CNC Project Main

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CNC Project Main

Overview

The Stepper Motors and translator PCB's... (4/12/07)

Building the "X" Axis.... (4/15/07)

Building the "Y" Axis.... (4/19/07)

and the "Z" Axis.... (4/20/07 - 4/23/07)

Putting it all together... (5/1/07)

Building the work table... (5/4/07)

Misc CNC Parts (5/15/07)

PCB's Done on the Mill

Overview

This is my first attempt at building a hobby CNC Mill/Drill. My budget for all my projects is almost nil, so I had to resort to using salvaged parts out of other equipment to build this project and fabricating a lot of the parts out of scrap material. (I was lucky enough to have access to a metal shop!).

I had been pondering for years on building my own PCB Milling machine, but the cost of a lot of the parts that it takes to build one are outrageous! Finally I got tired of paying out $59.00 to have PCB prototypes made, etching your own with the toner transfer and laying out my PCB's with etch resist rub ons has become too messy with all the chemicals, tubs, and everything else involved with it. I thought it might be time to pursue a different approach in making prototype PCB's.... to Mill them! But then it was like a kick in the face when I found out some of the prices they charge people for these machines!! (Highway robbery sure has taken a different form!!) So I went on to build my own...

This is what I ended up with:

Machine:

(Y)12"x(X)16"x(Z)4" Working capacity

NEMA23 80oz/in Bipolar Stepper Motors

12 IPM Travel Speed

6-8 IPM Cutting Speed with Dremmel (30,000 max rpm's)

Software:

CNC Milling/Drilling - KCAM By Kellyware

PCB Design - Eagle Lite (I used the PCB-GCode.ulp to process the job for machining)

Lettering/Text Design Layout - DeskEngrave by DesKam.com

DXF, Image manipulation - 3rd Party Sources

+ other miscellaneous G-Code, and CAD Utilities

Below are a couple of pics of the first 2 PCB's I made on this machine.

The machine does quite well in milling PCB's, and doing general engraving.

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	Morse-Code \| home CNC Project Main \| Stepper Motors and Translator PCB's \| Building the X Axis \| Building the Y Axis \| Building the Z Axis \| Putting it all together \| Building the work Table \| CNC Sketches \| Misc CNC Stuff \| Sample PCB's CNC Project Main Overview The Stepper Motors and translator PCB's... (4/12/07) Building the "X" Axis.... (4/15/07) Building the "Y" Axis.... (4/19/07) and the "Z" Axis.... (4/20/07 - 4/23/07) Putting it all together... (5/1/07) Building the work table... (5/4/07) Misc CNC Parts (5/15/07) PCB's Done on the Mill Overview This is my first attempt at building a hobby CNC Mill/Drill. My budget for all my projects is almost nil, so I had to resort to using salvaged parts out of other equipment to build this project and fabricating a lot of the parts out of scrap material. (I was lucky enough to have access to a metal shop!). I had been pondering for years on building my own PCB Milling machine, but the cost of a lot of the parts that it takes to build one are outrageous! Finally I got tired of paying out $59.00 to have PCB prototypes made, etching your own with the toner transfer and laying out my PCB's with etch resist rub ons has become too messy with all the chemicals, tubs, and everything else involved with it. I thought it might be time to pursue a different approach in making prototype PCB's.... to Mill them! But then it was like a kick in the face when I found out some of the prices they charge people for these machines!! (Highway robbery sure has taken a different form!!) So I went on to build my own... This is what I ended up with: Machine: (Y)12"x(X)16"x(Z)4" Working capacity NEMA23 80oz/in Bipolar Stepper Motors 12 IPM Travel Speed 6-8 IPM Cutting Speed with Dremmel (30,000 max rpm's) Software: CNC Milling/Drilling - KCAM By Kellyware PCB Design - Eagle Lite (I used the PCB-GCode.ulp to process the job for machining) Lettering/Text Design Layout - DeskEngrave by DesKam.com DXF, Image manipulation - 3rd Party Sources + other miscellaneous G-Code, and CAD Utilities Below are a couple of pics of the first 2 PCB's I made on this machine. The machine does quite well in milling PCB's, and doing general engraving. Back to Projects Page