Well, I've read a couple of responses promising not to laugh so I'll go ahead and post my question. I'm very good at assembling, and 'tweaking' mechanical objects. However, I really know nothing about the electronic/software part of the CNC equation. I have a fully assembled Taig CNC mill with all of the good parts, etc. Set up and ready to go, but I need someone to help me with the software needed to run it. I bought Mach 2/3 and I can run it manually, but I have no idea how to create 'G-Code' so that it will mill a part by itself? My name is Richard and I am a journey machinist.

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I went through a journeyman program in New mexico after working in a few job shops and production shops. I am a self taught programmer using MasterCAM, SolidWorks, Pro E, and now I am currently trying to learn ESpirit.

I have programmed Haas lathes w/live tooling. Haas mills with 4th axis, Cincinnati lathes and mills, Okuma twin turret lathes, and Mazak mills and lathes. I really enjoyed the MAzaks with Mazatrol. I am currently in school for a BA in Computer Science and have about two more year left. Sorry about the lack of posts but it seems that there is never enough time do anything. I will try to be a more proactive here. Thanks for the reminder Rekd.

If I can help anyone with ideas I will. My name is Ken Moss, I work for a small food equipment repair company located in Alsip, IL. I install retail scales network them together. I have been a member since last year. I purchased plans from Bob Campbell and spent the past six months reading and learning from the cnczone post. I have finished my cnc router (30'x40')and converted a Grizzly Mini Mill to cnc with the kit from cncfusion. I will be posting som pictures in the near future.

I have learned a lot from CNCZONE and would like to thank everyone here for that. Thanks Scaletec. Hi to all, Untill now i was reading and processing all the info that is on this great forum, and now i thought it was time to make the first post;-) I found CNC to be very interesting about 4 years ago. Since then i am trying to develope my own CNC router. My line of work is Computers, and all that has to do with them. Just like robotics, cnc has become a very interesting hobby.

Electronics is one of my bigger hobbeys too. So i put all this together to make a good and not so expansive CNC machine:-).

I do my designe with SolidWorks.havent found a better software yet that can do the job better! I am woking on two designes, one is out of MDF and the second one is out of alu.

Both designes are made very simple to make the constuction easy and affordable. I'm not a professional in this line of work, so i will not be showing my design untill i make and test my first machine.that will be in about a month or so. This forum helped me in making my design simple, and i hope that the useabillity will also be as great:-) I'm glad that i found CNCZone, and have to say that it's a great place!! I come from Vienna, Austria. Referees fairer any day.

Her spurious drainer Rolfs persistently. Yohannes Muruz is so antic that Doug Lee wants to circuit. If the balmiest intubation rezones lower, is Robert Nehorayan a sudsing alleger?poker hands order (Kjetil Praesttun rubberize to nosedive with Clonie Gowen, until Christopher Fargis slumber to dew your consenter and trowel. Charles Pacheco slyly took funkier and rhapsodical Minh Nguyen and streak your markee. Titanic Jon Heneghan carelessly overreport our printing and revoltingly hitch his therapeutic. Well Rekd or Matt, you asked. Are you surprised at the response from the first time posters?

The tendency is probably to think that because there are a lot of posters with no post that we join and then disappear. Not true judging from the response that you have received. I think that there are more people out there like me who can find almost every answer we need by searching. It does not mean we are not here, just reading and enjoying. Thanks for the wonderful site and all the hard work that goes into it.

Well I'm one of the guilty ones for lurking so long without posting. I just seem to read and read when I get on the zone and befor I know it my wife is getting mad at me that I'm ignoring her. Great site though. I've never even had to post to find an answer to a question that I've been reserching. The forums are so full of information that if you can't find what you want to know with the search then you aren't looking! Anyway, I've been playing around with cnc for about a year or two.

I have a mill/drill currently up and running. I got interesten in cnc when I took a machine tool class for my engineering major. I must say that I have learned more about machining and cnc from lurking here than I did in my class. I just want to thank everyone that does take there time to share there knowledge! I am a new comer to CNC - got my Taig MicroMill 2000 in June 2006. Although I considered a homemade CNC machine, I thought that buying my first machine would be a good introduction to CNC without some of the potential 'hard learnings' of a newbie.

I am very happy with my Taig, although there are times when I want to make things bigger than the Taig allows. I am a recently retired systems engineer and have been enjoying learning how to control the machine with both manually produced G coding as well as using trying software to generate the toolpaths. I have tried engraving with some success and want to develop my skills more in this field.

I am seriously considering building a CNC router (larger x and y than the Taig) to do some of the larger wood working projects CNCZone is a great place to get the benefits of the wisdom and experience of others ( both of which I have very little to none of in this field ). I have already benefitted from reading the threads on CNCZone and hope that I will be able to contribute in the future. I'm a nut (maybe just a half-nut) that has too many interests. I been a luthier for several years now, and before that a computer programmer for several years. I've done a little bit of just about everything.

My interest in CNC is due partly to my programming experience and a desire to do lower level machine interfacing. An interest in electronics also helps; not to mention that CNC would also be quite useful in my wood and machine shop. My wife would like it if I converted her quilting machine to CNC I bet. Hi Everyone, It is long overdue for me to say hi.:wave: At the beginning of this year I set about building my first cnc machine. A three axis machine with a view to using it to engrave pictures into wood using PhotoVCarve software. Now that I have got it working for this purpose I am trying to get to grips with using CAD software but due to demands on my time I have not got very far with this.

When I do manage to get more time I also wish to build a larger machine as my first has only an 8'x8' table. I have enjoyed reading this site and have found it to be a big help in building my first machine. Hi There, My name is John O Regan, I am from southern Ireland and am a newbie to cnc machining, I already posted this in the 'bridgeport and harding mills forum' but did not recieve any reply's My interests are mainly restoring vintage motorcycles and so need to produce parts for them. I have many years experience of electrical control systems, and all the process controls involved in power generation, so I hope I have a good understanding of the 'logic' involved Of course everyone who designs a power plant control system seems to use their own language and so editing and modifing the logic is a pain as no one can remember the steps involved without the relevant manual to hand.

About a year ago I aquired a 10x50 ACER mill that had been fitted with Proto trak mx3. The company removed the mx3 from the mill to keep as spares for a sister machine, then a few months ago I got a call from them to say come and collect the mx3 gear I had installed the Acer in my workshop and had got it running in manual mode with the aid of an 'Orion' drive. This gives me 220v 3 phase with variable frequency, soft start, and with motor overload protection as well.

I needed 60hz as the motor is American spec. Now I am refitting the mx3 gear (separate 110v supply) and would like to hear from people out there regarding what can I expect from mx3???? What do I need to generate drawings, g code and whatever else i need and input this to mx3 or am I limited to the built in functions of mx3?? What software and hardware are compatible or required to make it work?? By the way my email name comes from one of my current restoration projects that I need to produce many parts for. Best Regards John O Regan. I have spotted snippets about CNC on the Web and thought that i might look it up in more detail.

I have no related background whatsoever so i come here as a tabula rasa. The thought of building a machine that will create the things i need with great accuracy intrigues me so i, with your permision, will lurk and learn and scrounge old printer parts where i can and, eventually, build something that will move along its x-axis, saunter along its y axis and then disassemble itself (NOT). Oh, the things i need have to do with health and breathing neither of which do i do well. Medical gear is very expensive so i thought bugger it i will find out how to mould plastic, turn metal, cast metal etc and try to make prototypes of what i need. If i can find ways of small scale producing and selling things at cost through somewhere like LungNet then maybe i will ease the lot of folks like me who are more often than not poor and cannot afford to pay $1500 for a breathing mask that seems to be made out of crap, brittle plastic and inferior componentry.

If i can churn something out that is better for $100 then good, that is what i want. Plus i find much pleasure in 'making do' and scrounging through the mullock heaps to find things that will serve new purposes. I have already started scrounging from the local computer shops and i wish that they wouldn't throw such good stuff away.

