How to Make a Three Axis CNC Machine (Cheaply and Easily)

Step 10: Assembling

If you've made it this far I must offer my congratulations and suggest it only gets better from here. Looking at the pile of pieces picturing how it manages to become a machine may be a tad abstract so I tried my best to create instructions as close to those produced by LEGO. (downloadable in the attached pdf CNC-Assembly-Instructions.pdf). But in the interest of amusing along the way here is a timelapse of me putting my machine together.

Comments

[Torito]

Are the y axis rails round or square? I couldn't find that out...

[galaxyman7]

They are round. The only parts that needs square tubing are the "bearing blocks". These are what will have bearings attached to them so that they can slide along the rails.

[Torito]

Thanks GalaxMan7!! I understood the bearings system, kind of autocenter rail and hard to move perpendicular to the rail. Excellent drawing! :) Do you have/know/test the diameter of the rail? What is the material of the bearing blocks, aluminium or wood? Thanks for your time.

[galaxyman7]

The diameter of the rod is .5" DIA (aluminum). The square tube is .75" square (also aluminum). The bearings are 8 mm ID and 22 mm OD. Also, I forgot to draw the nuts on the end of the bearings that keep them on. I hope that answers your questions ;)

[Torito]

Excellent, more than I expected. Thanks.

[tekenika]

ref:How to Make a Three Axis CNC... Hi I want to make this machine. I saw your post in youtube. I need some help. I have a question. What keeps the machine on the track? (Y axis) Only the belt? I, like you, prefer to use threaded rods. Do you have a drawing of the modification? Thanks and best regards from now Hector Ushuaia

[galaxyman7]

Ok, here is a few pictures.

[tekenika]

Thank you very much The diagrams are simple and clear. I follow with my questions. That keeps the machine on the rails? The threaded rods? Greetings

[galaxyman7]

Yes, the threaded rod keeps it on the rails. I recommend using a thicker threaded rod so that there is very little movement. 3/4" would be perfect. You can get a PVC pipe coupler from 1/4" to 3/4", then you can drill holes into the side and put set screws through to hold the threaded rod to the motor shaft. Here is a website for an adapter.
http://www.gtghydroponics.com/store/0-0-715.htm

[galaxyman7]

Here is a metal one
http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/u720526

[tekenika]

Hello Thank you very much for your attention. I agree. The threaded rod should be thicker. My problem is I'm planning a mini-mini version of this machine, using printer motors, it is possible that 3 / 4 is too much for these little motor. A possible solution could be carriers for bearings rotate 90 degrees. I should change the table a bit. Greetings Hector

[galaxyman7]

Another way would be to add a seperate rod that the cart can slide on instead of relying on the strength of the threaded rod.

[tekenika]

OK. It could be a solution. It will take a bronze bushing or bearing. Another possibility I've seen is to use an angle as rail. Deputy quick scheme. Greetings

[galaxyman7]

The angle with the two bearings works only if you have a method to tighten them onto the rail. This means you either have two on either side of a track that can be tightened inward, or you have a track on both the right and the left, where the distance between the tracks can be extended. The best is a combination with both. Here is a pic

[tekenika]

We agree. For simplicity, I only showed one side. So the vertical line is dotted. In a small machine, the table itself could be angled to accommodate the aluminum angles. best regards

[qyy]

 can u tell me the rpm and horsepower suitable for this machine.
tq


[e-mail]

[galaxyman7]

I would suggest at least 100 oz-in torque for the stepper motors. I have 200 oz-in on my machine and they work great for pretty much everything.  As far as RPM and horsepower, steppers aren't usually rated like that. 

[qyy]

 can i have a schematic diagram for pic card to the stepper motor if iam using 4wyre stpper motor?

[galaxyman7]

4 wire motors are bipolar steppers. The direction of the current must be switched back and forth for these to work.  Hobbycnc sells the driver board that works with unipolar or bipolar.  If you don't want to buy it, look for a circuit online. Google "Bipolar stepper motor driver"

[Scott-300]

Am I the only one who played the Benny Hill music in the background whil watching this?

[Scott-300]

Am I the only one who played the Benny Hill music in the background whil watching this?

