did not find the bundle. What we have is lead cnc 1010 and z mod seperately. Did I miss it ? Coz I don't want the extra c beam and smaller lead screw lying around... Thinking of saving pennies
