Build Your Own Cnc Machine – Info: What’s up everyone?! I am a self-taught hobbyist who loves DIY projects. I like to make food, drinks, decor, reuse/recycle and some fandom type items. I learned a lot from books, friends, YouTube and Tea… Read more about Dankozi713 »
When I first moved to Pittsburgh, I had a terrible moment when I walked past a place called TechShop. Many of you may have heard of it, but I hadn’t and the staff was kind enough to give me a tour. This place blew my mind and to sweeten the pot they said veterans get a year’s membership for free! I immediately took courses in woodworking, metalworking and welding. It was the 3D printing and laser engraver class that kept me coming back the most though. I did so much laser engraving/cutting almost every free weekend. Actually check out another tutorial I was able to do there (https:///id/Laser-Cutter-Liquor-Bottle-Name-Tags/). And what’s more, I would never have heard of it if it wasn’t for TechShop! I had a great year, but when it was over I knew I wanted to try and get my own laser engraver and 3D printer. Ha ha ha ha, yyeah. That price tag though… So I started building my own.
Build Your Own Cnc Machine
I wanted to go ahead with the laser diode, but I also want to add this guide to the Epilog competition and ran out of time. I hope the information here and what I actually had will encourage you to A. vote for me, but B. stay tuned for guidance.
Diy Aluminium Cnc Router
I would like to share my experience with this instructable in the hope that if you have little experience (like me) and ambition, you can achieve something very rewarding!
The problem is acquiring the knowledge to do such a thing. But don’t worry, do it step by step.
We need an X, Y and Z axis with motors, something to drive the motors, the “brains” of the circuit, a surface for the project, a medium to do the work (like a laser or 3D printer extruder, in this case a simple pen starter), wiring and something to power the thing . Finally, we need a program to control the machine as a whole and a lot of patience.
For my instructable, I number the steps, which can be standard for any build. For those times that specifically pertain to my project, I simply lay it out in paragraph form.
Vector Illustration Of A Cnc Machine On White Background Stock Vector Image & Art
I like the numbered system so I can note where I am in case I get distracted or leave and come back the next day. I hope this helps those who receive it.
Scrap and waste is key to keeping costs down, which was one of my main goals. For the large components, I had an old computer to salvage the power supply and CD-ROM from. I also had an old printer and a spare laptop to run all the programs on.
Most eBay components for cheap: Simple Drivers – $2.50 each, Laser Driver – $5, Laser Case with Glass Lens – $9, 3D Pen $27, 3D Pen Replacement Tip $9, Spacers – $7.50, Connecting Wires M to F dupont – $5 , arduino – $15 , 830 point solderless breadboard with a bunch of M to M jumpers – $9
At an electronics store, I bought resistors for 5 packs for $1.5/ea and transistors for $2. A spool of 22 AWG wire for $9.
Building Your Own Personal Cnc Machine: A Three Part Youtube Adventure
Roughly, I spent less than $200. I think it will be great to finally have my own plotter, 3D printer and laser engraver.
I referred to them a lot. They helped quite a bit! I encourage you to check them out as well.
Basic electronics: Arduino UNO, simple drivers (x3), breadboard for prototyping, male to male jumper wires, various other wires for various soldering,
(2) 3D printing pen, transistor, various resistors (if you want to test 3D pen hacking), LED (to test stepper motors), wires and filament, OR
This Massive Five Axis Cnc Machine Is 3d Printable
(3) (I’d like to add more, but for the sake of time I’m scratching the surface) Laser diode (LD), wires, module with focusing lens (preferably glass), laser driver, laser wavelength specific goggles, 1N4001 diodes (4 for red laser, 6 for blue laser to calibrate the laser driver with apparent load), OR
(I won’t show it here, but if you want) (4) DC motor as a router (like 18V), cartridge, routes, wires
Recommended tools: ruler, drill, files, rotary tool, screwdrivers of various sizes (philips, hex, etc.), soldering iron, wire strippers, wire cutters, multimeter, needle nose pliers, hole punch, plumb bob, square, hot glue gun, saw (like a hacksaw or better , band saw)
Hardware: screws, wood or other flat material, zippers, solder, hot glue sticks, heatsinks, stands
Build Your Own Cnc Controller
Safety: safety glasses, dust mask, fume extraction (for soldering) or fan, hearing protection, gloves, laser specific safety glasses if you are working on it
Since everyone’s situation is different, in this guide you’ll see me working on:
Dvd-r laser diode: 650nm (red) 3B class laser. (In case you’re wondering, the CD laser is an IR class 1 laser.)
I recycled a printer I had, a scanner I bought on eBay for $1.99 and $2, and a CDR-ROM/power supply from a very old desktop.
Construct A Cnc Plasma Cutter For $3000
After searching around, many e-waste recycling places or even some universities will sell you their stuff for cheap (I mean, they’re going to recycle it anyway, right? It’s less work for them) and the haggling is great for the wallet. My local university had many PCs, printers and scanners waiting to be dismantled for the bins.
I read in ianmcmill’s frankenlaser guide that you want to look for older printers and newer scanners for better stepper motors. They did a great tutorial and you can check it out for reference.
Since everyone may have different electronics, I won’t spend much time talking about ripping. You can check out my pictures to see what I came up with.
Power supply: open the computer tower, remove the motherboard connectors, unscrew and remove the entire power supply.
How To Build Your Own Cnc Router
Printer: You must have a printer carriage with belt and step. This nice square printer carriage didn’t have a stepper on the drive belt, it was a straight DC motor, so I took it from an Epson printer and just put the DC motor drive in there, attached it with a few screws and it does the job. That and dismantling the scanner is pretty easy.
Scanner: The bed is what you need. The stepper motor should be visible on the bed. Keep it attached to the strap or other rods to which it is attached.
CD-ROM: All you need is a stepper motor with rails and that’s it. Sometimes the face where you put the plate does not come out. Use a straight pin or paper clip to release it so you can remove the CD-ROM. Be careful when removing small pieces from the laser assembly. You don’t want to damage these delicate LDs.
Note. If compatible, use this long printer USB cable to replace the shorter cable that came with the arduino.
How To Build A Cnc Machine: Precise Guide
Note. I tried to take apart one of those old 90’s Brother typewriters to make a printer carriage…I don’t recommend it unless you have a heavy duty sanding wheel and not just a Dremel. This thing has some weird angles that make it hard to mount on the scanner. On the other hand, if you just want a stepper motor and belts/rods, you could use some aluminum angles and mount it that way, I’m sure! This is what Ianmcmill did with the Frankenstein laser.
Now might be a good point to check that the motors you worked so hard on are working properly with the software and Arduino. You wouldn’t want to work for hours putting pieces together only to find out that this printer’s stepper device threw the whole thing away altogether. To do this, we will now get the software on your computer and then connect all the wires to test it with the GRBL controller. That’s what I do in the video.
When I originally did this project, I used a CDROM step-by-step assembly that was fried. So after all that I just found myself wasting a lot of time adjusting the bed fittings for drilling holes and whatnot…
Note. What I do, I do with Windows. I’m not sure how the next one differs from MAC or Lenux!
Planning Your First Diy Cnc Build
Arduino 1.6.7 (Free) – See your device and COM port number. You can easily do this from your computer’s devices folder
GRBL Hex File 0.8 (Free) – Allows Arduino to read GRBL Gcode. It’s like a .txt file in Notepad.
GRBL Controller 3.5.1 (Free) – Allows Arduino to do this