Hi All Looking for some advice if even possible. I currently have built my own CNC machine based on the MPCNC, its a 1200mm x 900mm machine giving me a cut area of 900mm x 600mm and a 100mm cutting depth. Currently I use this to cut Plywood and MDF, using both my spindle for material up to 25mm in depth and my 3.5 watt Laser for materials up to 5mm in depth. I have used it to test mill Aluminium as well. Its a good machine and works well with some issues, due to my very cheap £90 3D printer my parts are not accurate meaning my machine is not accurate so I am looking to upgrade or replace parts to get this machine working good and accurate, also would like to do more with Aluminium and I don't think my MPCNC is rigid enough for this due to my crappy 3D printed parts. My main reason for creating my MPCNC was how cheap it was (excluding Spindle and Laser) £30 in Filament, £100 in electronics and motors and £15 in 25mm galvanised tube. So a working CNC machine for around £200, all ebay parts. My Control System is a Arduino Mega with Ramps 1.4 Board 5 x Nema 17 Stepper Motor 1.7 A 0.59 Nm 84 oz, 2 on X, 2 on Y and 1 on Z using DRV8825 drivers I now want to start using my machine for projects that require accuracy but still need to do this as cheap as possible and looking for ways to upgrade or replace parts, especially all 3D printer parts. Any help is appreciated. Nos
@ Rick The base pieces are OpenBuilds V-slot from your UK supplier Ooznest @GrayUK, Its not the best video in the world, but it was one I did when doing some laser cuts. Nos
For its design and simplicity it works really well, it was my first venture into the world of CNC and it was one that was easy to make and cheap which was a bonus. It would be 100 times better if I had printed it on a half decent printer or at least fixed the issues my printer has, I have been using my Anet A8 for nearly 2 years with no upgrades but I know I can make it better aswell just never gotten around to it.
Here would be my suggestion. It's not fully detailed but there is enough there to get the idea. Mainly it is an attempt to make the best of what you already have to work with and the remainder being as economical as possible. It won't be a power machine but it should be far more accurate than what you're currently working with. You'll need to cut the 4 plates shown but they're fairly simple. If you don't have the capacity to cut aluminum, you could order them pre-cut to size from a supplier and then drill the holes yourself. (Holes don't have to be perfect, just fairly close as this is a very forgiving concept.) The two pieces of v-slot used for the main X-axis beam should be bonded together, either screwed or epoxied. The side rails should be rigidly attached to the base. You may want to create some full depth end brackets to help stabilize them. Sketchup file is attached for you to dissect at your leisure.
Hi Rick Thanks for the suggestion, I will look into this, I don't need an overly powerful machine as long as it can handle cutting up to 25mm Plywood / MDF with my spindle like my machine does at the moment. I can cut Aluminium with my machine aswell although not done to much as I have no real need for Aluminium yet. My current tolerances are +/- 0.5mm which is ok for most stuff but not when using my laser as that's the difference between parts fitting and not, especially with Acrylic. Nos
Better idea:use rhs or SHS instead of round tubing, drill and tap holes to connect them together like printnc does, and then make rail cages using more SHS or rhs and 625zz bearings with eccentric nuts
