Opinion - CNC

[jawa_sparky]

Hey all,

Just wondering about your opinion on using a CNC for repetative jobs (i.e. cribbage boards and the like).

I found a pretty promising site - Build Your Own CNC Router Machine

[damagi]

I drool over the concept of all things CNC most of the time. 3-axis, 4-axis, 5-axis...oh my =)

Note that the source files for the v 1.3 machine are available on the site, so if you can find someone to cut them for you cheap then you are a farther along.

http://buildyourcnc.com/cnckit2.aspx

[efmaron]

Thanks for the web site link

[dusty]

I would get a big kick out of having and using a CNC. However, the CNC would not, in my opinion, be part of my woodworking experience. Making saw dust satisfies one of my needs while using a CNC would appeal to a more technical side.

The finished product from the CNC may be of wood but it is not a wood working project!

I have an electronics background, tainted while a little bit of programming all coupled with a deep seated need to "make things work" for an intended purpose. The CNC would fit and I could smell saw dust too.

If you are making items like cribbage boards to sell - a CNC would be ideal because of the reduced man power. Of course that advantage occurs only after the CNC is programmed and the mechanical bugs have all been squashed.

[mgdesigns]

I have used CNC to produce one-of-a-kind custom jewelry (4-axis desktop mill) by making the custom wax masters for castings. Unless you are going to spend $1K or more to make the system, and you have good CAD skills (excellent skills would be better), you would be better served making Corian templates to create multiples of any item. I used to spend 40 hours designing a custom piece of jewelry, and it would take the mill several hours to mill the master wax - ready to cut off and sprue and cast.

[roy_okc]

Hey all,

Just wondering about your opinion on using a CNC for repetative jobs (i.e. cribbage boards and the like).

I found a pretty promising site - Build Your Own CNC Router Machine

I'm in the preliminary design stage, starting to acquire the frame stock for a mid-sized CNC (~20x40" cut). There is a lot to learn before following one of the many DIY designs.There is a really good forum at http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cnc_router_table_machines

I'm building mine to be able to carve decorative designs in cabinet door panels. Beyond that, cutting out pieces for toys for grandkids, maybe a little side income (I'd love for it to pay for itself), general woodworking projects, etc.

I'd second mgdesign's dollar expectation, and that would be at the low end for a small to medium CNC router and not include computer and commercial software. I'm thinking my hardware will come in around $1250-1500 for a mostly 8020 aluminum framed system, hopefully can use the free EMC2 controller software, CAD/CAM likely will eventually be Vectric's VCarve Pro ($600), $200-300 for precision router collet and a decent starter set of bits; probably a dedicated router/trim router, so I'm easily looking at $2500. That's a lot of cribbage boards ;^)

Roy

[mgdesigns]

I used Rhino3D for CAD and DeskProto for the CAM coding, and the machine was a ModelMaster CNC-1000 (15-20K new). I could design for .01mm accuracy and get it in 4-axis. Diamonds would snap into the settings, and that's accurate after casting. I also played with VisualMill, and RhinoCAM; all are pretty pricey, though.

[roy_okc]

I've thought it would be interesting to put a Y-Z axis CNCed router centered over the SS spindle line to use for lathe work.