[outland86]

Hi Everyone

We have a set of pre cut wood parts avaialble for this Router with all the edge boring done and cut professionally on a KOMO CNC..absolutely precise parts.
from MDF. an inexpensive option to ensure you have an accurate machine when you are done...www.makecnc.com

some minor improvments and modifications have been made to the original design.

also for FREE....FREE....FREE

you can download free from our site an extensive and comprehensive set of plans for this machine that includes the DXF files of all parts drawn by a professional draughtman with dogbone fillets added to allow you to cut the parts uisng a CNC router..as well as a set of drawings ready to laser cut.
a parts list and indervidual part drawings including metal parts belts etc to make building this cool little machine a breeze..hindreds of hours of work went into these plans and cut files and they are your for free..no obligations.
www.makecnc.com

[dabuilderbrad]

im a bit confused with step 3 of the assembly instructions, can anyone help?

[dchakraborty]

Can you please make a video for showing how you connected the motors and the circuital system in the cnc. These parts are screwing my head..................
Another question is can we make the circuit required for cnc by our own??
If yes please make a video on the topic.............

[outland86]

full and truly comprehensive assembly guide for this project free download at www.makecnc.com

[pfred2]

I don't know if we can, but I know I can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgbeyNNBZ68

Basically you have to supply power and ground to your motor driver, and step and direction input signals to it. Then hook your motor up. That's about it. Pretty simple huh?

[lenouvel_8617]

I'm having trouble opening the PDF file. It says "the pdf file is damaged and could not be repaired." How else can I open this file?

thanks!

[resipsa]

Time lapse video was awesome. You should have had your wife come in at some random point for a simulated quickie! Would have been comedy gold.

[waynerod]

Hi, Can anyone plz plz tell me.. what the "Coupling Nut" is used for in the "Z Axis Motion".. Also, could anyone plz tell me what makes the Dremel Holder (Z Cart Holder thing) move up/down according to the "Z Axis"?? IS it due to the "Threaded Rod and the Coupling Nut"??? (It would be nice if you could do it with the help of some pics/diagrams/videos) Also, for the Parallel port, DB-25 is needed.. whereas I have DE-15F. Could I use an adapter?? Or do I have to get a PCI Slot??? plz...plz help as soon as possible... Thanks, Wayne.

[robotron997]

hi i am not able to understand how the motor is connected with the belt or the rail in the y axis and x axis can you explain it briefly
 

[214595]

hello i am interested in your plans but i have 3/4" MDF can i still make it or are there many changes that have to be made

if you can email me at [e-mail] i would really apprecoate it

[katzsplat]

You won't be able to use 3/4" MDF without making some serious changes to the design.  Home Depot has 8'x4'x0.5" MDF for ~$22, which is enough to make two CNC machines.  I'd recommend buying the correct thickness of MDF.

[weldermike]

hi I'm just starting to look into building this cnc , I love ur plans , but its not very clear to me on how ur belt drive works, would u happen to have any pics or video,

[joe912]

look farther back in the comments there is a paint picture that shows the belt routing

[Albu Dan]

Hello! Could you please post some pictures with how the belts for the Y axis are mounted? And I was wondering what power is recommended for the motors to have? Thank You!

[woopy]

[[Video(, {width:425, height:350})]][[Video(, {width:425, height:350})]]

[Torito]

Well, I have made this far. Still need to cut some pieces but I am going to change the rail system. ¿Is there any specification about the belt? I mean that I don't know the strength it needs to support. I have been searching over the web and found that the only parameter you can choose is the width and not thickness for example. What is the recommended width of the belt for this particular machine? Remember that the belt helps the machine stay on the rail. anyway you can solve that somehow but I like this design. :-)

[Torito]

Sorry for no positive comments before. EXCELENT work. I'm starting out by compiling files. I have been reading a lot and found out that this is my hardware option.

[ryno85]

I think I've found an error in the assembly instructions. In the section where you are building the rails, it shows 24 8mm x 55mm bolts, but the parts list only shows 6 of these bolts. I think it should say 40mm. I haven't started building yet, but based on my Sketchup model, 55mm would be way too long. I'm planning on building my router based on these plans. I'd like the work area to be larger, and also to use the threaded rod on all 3 axes. Any tips for me?

[oomlout]

Hey; I must admit that is some eagle eyed browsing. You're very right it should read 40mm and if it did it would match the parts list. I'm afraid I'm away from the source files at the moment but I will make a note to fix that the next time I update. Regards Stuart