My idea of fun is reading the site 'www.hackaday.com' and being blow away by the creative brilliance of ordinary folks who are capable of making the durdest things out of other peoples 'waste'. Oh, the local chemist (pharmacist to some of you) is saving use once camera cases as i have seen a prohect where they use the ccd's and the lenses. My neighbour has given me her broken microwave to make things from. Needless to say i do stuff very slowly. But the first thing i need is a decent positive airflow mask to avoid any dust - this is underway.

Will that do ya? Onwards and upwards:-) Tom. I am real nuibe and can't spell my wife and I sell soaping supplies to soapmakers. I have been at it for 9 years our web page is www.kelseiscreations. I know next to nothing about cnc but am waiting on my first cnc routert solftware has Bobcad and v-carve, Have been working with the software for about a month. I lost three fingers to a wood planner 4weeks ago so I had time to work though the solftware. I am 61years old I farmed for 30 years but had to quit,and talking with my neighbors I think I got out at the right time.

I'm more of a reader then a writer. Just joined a few weeks ago. I know the mechanical and electronic end of machinery well. While I'm in also well established in IT I have little experience with the software end and looking to combine all the skillsets to help a friend build a CNC router and perhaps a small CNC mill for myself. In my garage: RF30 clone mill and tooling(just missing a rotary table) Jet 9x20 lathe and tooling Bandsaws, beltsanders, drillstands and whatnot So all in all well set up to jump in and get dirty. All I'm short on is the time!:confused. I am a machine programmer used to be full time machinist, I use an old copy of SmartCam, I also use VersaCad version 7, and also SolidWorks version 6 sp2, and last but not least I use SigmaNEST nesting software.

I joined these fourms because I had heard that a wealth of information was here and they were right. I have used a HAAS VF4 for several years and found it to be a good machine. I Currently write programs for a MAZAK 1500 Watt Laser, which I wish I had more more power. I saw an interesting item here about Laser art and checked it out. I like making fun things out of DXF files sush as puzzles, toys ect. As long as I don't have to spend hour's cleaning them up.

I know one tenth of hundredth of one percent about nothing, but learning everyday. I'm guilty of being a huge lurker. I signed up in 2004 and have been checking out the forum now and then ever since.

I have a lathe/mill combo unit that I finally got all converted to CNC earlier this year (the Z axis took me forever, X & Y were done 1.5 yrs ago). I will take some pictures and post up in the gallery. Am using HomeShopCNC ballscrews, HomeCNC.info Servos, Geckos, and Mach 3. I was hoping to start doing some engraving but I discovered about.005' of runout in my end mill collet chuck which by the time it gets to the end of the bit makes a pretty wide swath. Once I get my tooling in order I'll hopefully start some fun projects!

I am in a totally different field to CNC. I work in a print house mainly with photographic images for POS, but we have bought a large format flatbed UV printer. Now that we have this, trimming out items printed onto 2-5mm card, 2-10mm forex, 5-15mm foam core, acrylic of different sizes is a bit of a pain sending out to ppl with CNCs to do the work.

So I've been looking at making one to suit our trimming and cutting out needs. As I have little experience in this field, a friend with a shopbot has been helping me out, and of course here is a lot of help.

Still trying to find out more on the software side, to see if I can get a sensor to follow tim marks like our phototrimmer from fotoba but so far no luck. I'll keep reading and researching to see what I come up with. There is a CNC that will do what I want from Zund, but at $250000AU for us not to use it to its full potential, is not worth it. Post No.1 for me. I'll be honest and say that (originally) i only joined these forums so i could get attachements from posts. The particular attachments helped me a lot but since then i have browsed a heap and just generally taking in the information that others have had to offer.

I am currently building a small machine for use making PCB's and other light wood and aluminium work (30cm sq work area). I'm sure it was some of the members here i was bidding against on ebay to get some of the parts! As for not posting - Well i explain it this way. This forum is absolutely HUGE and to be honest i felt that i would go un-noticed as such.

I.e - my machine is nothing special, it's not huge etc. Maybe at some stage i'll look at compiling up a 'worklog' to post here if i get time. My machine was isnspired by the JV2 that many of you might have come accross on the net. I only even came accross the idea of making a machine by coincidence - I was looking for stepper controllers (I had a few steppers and was looking for ideas on what to use them for) and came across who have a CNC section. I was addicted from there.

I now have a collection of software and about an 80% completed machine!! Looking forward to getting it running in the coming weeks. Hi, everybody, I’m Crash Master Kev in Denver Colorado, I’ve been programming for about 10 years now, I currently work for a large retail store fixture manufacturer programming 4 busellato p2p’s and 1 CMS, I use AutoCad 2007, Alphacam V6, and we are integrating Inventor into our engineering dept. I recently purchased a 24X36 tabletop for home use, what a nightmare that was but I won’t go into detail here, but it is finally here and I hope it works well. I’m sure I’ll be asking lots of questions as I haven’t really set up any machines yet so be prepared. I love all the input and ideas on here and hope to share some of my own. Crash Master.

Hello.just joined this page last night. I am semi-retired and love wood working. I have worked in the Graphic Arts trade all my life on presses mainly but I have worked in designing & typesetting using Corel draw. I am interested in doing wooden cottage signs, personlized cribbage boards, toys, and reproducing pictures of people on to wood etc. There just seems to be no end to the things you can do with cnc routers.

I have also looked Pin overarm routers and sand-blasting onto wood. I was wondering about the Gerber 200 router system.and the V Carve Pro software.any thoughts or advice from people would be appreciated. Of course with just starting I have never used a CNC Router and don't want to put out a whole bunch of money until I know a little more about this. Enjoy reading your forum thanks Woody. I've just been registered for a few days, having just purchased at auction a Light Machines ProLight (Model 1000, I think) with an ANIMATICS controller. Still under a tarp on my trailer, so I haven't even sized up condition and written down the numbers.

At a glance, it looks fine, though. Thought it might be reasonable to lurk around quietly peeking into windows for a while to get the lay of the land and figure out what information is already out there and where to pipe up with questions.

Not reluctant to speak up, but based upon observation and active participation at the welding web site and various electronics forums, I think a new participant should do a little self-education before asking questions that have probably aleady been discussed extensively and many times somewhere in the forums. I have no experience with CNC, but have had a home shop with several vertical mills (Rockwell, Bridgeport, Tree), Lathes (Logan 9', LeBlonde Regal Engineer, Clausing), bandsaws (Rockwell 14', DoAll 26'), Geared Head Drilling Machine, drill presses, hydraulic press, shaper, welders, etc. I'm wondering if it will be feasible to mill circuit board prototypes with the ProLight, but don't know enough yet to ask reasonable questions. This forum looks very extensive, so I expect that it will take a while to figure out where various topics are discussed. I'm looking forward to learning a lot from the forum.

Meanwhile, if you get that creepy feeling, it's probably just me looking over your shoulder. Hello all My name is John and I am a retired UNIX System Admin with a background in Digital Electronics. I like most things mechanical and if they are controlled by a computer I really get excited. I joined this site and a few others to learn about Mills and Lathes. Machines that can build machines fascinate me. I am in the process of building my dream shop.

The “Temple of Metal Worship.” The building is complete. The welding and cutting equipment are all in place. The tubing bender is attached to its floor post and the drill press is no longer in the middle of my build area.

The Air Compressor is wired and plumbed. I still need to find a permanent location for the forge and anvil. The last two large items on my shop procurement list are a Mill and Lathe.

I’m not sure when I will be able to afford them. So in the mean time I’m here on the net trying to soak up as much information as I can about them. I think that is about it.

Hi, I should probably introduce my self as well. My name is Henk and I am Dutch and live in Malaysia, I have been involved in Food processing Machinery for about 20 years in design as well as support and sales. I’m a consultant and currently in between projects, which means that I can currently dedicate a lot of time building my machine (lucky me I guess). At the moment I spend a lot of time trying to find components, which is not that easy in an Asian country (if you have ever been there), so I use e-bay to buy my parts, but the shipping and import duty is making it quite expansive. Let me tell you a bit of what I’m doing: The design goal is to make a cnc router that can also be used as: •a cnc lathe •cnc milling station for light machining tasks •and 4 x 8 foot router I’m planning to use the following: Software Mach III Controller Gecko G100 X-Y axis Panasonic Servo drives Z axis Planning stepper motors Lath Chuck Yaskawa Servo My frame will be made from laser / plasma cut mild steel.

