Low cost / entry level cnc machine

[richardrouse]

I know this isn't a shopsmith product, buy it is worth a mention... especially for those of you that are curious about cnc routing / laser engraving / 3d printing..

Check out the mpcnc. It's a cnc machine made from 3d printed parts and 3/4 emt. You can get one for less than 500 that can rout, etch, and print.

Putting it together takes some timkering, but most of us are tinkerers.

This is mine, it will have a cut area of 18 x 36. While the footprint is something like 4'× 3 1/2'. The overall size is determined by the user. I wanted something this size for signmaking.
I have some work to do yet. I have cable drag chains coming from china, a
I also have to make a pivoting boom (like what you'd find on a plasma table) to plug the spindle into. The spindle is just a Dewalt 660 root zip style tool.


It's not as rigid as the cnc shark, but it seems pretty capable and at a quarter of the price..

For me, it's all about the price. Cnc machines are neat, but impractical for the hobbieist.. when you are looking at 2 or 3 grand for a machine before software.

This price puts it within reach of most, and the software is free.

[dusty]

Thanks for bringing this to the table. It looks real interesting.

[richardrouse]

It is.. I will post some projects once I get it all up and running. right now, I plan to try using this to cut out a rocking horse for my daughter.

[sehast]

Great project. You will learn a lot about CNC with a reasonable entry cost.

[richardrouse]

For sure.. this isn't my first trek into cnc work. I've got a small den ford mill in my classroom.

This just puts a larger model in my garage so that I don't have to do my own projects early in the morning or later in the afternoon.