The new CNC router is certainly out of budget, but my diy cnc works on the principle of reuse, patience and a small purchase!
I can control cutting and engraving things with a computer.
You can certainly do better with more expensive parts, but this project gives me a chance to learn a lot about CNC machines without spending a lot of money.
A friend gave me his radial arm saw when upgrading to a new Mitter saw, and there was no room for both.
I saw a CNC router made by aradial arm on YouTube and decided to give it a try.
Now, let me summarize what I have done.
Hope to help you.
Before trying any of these, please read the safety knowledge of carpentry and power tools and proceed with Step 1. . .
This video provides a quick view of the finished CNC router and all its main components.
I did a lot of \"use what you have\" designs for this machine.
If you want to reuse old stuff for similar projects, please post it in the comments.
You might want to buy something that I already lay there.
If so, try going through the local thrift store or check it out online.
For me, some items are reused: Other items are what I have to buy: List of tools I purchased for use in the router: for each of the three axes, you need to limit the movement in one direction and control the position with the motor and the screw (first photo).
As I mentioned earlier, I installed it in the kitchen cabinet with a wire drawer.
When the router cuts the workpiece, it provides a convenient rest platform for the workpiece.
The disadvantage of this method is that it is not very stiff in the Y direction.
I improved this by installing bearings on the table opposite them on both sides of the drawer (second photo).
I expand the range of motion by removing the rubber block and bending its support.
Push the moving drawer, I hold the bottom drawer of the nut with Type pclamp (third photo).
I drilled a hole in the clip and the nut was big enough to make a short screw myselfThe way it is clicked.
I added a little glue to the thread to prevent it from loosening.
Make sure the screws and holes do not interfere with the thread of the nut.
Make sure the screw is turned freely in the nut.
I installed the lead screw with the bearing, and each end was installed in the bearing block I made of a hard plate piece connected with Gorilla Glue.
I put the building blocks in a hard plank passage.
I installed the motor on the hard plate bracket and connected it to the screw with a flexible coupling.
I use a coupling of 5mm x 5mm so I can drill onto the screw and tap on one end.
There are fixed screws at both ends of the coupling to prevent slipping.
The motor has a round shaft, so I grind a small plane on the shaft to accommodate a fixing screw.
The last key part of the shaft is to install the limit switch on the table where the extreme end nut of the drawer stroke arrives.
I stick a hard board to the stand and fix the nut to the drawer so it can turn on the switch.
Y-Sports
The shaft is controlled by the sliding guide of the saw.
The trick to using it in this project is to install the screw nut on the bracket.
Fortunately, my saw has a lot of useful threaded holes for this purpose.
Plastic covers are on both sides of the top of the compartment, fixed with screws. Bingo!
I removed the plastic cover and made a plywood bracket to reach the hole at the bottom, to the top of the arm, and to install around all the bumps.
I added a couple of old pulleys to the top of the stand to add the counterweight to the router, but after all it was not needed. Like the X-
Shaft, I drive the carriage with screws.
The NUT is attached to the plywood bracket in a similar way.
Reuse the screw shaft bearing and motor bracket from the old printer.
The printer uses the gear system, so I connect the output gear to the screw by drilling holes on the gears and screws and installing the cotter pin.
The bearing bracket requires additional stiffness support, so I built some support with Wood at the motor end and added a steel channel between the brackets.
This makes small and medium-sized enterprises a little nervous on the screw.
Limit switches are installed at both ends.
My saw has threaded holes for transportation, which are located on a flat surface that can be rotated vertically, as shown in the figure.
I have installed a wooden base on this surface that can accommodate drawer sliding devices, motors, bearing blocks and switches.
I made a simple stage with plywood and, driven by the screw, sat on a glider.
A separate router stand is installed, which may allow me to install other types of tools on CNC in the future.
A large part of this project is wiring.
I made a lot of connections in a box made from an old cookie jar, as shown in the picture.
Internally, I installed the three drives on the perforated prototype board and welded them to the copper point on the back with a wire.
I have attached a breadboard.
A style illustration showing the main input and output.
My input power is the old laptop power supply.
I adjust my 3 with a few outdated phone chargers.
The 3 V driver matches my parallel port card and the 5 V drives the small cooling fan that I have harvested from my old printer.
Since the current sent by the driver does not exceed 2 amps, I do not have to use Cat5 jumpers and sockets for motor power and switch inputs.
The parallel port at the bottom is also removed from the old printer.
I added a power switch to the side of the box to turn off all the power to the motor.
In the attached image, there is a wiring diagram and a parallel pin name table copied from the Linux CNC document, which is described in the next step.
I used most of these pins in my project.
The computer runs Linux CNC, which you can download for free as a DVD image, including operating system and CNC software.
Linux CNC supports more complex control systems.
I am using the most basic parallel port control, which is fully documented and can be set up with a wizard.
The main limitation is the speed at which your computer can generate steps for the motor in real time (due to latency)
It\'s also a pretty good topic.
Record on their website.
When eliminating the connection problem from the computer to the limit switch, I found this program very helpful: parallel port tester.
I used more open source software to create tool paths (
You will notice a trend here)
: I generate g-using PyCAM-code.
It\'s very useful, but you have to ask for help on how to run it.
Check out my next instructions for creating an engraving program using all open source software.
I make 2D engraving paths using Inkscape.
PyCAM also makes tool paths from 3D.
Stl file, but I have not edited yet.
I will talk about it later if I have a chance.
Hope this project will help you.
In the process, I learned a lot and had a good time.
It is very beneficial to see what I do.
I especially like to get a new life out of old hardware that would otherwise be scrapped.
Please post questions and comments that I will try my best to answer.
You can find more of my project on www. ChipsWoodShop. com.