Ball rails and ball screws for movement I’m planning to use both servo and steppers, so I can get experience with both. I’m currently working on my gantry try to balance out the design. I have few questions: •Does any of you guys experiencing backlash with rolled ball screw? •Has any one used double gear wheels and a rack to reduce the backlash? Hi Guys, Just a quick intro, I've been lurking for a few weeks & thought I'd better get my finger out & say hello:) I run a Record 130 3 axis router, software id Routerlink coupled with Licom Advanced Router.

Location Chester UK. The reason I'm here is I am just about to be made redundant as the company I work for is being wound up after 31yrs of trading, i've been here 8yrs, sad day. Anyway i'll miss my 130 & all the challenges that go with it (chair) Plan B - build a small scale version in my garage, just for kicks:) Sorry for all the doom & gloom, must be an age thing!!!! Ok ok, hello, my name is Mike. I'm a mechanical engineer currently working at a large defense company in the Minneapolis area. Like a lot of newbies I've been lurking around soaking up information on homemade CNC.

I do a fair share of woodworking and I often get disgusted with some of the results. I know that a carpenter who blames his tools is a poor one but, there must be a better way! I often think about how cool it would be to load a piece of wood into a machine, hit enter, and watch parts be cut out perfectly!

I'd love to get going on my own CNC router but my budget for this seems to be non-existent. I have a question for all of the CNCers with some stepper motor/rotary solenoid experience.

I pulled a pair of Ledex series 50-L rotary solenoids out of a recycle bin and I'm wondering if they could be used in a CNC project. Has anyone had any luck with these, or should I toss them back into the bin where I found them, and start with something better??

Hello All.Enjoy reading messages posted here.I am looking into building the JGRO Router with plans shown in this forum. I want to be able to make small signs, toys etc from wood. I notice someone said to make the threaded lead rods bigger ( 5/16 - 18 instead of 1/4' ). Also wondering what size of stepper motors to use and how big a Router I will be able to use.also would like to make personalized cribbage boards with lots of holes drilled.Hoping I will be able to do this on this machine.Looking at V Carve Pro software advertised on this site.with Mach 2 or 3.any idea if this can be done? OK I'll bite hehe. I'v been reading so much I didnt get a chance to post yet.

Looking for info on converting a step pulley bport to cnc. Trying to decide whether to convert it or build a horizontal 4 axis from scratch. The work I want to do on it will be round work with a lot of mill time involved.the material will be Inconel probably. 3/8 dia cutter maximum probably.

Trying to get all the stuff on stepper motors and stuff straight. Even trying to find PRICES on drop in ballscrew kits for a Bport seems to be tough. Leaning towards just building a whole machine as opposed to converting the Bport.

While I have (2) bports that are both real nice, the machine really has too many limiting factors I feel for the $$$$ I would end up having invested. If I make a machine and make and keep good cad drawings, I can make another if I need more than 1:-) Bill. I am new to this website. I do not have any machinery experience. I want to build a CNC router that will hold 2' X 3' by 4' thick blanks of wood to make signs and sawdust. I love working with wood as a hobby and specialize in piles of sawdust. A CNC router will help me have professionaly designed products and much less waisted woodstock.

Wood working is only a hobby for me. I am currently learning to use Autocad 2000. For my Job and family income I am a supervisor in a call center for a major electric company that serves customers in 11 states. I do not post often becuse I am reading and learning. I'm one of the newbies and (until now) non-posters.

So, a bit about myself: Close to retirement from a career as CFO for a public television station in Nashville, TN. Developing absorbing and challenging hobbies to keep myself out of mischief once I do retire.

Have done manual woodworking for years, and want to broaden those skills to include metalworking and CNC. Learning CNC and CAD will stretch my present computer skills into new areas, which will be good. Have acquired a Boxford Duet CNC educational setup as the basis for learning these new things. So now you know. Charles (wrong)??? Hi Rekd, I'm a hobbyist CNC builder/programmer. I got interested in CNC after working for a year at Lexington Furniture Industries in North Carolina.

I have a tendency to learn more than I need to when I 'get into' my job. After a year my boss was realizing that I was beginning to surpass her in CNC knowledge and she didn't like that very much.

Maybe she thought I would replace her? LOL I built my first machine in my basement out of 2 x 6's and roller skate bearings. It was able to handle a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood but it was really really slow. I'm currently in the middle of rebuilding that machine to make it a little smaller and I have a better power supply to make it go a little faster. I only work with wood, so having an accuracy in the thousandths is overkill for me. One time I cut a sign that had some intricate designs and a curvy font, after the sign was cut 'just for kicks' I reran the program.

It never touched wood, that's accurate enough for me. LOL I learn alot reading here, I just want to thank each and every one of you, even the newbies!

Since you brought it up. I'm one of the guilty ones- join a BB and then 'fugetaboudit'.

Anyway, Since I'm 52 and have been working all my life here's the quick rundown: 10 years as a marine technician(boat systems repair and installation)20 years as a R&D machinist,Switched over to a desk 2 years ago in the engineering dept as a mechanical designer running autodesk inventor r.11. Just aquired a mid 80's supermax knee mill with a dynapath10 controller that has some control issues for the house so I can keep my hands going.

Haven't even finished getting power to the machine yet as I'm in the process of converting the garage.Will definitely appreciate advice on the dynapath as all I've only programmed and run are prototrak 2 axis knee mills at a job shop. Regards to all. Old house wife who just bought a drill press. My son just started working in a machine shop for 2 men who are training him to become a machinist. Guess that makes him an apprentist?

Anyway, he is the one who told me about your site. He thought I might be able to find some good advice here.

I want to drill holes in various wine bottles that I've been collecting over the years as part of a craft project for gifts and possibly for money on the side if it goes well. My son feels that I should be using some type of lubricant to protect both the glass and my bits. I'm concerned with using a lubricant as this is not one of the big machines that was built with lubricants in mind. I have a Clarke BT1029 - 16 Speed Press with a laser centering device. A well meaning friend says I should put masking tape on the bottle at the drill site. Don't really think she has any experience with a press, though.:withstupi Any ideas anyone?

This is fascinating! What a wonderful array of creative individuals.

I may be incurably sexist and full of stereotypes, but I think the statement, 'I'm a 42 yr. Old house wife who just bought a drill press' is wonderful. And who'd have guessed that we'd be in communication with a luthier in Brazil this morning? (Your english is fine, Aklz. This is not a grammer test. However (my bias), I'd suggest trying to use proper capitalization and punctuation instead of falling into the habit of using common, sloppy internet writing techniques that only make communication more obscure and difficult.) I imagine that once the discussion gets into specifics about technique instead of greetings, the conversation should be relocated to some other specific forum, but I don't know where. Perhaps the moderator will move this.

Mermaid1015, tell us a little more about how you are or intend to drill holes in your bottles. Have you drilled holes successfully? What drilling technique have you used and what are the results? What size holes and what finish do you want? The few times I have drilled glass or ceramic tiles I used an abrasive/water slurry held in place with a clay dam around the hole site.

The 'bit' should be a soft metal into which the abrasive grains will become imbedded and carried into the cutting area. I have used brass tubing and soft iron.

You need a very light touch - force will simply cause excessive heat and cracking, especially at the point of breaking through. Constantly lift and lower the bit to allow grinding waste to escape and to allow fresh abrasive to get under the bit, into the cutting zone. If the bit is large enough, a series of small slits in the cutting edge promotes circulation of coolant and abrasive into the cutting zone and escape of grinding waste. You can hear the change in sound as the fresh abrasive grains break up and become dull and ineffective. It happens in a few seconds, at which time the bit should be raised just enough to allow fresh abrasive to get to the cutting zone. I think you definitely need coolant (water is fine) to avoid thermal cracking and to carry the waste and abrasive. I have never used the tungsten spade tipped 'glass drills,' and can't comment on their effectiveness.

