I’m in the process of designing a new CNC milling machine (gantry-style)
After searching the internet for open-source designs, I couldn’t find a design that meet my requirements
- Below 3000$ cdn
- At least 36″ x 24″ work area
- Extremely rigid frame
- Must be able to work with wood, plastic, aluminium and steel
- > 6″ clearance on the Z axis
- Long lasting mechanic (no plastic wheels to wear down)
- Open source so I can tweak and upgrade
- Readily available hardware
I’ve found many designs on http://www.openbuilds.com/?category=cnc-router-builds&id=286 and https://id2cnc.com/ but nothing that meet all my requirements. I decided that the risk of building a machine that wasn’t strong enough and would need to be replaced in a year outweighted the complexity of a new design
SO…
I started to design my own, based on a lot of observations that I found on existing designs. My current design goals are :
- Budget (hoping)
- Rigidity
- Use linear rails on X/Y axis, SBR rails on Z axis
- ball scews on all axis, settle on RM1605 as I found the smaller pitch will allow more resolution (at the cost of travel speed)
- Aluminium plates – 12mm thick
- NEMA23 @ 425oz on all axis
- Cable guides on XY axis
- Limit switches on all axis for homing / mechanical protection
- Quick-change tool holder to easily swap head tool (router, spindle, laser, cutter / pen holder etc)
- Include possibility of adding a vertical table on the end of the machine to work on vertical pieces
- Allowance for future turning axis (turn table legs etc.)
- Table bed to have T-nuts for clamp attachment etc (allow for future T-Slolt bed as an upgrade)