DIY CNC Router Build

[Triticum Agricolam]

Made some more progress on the CNC.

There are two torsion boxes that connect the left and right X-axis towers, here is the lower one that goes beneath the cutting table. I still have one more side to attach, but I took this pic so you can see what's inside:

This is the upper torsion box that the Y-axis rails will be mounted to:

Here I'm drilling the screw holes for one of the Y-axis rails, yay for milling machine:

I mounted both the torsion boxes to the X-axis towers, just need to attach the rails:

Next step after I attach the Y-axis rails is to build the carriage and Z-axis. I hope to have the basic construction done in the next week or so. Then it will be on to figuring out all the motion control stuff, which will probably take a while.

[Triticum Agricolam]

I finished the carriage that runs along the Y-axis:

Here it is installed:

Then I got started on the Y-axis lead screw, I'm getting impatient and I want to get something hooked up so I can see it move under its own power!

[Triticum Agricolam]

I got started on the Z-axis rails. Unlike the X & Y axis rails, these use ball bearings riding along a solid steel rod:

Here are the rods installed in the Y-axis carrige:

The Z-axis carriage:

I still need to trim off the ends of the U-bolts:

Z-axis leadscrew is installed:

Construction is mostly complete, all the leadscrews are in, I just need to build the stepper motor mounts now:

[bsneon98]

Amazing work man. One day I will have the space for this.. lol

[Triticum Agricolam]

More progress tonight.

I built the motor mounting brackets, trimmed down the leadscrews and installed the motors. Then I couldn't help myself and I had to get the motor wired up to confirm the thing can actually move under its own power:

Here it is from the side the router will be mounted to:

Here is a video of it doing some test movements:

Its not the most exciting 46 seconds of your life, but hey the thing moves so yay for me.

While this is definitely a big milestone in the construction of this thing, its still has a long way to go before it will be ready to actually cut something. At least seeing it move has really gotten me excited to get it done so hopefully it won't be too much longer before I can put it to work.

[reedal]

That's awesome. Good job triticum.

[mikelbolton]

Awesome job. I am uber jealous....

If I had the room, I would definitely have my own DIY router...

[audiofanaticz]

one question, is that the max travel speed?

[Triticum Agricolam]

one question, is that the max travel speed?

No, it will move much faster than that. That was just the test program I was running. I was playing around with it today and I could get 150 IPM traverse speeds on the X & Y axis. I tried 180 IPM but that was a no-go. How fast it will be able to go when it is actually cutting remains to be seen. I'm hoping for at least 60 IPM.

[Triticum Agricolam]

Here is my latest progress, it makes sawdust!

Over the past couple days I attached the gantry tower braces, installed the drag chains, mounted the power supply and control board, and built and attached the router mount.

Here it is ready to go:

And this is the business end:

At this point I had to power up the router and actually see it cut something. The software for my stepper control board has a little demo, here is a video of it in action. I apologize for the poor lighting and you may want to turn down your audio unless you like the sound of a screaming router:

This is what it cut out:

I'm really happy with how its working so far. On the to do list is to install the wire up the limit switches, attach the T-track and spoil boards to the cutting table, and tweak the control settings more.