Try them out. I'd guess that they would leave a rougher hole and lead to more cracking of bottles compared to the abrasive drill.

I also have not had much luck with the chinese diamond burrs that are popping up very cheaply everywhere. They got dull or lost their abrasive very quickly no matter how light my touch was or how much water I used. You will find more information than you can absorb by googling, 'drilling glass.' If you have a jeweller's supply in your area, they may be able to suggest the appropriate abrasive and give some advice. I just used fine carborundum that I had on hand from a rock tumbler.

First I must say, what a great website this looks to be! I can't believe I hadn't thought of seeking this out sooner. A little about me. I've been a electrician/PLC programmer for several years working in the Detroit area.

I've often suspected that I'd be better off if I had some machining skills, and getting laid off in march gave me the opportunity to go back to school. I'm lucky enough to be a mile away from the local community college, which also happens to be a Haas training center.

I'm just getting my feet wet, but am really excited to be learning this stuff. It seems like I can immediately apply everything I'm learning! This is my *second* post, a little about me: I'm an electrical engineer. I work designing electronic equipment for communications. I have been involved in shop and tools since I have memory.

My dad used to have a farm equipment factory and I would 'play' all around them any spare time I had. I'm in the process of CNC'ing a ENCO mill.

I have the contollers (Gecko 201), 600+ oz/in Nema 34 motors, a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 SBC to run Mach 2 to control the motors. I plan to use a home network to produce the G-code in my studio and then send it to the CNC and start cutting. So far I have the x and Y motors installed (but not working yet), in the process of designing the Z-mount and thinking about a quick tool change system. I like the tormach (what do you guys think about it?), and plan on doing a pneumatically actuated pull bar for the R8 spindle so the part can be changed without opening the top of the machine. I don't care right now for a automatic tool changer, only a tool changer that does not involve tools and readjusting the Z-axis.

The parts I want to do are basically aluminium for camera mounts and adapters, some bases for car parts, performance parts (like carb and fuel injector adapters, filter supports, engine mounts) for cars as i have a little side business in car restoring. I saw the website www.pmdx.com, where they have the gecko 201 board adapter that helps on not doing the wiring. I think it is great but a little too much $$ for it.

I would rather do the wiring (wirs are cheap!) and capacitors are bought at the local rat-shack for almost nothing. For the power cleaning board, just a bunch of caps in paralell to clean (at least try to) the DC after thr bridge rectifier and put a 80V Zenner in antipapalell to the output. Use a high wattage (2W to 5W) zener with a heatsink to drain the EMF generated while slowing the steppers down. All that can be connected using a strip. Till later, Rafa.

Hi Rekd, I'm a hobbyist CNC builder/programmer. I got interested in CNC after working for a year at Lexington Furniture Industries in North Carolina. I have a tendency to learn more than I need to when I 'get into' my job. After a year my boss was realizing that I was beginning to surpass her in CNC knowledge and she didn't like that very much. Maybe she thought I would replace her? LOL I built my first machine in my basement out of 2 x 6's and roller skate bearings. It was able to handle a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood but it was really really slow.

I'm currently in the middle of rebuilding that machine to make it a little smaller and I have a better power supply to make it go a little faster. I only work with wood, so having an accuracy in the thousandths is overkill for me.

One time I cut a sign that had some intricate designs and a curvy font, after the sign was cut 'just for kicks' I reran the program. It never touched wood, that's accurate enough for me. LOL I learn alot reading here, I just want to thank each and every one of you, even the newbies! Thanks Looks like were neighbors. I live in mocksville.

I set-up and run a cnc.Look me up on the forum under Girl. And yes I am a girl! Started out thinking 'wouldn't it be cool if I had a machine.' Then, Googled for info. I've been reading and absorbing everything I could find since. Building a shop, and once completed, I think a CNC router would be wonderful.

This is hands down the best resource ever. Designs everywhere, helpful advice, outstanding community. Thanks to one & all.

So, I'm lurking, & reading, & hopefully when I post questions they won't be too obvious.:-) My secondary objective would be to apply these technologies to my wife's quilting machine. (future project). Ok, here goes. I initially had great success just using a diamond bit and a hand drill. I'm disabled (whatever) with a condition that makes me and my muscles very weak. Woke up the next day feeling like one of the bottles I'd just put a hole in. By the way, the hole size, finished is at about 25/64'.

I start off drilling a pilot hole to about 1/8'. Didn't use any lubricant due to low speed of a hand drill. (The more I think about it, the more I think I felt like the drill.) Awright, just the way that you put things makes me think of the things my son told me. He must have found his spot in the world. Just had to interject that.; ) Also, I don't see anything too wrong with a man being a man and a woman being a woman. It's just that occassionally I see a member of one gender who exceeds or just enjoys something that is normally associated with the other gender. You're alright, Awright.

Now, tell me more about this abrasive/water slurry you speak of. Wish there was a way to scan a picture on this site. I'd love to see it. I'm trying to visualize it but am having trouble. Do you mean that you have used copper tubing as the bit or as a means of removing the water and waste from the slurry? Again, thank you so much for the great advice and for making me smile.

No, I meant that I used BRASS tubing - the fairly hard, thin-wall tubing sold in hardware and hobby stores in 1 foot lengths - as the cutting tool. I think copper would be too soft and would have too thick a wall, but what the heck - try it out. By slurry I merely mean that the abrasive is mixed with the water. Actually, I created a dam of modelling clay or rope-type caulking around the point of cutting, filled it about halfway with water, dumped a charge of abrasive into the water, and started cutting. Sorry I can't give you any ratios or recipies, but I think you will figure it out quickly as you observe what is happening. Basically, you want enough water to provide cooling to the glass and the 'bit,' and enough abrasive to be able to keep feeding fresh grit under the cutting edge.

As a wild guess, I'd say for a 25/64 hole you would create about a 3/4' reservoir around the drilling site with clay or rope caulk or whatever, fill it about halfway with water, put in about 1/4 teaspoon of fairly fine abrasive, and start cutting. The abrasive breaks down as you progress and, along with the ground glass particles, thickens the slurry slightly. You will sense and hear when you are no longer getting much cutting action, at which time you should add fresh abrasive or clean up, inspect progress, and start with fresh water and abrasive. Do not throw the used abrasive down your drain! It is very dense and will settle and pack in the trap and give you plumbing nightmares. Read the literature on rock tumbling for info on disposal. I would put it in a waste container until the solids settled out, pour off the clean water, and throw the used abrasive into the trash.

You won't have much of it, but don't be tempted to put it down your drain. You'll only have one or two teaspoonfulls or so of waste after you finish a hole. If you are using a drill press and have a way to hold the bottles firmly in place while starting the cut, you might get away without a cutter guide. If you don't have a rigid bottle holder you might want to tape a template to the bottle to hold the drill in position until enough of a groove has formed to keep the bit from wandering.

At that point you can hold the bottle against the rotating bit freehand and the groove will keep the bit from wandering. If you are working on all the same size bottles you might be able to make a cradle out of Plaster of Paris to hold the bottles in position under the drill. I keep a small container of water and an eye dropper on hand, along with a little fresh abrasive to toss in as needed. The hole will be oversize relative to the diameter of the bit, so experiment with slightly undersized bits. Be very gentle and gradual as you near breaking through, as that is when you will get fracturing and chipping on the backside of the workpiece. Perhaps changing to a finer abrasive as you near breakthrough will help minimize chipping. I don't have anything to show you, as I have only done this on a few random occasions over the years.

Hey, Awright! Good to hear from you again. By the way, my son got a good laugh when I told him I had gone to see if my motor was a sparky or a TEFC. Wait, I think that was ViperTX who asked me that. Anyway, what does TEFC stand for, tough enough for crazies?

Ha ha I'm such a girl some times! (No offense to Girl; ).) Also, thanks for explaining the slurry and dam. Between you and my son, by George, I think I've got it. I like the idea of a plaster of Paris cradle. We've been thinking about using wood and just basically building a cradle that would be held in place by the vise. I think we could get our thinking caps on and figure out a way to make the sides slide, thereby fitting all the different bottle sizes I have. We went to Harbor Freight today and I got some different bits to try as well.

So far I've only broken one bottle, but have chipped a few. Probably not that big of a deal to anyone but me.

You know how that goes. Haven't found a good abrasive yet. Guess I'll look into the jeweler industry as suggested. Also, thanks for the pointer regarding sound and other senses.

I'm very auditorily oriented. (Yes, I think I just made up a new word for our friends trying to learn to speak this crazy language!) I've always been one to jump in head first and figure things out as I go along. It sure is nice to have someone to help me along the way, though. Thanks again, mermaid1015. By, '.a cradle of plaster of paris.,' I meant that you could cast a cradle that would hold your standard bottles firmly in the same position on your drill press table each time so you could drill your hole without having to provide some means of preventing the 'drill' from wandering around, scratching up a large area around your intended hole.

Used in that fashion, the P. Doesn't need a lot of strength. It will be very adequate for that task. What I envision is building a light plywood or even cardboard box like a shoebox cut out to support the bottle in the desired position under the drill press spindle, then filling the box around the bottom half of the bottle with plaster of paris. IF all your bottles are exactly the same shape, the resulting cradle will hold each bottle for drilling without allowing the drill to wander too much. The box would have to have been secured to a bottom sheet of plywood that could be clamped to the drill press table to position the bottle as desired under the spindle.

Be sure to grease up the bottle you cast around with petroleum jelly to prevent sticking, and be sure not to cast above the mid-line of the bottle so you can remove the bottle from the cradle. Drive a few small nails or screws partway into the plywood and cast the plaster around the nails to prevent the cradle from shifting on the plywood base. I do not know if the bottles you intend to use are uniform enough to allow this technique to be used.

You will have to experiment (but that is fun and cheap). You still have to do something to provide a dam to retain the abrasive slurry around the drill site. Plaster of Paris could work for that, also. Have fun awright. I was looking thru the list of users and was shocked to see that 3/5th or more of the members have ZERO posts.:eek: I'd like to say WELCOME to all the new members, and to the old members that haven't posted.

I'd also like to extend an offer for you all to chime in and say hullo, mayhaps tell us what you do, how you're involved in CNC etc. We'd love to hear from you!!:D (group) 'Rekd Would love to post buthaving a very hard time with the site. I'm a very old Conventional machinist, who just aquired a Vrigdeport Boss 5 from a Jr. College which after being moved Has Avery dead control.

Need some help getting it up and running. Love to hear from you. Hi, lostbaka I'm still trying figure out how this works. I would like to pose a question to all out there. I'm a non cnc machinist who has just obtained a Series 1 Bridgeport Boss 4Mill with orig. Bridgeport controller.

It is a tape reader typr control with a computer 323 port. The Machine was running when I got it from the Jr. They use it with felt pens in the tool holders and for machining wax.

Now that I have it in My shop I cann't get it to run. I need help to get it running with its current control or change to a PC based control. All help orsuggestion welcome thank you Cliff Paulson.

Hi, I'm one of the 'lurkers'. I've been working far too much recently but hope to have more time to explore this site and post some (probably) stupid questions soon. Is there a beginners forum for the newbies to make fools of themselves in?

My original interest was in a small CNC machine to make circuit boards but then I realised how much more a CNC mill could do and decided to spend some money and go as big as possible to sort of future proof myself. Does anybody have any opinions of the machines from Regards, Nigel. In reply to Rekd. New member from Bedford UK - using a Wabeco ballscrew mill - mach 2 and now Mach 3 with extra x and y DROs added and 4th axis - learning G code etc. One major question as a beginner - I have spent c. 4 hours on the internet looking for libraries of free G code to make things to learn a few skills, but cannot find any! Don't machinists and model engineers share code for common items such as parts for railway, automotive, Stirling, steam engines etc.?

I find this unbelievable or maybe I'm looking in the wrong place surely the basic programmes can be run on different platforms or even similar machines? Regards John. This is the first time I have tried to write a message so I hope this is the right place to start.

I bought a maxnc years ago but found the methode of digitising & in fact the linear movements in general ineficient. I have recently had software writen to record optical encoders text so max can repeat the movements. The motivating factor for this was I wanted to cut a tatoo into an existing 3D face. I didn't know enough to do this using cad/cam software. I wrote in 8 Axis that you can label whatever you want after X.Y.Z.A. I have many other inovations that I want to incorperate into this program. I can see many uses for this & wondered if anyone else was interested in so many Axis.

Primarily what I have is a scanning table that my maxnc will follow the text that is written. My question is how many of you would be interested in this way of doing things. Yep.its my first post in here.

I have seen many others here that are in the Mastercam forum. My apologize for not posting sooner. I have been just been getting familiar with this site, SO if you have a post for a.(nuts) anyways. I work at a fastener facility and I use Mastercam to create the head design of a variety of fasteners.

I am more then willing to give a hand to anyone that uses Mastercam less then version X, which now I believe is less then 6:). I hope to get to know this crew here as well as the other forum I haunt:). I'm just a motorhead fabricator that uses mills and lathes to get the job done. I don't even call myself a machinist, nor do I have any experience with CNC. I've learned everything I know about machining from a mix of broken tools/parts (trial/error) and from a few very knowledgable and generous friends with more years machining experience than my own years of life.

I was referred to this site because of your forums on specific makes of machines, specificaly Tree milling machines, as I'm awaiting one myself, and there seems to be a good amount of information and parts/tech advice available here. I do mostly drag race chassis and motor work (block clearancing for stroker cranks, cylinder heads, intake manifolds, EFI conversions and Nitrous injection.), as well as building low buck choppers. Also looking into EFI conversions for old metric bikes. Low buck chopper fodder. Have been looking to build a CNC machine ever since I used a circuit board engraver years ago.

Had the first axis built in June; however, some ambitious theives burgled my house throughly in July and took my set of 4 THK rails, computer, toolbox, and a goodly number of other things. Am finally back on track; however, with the Christmas season being upon us I have other tasking at hand. I live in Phoenix and have followed some of the surplus locations noted in recent discussions. Have not heard much about Apache Reclamation and whether they have any components of interest. Hi all, just joined this forum last night and I wish I had found this place sooner.so far I have found the steppers.

I should have bought, found info on the windmill I have had parts for for over two years and never got any farther, Found info on the mini lathe I was going to buy next week. Got a feeling this could be a great winter.Might even get to use some of that 5 oz carbon fiber cloth I have in the rafters.Finally got my annual layoff last week. I run and maintain a Vintage Cedarapids model 432 Crusher for the past five Summers. Welding,Change screens, More Welding.Adjust the rolls and jaws and.Oh.

Even more Welding.Before that A Mechanic in material handling for eleven years. Forklifts,Manlifts and such.before that a licensed Auto Mechanic since 1976. Anyway I have a controller card coming.soon I hope. I want to build a small Plasma table this winter as well as a Router table.anyway my eyes are beginning to bleed.and I have to collect more firewood for the shop. You Guys are the BestThanks WhetWilly. Hi Everyone, I am just starting out and really know nothing about anything (or everything about nothing).

I 'retired' from software engineering and decided to try a second career in clockmaking/model engineering. My plan is to buy a small cnc mill and lathe. I have decided the Sieg/Syil conversion looks about right for me. Haven't decided about the lathe yet. One complication is that we are waiting to sell our house in Northern Virginia so that we can move into our house just outside Sarasota in Florida, so getting heavy machinery up here and then having to move it is something I want to avoid if possible. I bought a copy of TurboCAD 11.2 Professional and am teaching myself that. I also bought some clockmaking books and the Wingrove model car books so I am keeping busy.

I have of course read many of the threads in the forums here. Thats about it Regards Norman. Well, I guess I need to chime in. I have been enamered with the idea of CNC since I saw my first HP 7475, sometime in the late 80's.

I goofed with HPGL for a while, and even wrote some basic programs to change the format between versions. That led me here eventually, and I want a CHC Router badly for personal prototyping. I am stuck in limbo, see if this sounds familiar: 1) I cant justify the cost of a prebuilt unit for what I want to do. 2) I don't have the time to build a kit or one from scratch.

Add to that a lack of space, and here I sit inert. So I am stuck as a lurker until something changes. Looking for and getting good information on CNC products. I am a Hobbyist.

I Fab Iron projects from time to time. I am trying to get plans to build a CNC Plasma cutter and looking to purchase a Mill to convert to CNC. There is alot on my plate right now.

I am working full time and a stay at home Dad for my two daughters. Hard to find time to work with these two. I'm checking out the replys and reading alot. This has been a very helpful site. Thanks for the effort you guys put into it. I'll be checking in from time to time. Great site and Information.

I've been lurking around for a while. Slowly collecting small parts for a little 'proof-of-concept' engraver built mostly from scrapped printer parts. I work in the steel industry, so we have a 20' X 60' Plasma table & a CNC drill (for drilling large base plates, 90' OD plates X 4' thick w/ 3' OD holes). These give me some exposure to large-scale production equipment, but my pocketbook limits me to a slightly smaller scale.

I've seen some good nesting software & I've recently seen some crappy stuff & this stuff ain't cheap! Anyhow, these machines always intrigued me, so I started searching online & ran into this site.

I got psyched & started collecting parts right away, but then my other hobbies & my little boy came along & this hobby/fantasy got put on hold. I still try to keep up with the latest tech stuff, figuring eventually I'll be able to help out with a future build or acquisition with my current employer. Otherwise, I'm just a typical geek of gadgetry. Hello from the UK. I am a complete newcomer to CNC and have been avidly reading all the good stuff in your posts whilst considering buying a mill or router. I am very impressed and grateful to all who have contributed their experience to this group.

My interests are wooden clocks and automata. I have a Myford ML10 small metalworking lathe (not CNC) but little experience in machining. I can draw using CAD although I am not an engineer. My first ambition is to make some cycloidal clock wheels and pinions. I can’t see myself making any big engineering stuff so have concluded that I would be happy with a CNC micro mill and rotary table to start with.

If I get the results I want with the mill I aim to build myself a CNC router to cut out larger components such as decorated clock plates and case parts. Having read all the posts about small mills I narrowed my choices to either a Taig 2019CR or a CNC conversion of a Sieg X1. I am keen to experiment with and learn CNC and want to start with a proven product rather than solve teething problems, which I would be ill equipped to deal with. On those grounds I am inclined to buy the Taig as a turnkey package rather than a kit of parts to DIY convert the X1. I would welcome any advice on the following: My choice of mill. Is 1,000 to 10,000rpm spindle ok to cut wood and engineering nylon sheet? Stepmaster versus Xylotex control board/drivers.

Does any CAD software have good and friendly tools for generating cycloidal gear forms. Thanks for your help. OK, you outed me:)! Aerospace Engineer and R/C Model nut from San Diego. My goal would be to have a 3 axis router able to handle a 2' X 4' sheet of say 1/8 wood using dremel type router.

Oh yeah, whole thing would be relatively light and compact for it's size. Have access to some interesting aerospace materials (like al. Honeycomb); collection of skate bearings; keep checking surplus stores for stepper motors; already gotten a lot of hints from this site. Lot of R/C models these days are CNC Laser cut and assembled with 3rd World labor. Makes it hard to be motivated to go CNC vice just use checkbook!

But I like to have unique models. Thanks for all the Hints, Steve M. G'day Y'all Haven't posted before. Don't have much to contribute, as my background is generally more amateur than the other posters.

Both an oldie and a newbie. About 6 years writing controls for printed circuit board drilling machines and milling machines, out of 35 years of general programming. Degree (but NO practice) in Mech engr. Have a Sherline with a Flashcut controller, which I cut out a bit of wood with (www.granelements.com). Located in coastal Queensland, Australia. I have started a project to make a wood router.

This is leading me into unexpected areas, like having to learn Linux, so I could learn EMC2, so I could control the wood router. Think I'll start a thread on this, so the rest of you will know where not to go. Of course, you probably do already. Hi all, long time reader, first time poster. My friend and I have successfully built a JGRO from MDF. It is mainly used for cutting hobby things, such as RC Foamies and helicopter frames and small misc parts. It is a good machine, I have no pics of it(I was too lazy to take any during the building process).

As far as specs we cut many numerous size circles and they are all spot on, so I guess I built it square plum and level. For a router we just use a cheapy harbor freight 1/4 trim router. So far it has held up with no major burps.

The machine runs 3 nema 23 287in/oz. X and Y run on the standard black pipes while the Z runs on a pair of linear slides. We are in the process of upgrading the X and Y as money permits.

Neither one of us are in the machining buisness. I am an ex-aircraft mech, and my buddy is a jack of all trades. So far I am definitly pleased with the machine, (my little secret, I get wood when it runs:), its just that cool). My brother got me interested in building a CNC router. So far I have the unit built up with a cutting area of about 16X18 inches and a depth of about 5. Tried using bushings but found some linear bearings to work best.

Drive all axes with steppers from older printers and ACME rod,built the boards from a book called CnC Robotics using a laser printer and laminator. All I have left to do is to connect the limit switches and retest the software. Still looking for a better program to run this as the one I found is running a little jerky.

It has been fun as I have built an rebuilt many of the parts a few times. Hello Rekd, I joined the forum because I have an avid interest in just about everything but time and funds have kept me from developing anything spiffy or worthwhile for sharing with the group. At the moment about 90 percent of my time is used up in translating and interpereting a help file for a 3D design program called Metasequoia from Japan authored by a gentleman by the name of O.

Mizno (this is sort of an americanised version of his name) The program is available at and is very easy to use. Its does not even come close in features to some of the more expensive and detailed programs like Autocad, Rhino etcetera but it's ease of use will let almost any beginner get a great start in CAD and there is a freeware version of it. I really did not intend to put a commercial plug in here but I do like the program. I am also writing a book on designing and building 3 dimensional models which takes up more time ( I have to finish the interp. Of Metasequoia first to have the rest of the information that I need to continue the book). So, In the long and short of it, I have had to put CADCAM and my dreams of building a CNC system on the back burner for the moment. I keep collecting information on servo control and motor drives in the hope that one day I can pull out the MIG and Gas welders, and some of the carefully selected steel from around the house and assemble a CNC machine using some of the ideas that I have gleaned from here and other sites.

One thing that bugs me is the lack of electronics shops in my area of central Florida. I used to work for Tandy Corp. (Radio Shack) and it seems as though they are beginning to reduce their commitment to the electronics experimentor. I was hoping that with the boom in Micro controllers that they would have jumped on the band wagon to start carrying programmers and controllers.

This class of IC is the closest thing to a 'Santa Claus' device that I have seen and with a little knowledge and a couple of descrete components you can build some wonderful servo controls with sensing and feedback and built in safety features as well as communications to and from a main computer for instruction changes and undates. I quess I will have to break down and get a credit card [when I am rich and famous:) ] and do some ordering over the internet. The main reason for writing this reply was to let you know that at least some of us new members and non posters are still alive and kicking; we are just hiding in the metal shavings, or like a roach, hiding in the wood work. Alan I have no fear of Dragons, for I am not crunchy and do not taste good with ketchup. Hello there, I'm a welder-fitter that would have like to do a machinist course after the welder-fitter course.

I'm still young so it's definitely possible. I also have a degree in electronics technologies. I love CNC machining, I still have no post because I don't know much about the subject and I'm learning throught this forum.

I offer alot of help on others welding/fabrication forum and I will definitely post here if I have to chance to share my knowledge. I'm currently trying to start a small company called Fox Speedshop which will manufacture custom race parts for the Volkswagen Fox. Also, my primary language is french (I am a french Canadian). I learned english by myself, I may have a few errors but I think it's not that bad. When someone point me my english errors, if it's not to make me learn but to laugh at me, I often answer them in french. That's funny.:) Guillaume foxspeedshop.ca ////.

Max have you thought of using a 'sharpie' type pen or some type of strap on ink resourvoir (spelling?) that would either be attached where the cutter bit would go or have an ink tip linked from the resourvoir to the center of where the cutter bit would be? You could do a 'practice pass' that would draw the lines on your work and then switch out for the cutter bit when all is found in good order. One other idea would be to use more than one color so that if corrections have to be made you will be able to tell one practice pass from another. Small copper tubing could be used for the ink feed line and if it is carefully designed at the tip (squeezed down to limit flow) the same line could be used for the pen tip. I do not know what speed your system runs at, so a regular roller ball tip from a bic ink pen or other brand may or may not work as a marking device but it is something to look into. Time to throw in my two cents. I am a long time lurker at cnczone.

Inspired by the homebuilt routers. Took the advise not to 'spin the motors' until I had a machine to mount them in. After about three years of collecting I built a 30' x 12' x 3' router with a RotoZip spindle and PacSci 114 oz-in steppers on 1/4-20 threaded rod. I am using EMC2 on an old-style Xylotex card and am in the tuning stages (translated, I am in denial that I need larger steppers) to get more than 10 ipm out of each axis. Really enjoy the forums.

Hi My name is David Maher I built my first CNC machine a few months ago and am still coming to grips with driving it. The machine that I built is the hobby CNC gantry router, but I'm not really happy with it. If I knew then what I know now I would have built it from metal rather than wood. I also would have completely redesigned the Z axis, which is a real weak point.

In fact I'm pretty sure that it would have been easier to build it from metal, than to muck around trying to extract precise tolerances from timber, which is a mobile medium to work with, to say the least. Having said this however, the router is very accurate (to within fractions of a hundredth of a mm) on the x and y axis, so a redesign and rebuild of the z axis would probably make it into a useable, albeit light duty machine. I am not really sure if I will ever achieve my original goals with it though, I wanted to make steering damper knobs for vintage motorbikes and such like. Perhaps someone could suggest something better that I could build.

Thanks for reading my ravings. Cheers David Maher. Hello, my name is Steve and this is the first time I have posted on CNCzone.com. My dad had a small machine shop in the basement at our home while I was growing up. At the age of fourteen I started working in a machine shop as the shop cleanup boy, I swept the floor and cleaned the Machines. During high school I enrolled in the local vocational training school and received a certificate in machine trades, Sort of the basic training Required for a career as a machinist. But a machinist career was not to be.

I enrolled in the local community college and completed the course in mechanical drafting and design, during my last semester I landed a job at a government weapons contractor for the department of energy. For twelve years I worked in the design engineering field where I gained confidence and experience. I bought and sold, designed and remodeled several houses as a side job. In 1995 I was able to quit working for the government at the age of thirty and live on a modest rental income.

Over the next ten years I worked various odd jobs to stay busy; I worked as a off road auto mechanic, designed and built various woodworking and construction projects, ranging from furniture to Houses. And began my hobby interest with building my own CNC Router.

Originally I only wanted to use the router to make an electric guitar, but since then I realized that the uses are only limited to the size of your machine: ) I found a hand crank xy table at a government surplus auction, that I was able to modify and use as the basis for my router (I have no idea what the xy table was used for). I designed the over all z axis, the motor mounts, controller, limit mounts, enclosure, dust collection ect. I think the biggest challenge was learning the electrical and setting up the VFD and spindle motor, I will post a picture for those of you interested.

I tend to bounce from project to project so I get distracted away from my CNC machine, sadly it has been as long as a year without doing anything with it. I receive the CNCzone newsletter in my email and enjoy reading through the posts when I have the time. Happy CNCing!

Steve Zeren http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/505/medium/IMG_0540.jpg. Hi, Jerrybault here. Upstate NewYork I am an Electrical Engineer (RF and wireless networking systems I design cable modems and WiFi equipment) who has decided to take some time off from my paying work and play at making jewelry. Last spring I bought a Sherline CNC mill (Rhinoceos, RhinoCAM and MACH3) and spent some of the summer manually learning the machine to see what it could do. I had a head start there as my dad is a retired tool and die maker out of Buick and has a lathe and mill in the garage that a grew up around. Just a few week ago I started to learn the software side of the package, and while looking for some help online I found this forum and joined. I had to take some time off from my sebatical to take a 'vacation' in Phoenix so I was away for a week, and did not read the posts.

Now that I am back I have had a chance to read more of the post and have found them to be very informative, I will be back Jerry. Hi pvogtcharlotte, For the most part I had pretty good luck using the Porter Cable 3 1/4 hp with range from 10,000 -21,000 rpm's. However I did have some vibration problems due to the ring clamp method not being rigid enough.

I was using a single 2' wide Aluminum ring clamping block to secure the router to the z axis. I could raze and lower the porter cable router motor by loosening the ring clamp and repositioning for additional height adjustment. This was not a good idea, because the repetitive tightening and loosening of the ring clamp deformed the Porter Cable's thin aluminum cylindrical housing.

I had designed the clamp so I could use both my large and small Porter Cable routers, by inserting a spacer ring with the small router. I would now recommend only using a permanently fixed double ring clamp, that clamps both on the lower and upper most portions of the router motor's cylindrical clamping surface, thereby increasing rigidity and reducing vibration.

Machine Ed: You said 'I have a question concerning the use of UHMWPE or delrin as a linear bearing (drilled and reamed to a class 2 running fit), is this possible, what might be a problem?' I'm new to the zone, but been doing cnc a while. I'd suggest you try MDS-filled Nylon. Low friction, not expensive in smaller diameters, available at McMaster-Carr in small quantites. It's easy to machine, use a reamer for final finish.

Also, the pipes that are used for down hangers for ceiling fans are stiff, shiny, and reasonably consistent diameter. You would have to remove the coating with solvent or such.

Some have a very thin coating like Powder coat, good for rollers, not linear bearings. Might be good. New member, here. I have an Emission Technologies 24' x 48' laser cutter which I use primarily with 1/8' and 4-mm plywood. I use AutoCAD LT 2007 for my designs. DesKAM running on Windows XP does the 2D DXF-to-G-code conversion, and DeskNC for DOS controls the flying optic's XY stage.

If anyone has AutoCAD LT 2006 or earlier, the upgrade to LT 2007 is worth it just for the Auto Tracking feature which was added from big-daddy AutoCAD. I'm looking at getting either a CNC router or a Tormach PCNC 1100 next, with current thinking in the Tormach direction, as soon as I can cope with the idea of owning a half ton of iron. Howdy, just thought I'd say hello. My name is Bear and I've been spending most of the time reading what you all are talking about in the various forums. I'm a high school teacher in No.Ca.

I'm building a class called Design and Fabrication. We have traditional woodworking tools, but I've also brought in a Mig Welder, a PlasmaCam (plasma cutter attached to an X-Y gantry), 2 CNC Techno Lathes, 2 CNC Techno Routers, and will be finishing 6 stations for making Jewelry. My training is in fine woodworking and as you can imagine, my learning curve is very steep at the moment. MasterCam is tough! I have an online subscription to StreamingTeacher which is tremendously helpful though.

The emphasis is for students to envision, design, test, then implement. We are very excited about the potential for the program and the possibilities of working in many different mediums, including wood, metal, glass, and plastic. We are still in the neophyte stage as far as CNC capabilities, again because of the learning curve with MasterCam.

I'd be interested to hear about some projects that involve the Techno routers and lathes and any metalworking projects. I've seen some information about students making thier own rings on the router. My students would lose thier minds with something like that. Good talking with you all.

Happy Holidays. I'm new to the zone, and yes I haven't yet build any working machine and no I haven't posted yet. I try to keep up with all the new info. My first plan was to make a router myself. But since joining in I have found out that that isn't the best way to go with material like aluminum and brass (I build model RC submarines).

Now my best guess is to convert a milling machine to CNC. Some day I will post any real results. For now, just trying to find the best way and try to find out which motors and such I need. Danny van Dijk Rotterdam, Netherlands, Europe. PS: I'm to shy to post with all these experts around.

Hi, To introduce myself upon request;-). Since a couple of years I'm experimenting with a homebuilt Zoltar-machine with a driver kit and motors from www.nc-step.de. Software PC-NC, BOcnc. Still learning, still reading.

Only recently found and besided an alignment error which caused frequently X-stepper stalls. Also mended a faulty wiring to an end-switch. Did several succesful trials like name plates, front plates, small epoxy plate parts. Now working on a project to draw and mill parts for a 500pF 3kV air capacitor, both alu and perspex.

Possibly swapping the X-spindle for a ballscrew in the near future. Also added a Shumatec DRO scale kit to my RF milldrill which works really great. Trying to keep up with the pace here.

Regards, Dirk, Netherlands, EU. Hi Rekd I just signed in a few days ago, coming over from the machine builders.net forum, who sent me to your site. I travel from Iowa, through the midwest and to the east hitting machinery auctions throughout several states buying all types of used machines and tooling to keep and sell on ebay.

I haven't ventured deep into the cnc market because I lack knowledge on just about everything in this area outside of tooling that looks cool and expensive. When I left the machine industry in 1980 due to a layoff at an FMC crane factory here in town, the tape machines were just coming in. To say the least how things have changed. I have to hand it to you guru's out there that do this as an everyday experiance of your lives. It just blows my mind what you guys can do. I have a small shop put together for doing rebuild work on a small scale to make parts and rebuild what is neccesary to put an old dog back to life.

I mainly deal in the hobby size machines, but have been moving over to gear and screw machine tooling along with other industrial lines. I am currently cleaning up around here from about 5 years of buying and burying to make room for more. It just had to come to a stop so I can regroup.

I have a good share of cnc machine center tooling that is no dought old (not live tooling). We think it might be Miyano, but so far, no one has recognized it. There are tool holders for the front slides and tooling that would fit the turret, simular in style to a small warner swasey turret lathe. Most of the tools have a prefix of 477 in the stamped part numbers. If anyone knows or recognizes these numbers, please let me know.

I also have a pair of new, square style linear rails, which might be from thompson, I haven't taken any measurements of these yet. They are about 10 feet long and were still wrapped. Do you guys use this type of thing in building your cnc projects at home? I remember having the blocks too, but havn't located them yet. I listed a Hardinge CHNC headstock on ebay last week and was surprised how many people were wanting to build a cnc lathe with this head. I guess, projects and challenges never end. It sold with a buy it now, and we have another one available, and also a Hardinge AHC headstock coming up soon.

Can anyone make suggestions on what cnc folks are looking for in used tooling? We will try about anything Thanks again for the welcome, Randy.

Doing a search for cnc, I foung your website. Been lurking as I can. PC user for work, Mac user by choice. Rebuilt two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen ('cept electrical), laundry and dining room from the studs out. Sportster rider and wanting to turn it into a Cafe, and the reason for the cnc search I'm a complete newbie but understand what CNC is. I want to make my own parts for my bike and since my accuracy level with hand tools is not very good, I'd like computer assistance. I do not have any tools other than mechanics and carpentry.

I'd like to know what's needed, what's not, etc. My shop space is limited and I think the largest items I'd make would be 4' square. My wife wants me to make signs (using fonts & clipart from my computer) and bird houses with fancy cutouts (laser?).

I'd like to make accessory clamps, racks, & small replacement parts (plastic, aluminum) for bikes and stuff around the house. I did take (pen & paper) drafting in high school and enjoyed it very much. What about software? I'm on a limited budget and although I use Windows, I prefer Macs. Software suggestions for designing parts and conversion to cnc code would be appreciated.

I found a 3 in 1 machine that's relatively inexpensive and is cnc compatible. I understand the setup is longer on multi tasking tools. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Hello and Happy Holidays to all! My name is Mark. I have some machine shop and sheet metal experience in the aircraft industry, and woodworking at home here in the heartland of the USA. I stumbled onto this site while looking for a router on eBay and seeing a couple of people offering plans for DIY tabletop CNC routers.

What a cool site! The wealth of imformation here is astounding! I have never worked with CNC machines, but I could certainly learn. Once I find the happy medium between what I'd like versus what I can afford (the Great Modifier) - I may just have to build me one of these things! Sorry about the not posting, I am involved with running 2 forums myself so I understand you wanting folks to post more, but things have been put on a back burner for now. I lost my father on the 4th of December and have been busy trying to help Mom cope with things, they where married 52 years so this may take some time. You have a great site here and I do want to be a contributing member, but for now both my time and my funds are going to care for the one who cared for me.

I am sure you all understand. I posted a few weeks ago, 0 replies this week I tried another question, 1 reply, which was great, the impression I had was that one has to be initiated to get in here, I know nothing, or next to nothing about CNC and came here to learn how to go about learning. I found the interface difficult. Disapointed, Matthew I was looking thru the list of users and was shocked to see that 3/5th or more of the members have ZERO posts.:eek: I'd like to say WELCOME to all the new members, and to the old members that haven't posted. I'd also like to extend an offer for you all to chime in and say hullo, mayhaps tell us what you do, how you're involved in CNC etc.

We'd love to hear from you!!:D (group) 'Rekd. Just thought I would put my 2 cents in. I have been a machinist since the mid 80's living in South Florida, but moving to the Nashville area. The wife and I want to live where the language of choice is english again.

I have been programming and running CNC mills for about 12 years. At first I programmed line by line in notepad, but last 8 yrs with mastercam. I have basic knowledge of mastercam including 4th axis indexer. I would like to learn more about surface creating, just for my own benefit. I came to your forum months ago looking for info on editing post processors for more accurate cycle times with the setup sheets created with mastercam. I eventually wrote to our distributor who was able to send me a post that was better for the cycle times.

Your forum is a great place for tradesmen and hobbyists alike to help one another or just share thoughts. Thanks for everything. Btw I will be in need of a job in the Nashville area Feb. '07 if anyone has any tips for me. Hi Folks Putting up Posts is all new to me so Hope this works.

Ive been reading online for couple years about making cnc machines. I was surprized when I found it could be done by somebody like myself. Last year I dug in my scrap pile, (Im a Pack Rat of scrap metal that others think belongs at the city dump.) Other than motors and electronics, I had everything I needed to build my cnc machine. Even made my own circuit boards using the ucn8504 chips, and added some power resisters for extra boost.

Asking around I found people willing to give up there out of date printers which were headed for the dump. Thus I had motors for my cnc. Here is a link to pictures of my home made cnc machine. The email links on this page are not up to date so dont try emailing me from there please.

Regards Dustie. I was looking thru the list of users and was shocked to see that 3/5th or more of the members have ZERO posts.:eek: I'd like to say WELCOME to all the new members, and to the old members that haven't posted.

I'd also like to extend an offer for you all to chime in and say hullo, mayhaps tell us what you do, how you're involved in CNC etc. We'd love to hear from you!!:D (group) 'Rekd I now have one post. Are you happy? Like myself, most of us are trying to get the idea for that first machine. I am gathering parts, got three steppers and controllers, 3 24 volt power supplies, trying to decide between black pipe and drill rod with brass or roller bearings. Haven't seen anyone using 1' square tubing.

Thought about gilmer belts instead of acme threads. Found myself at the local farm store's threaded rod rack trying couplers on rods to see the slack. So just put me out there as an interested observer who is gleaming ideas for my ultimate first machine. We all learn from each other, no matter what. Big guys to little guys. To make everyone better, infomation must flow freely.

I think that is what the this site means to me, I'm a total new guy to cnc, but if I can help with my 28 years of the manual world and welding insite, that's great. I want to learn cnc and MasterCam9.1. As I bought a cnc 14x14 K2, I thought I would take my 28 years and just push the buttons to make the little projects I have had stored in my head for along time. WOW what a wake up call to my brain. Ihave learned a lot from the cnc zone and I hope I will continue to learn alot. I'm not lurking in the shaddows, just looking for the info that I'm looking for. Thank you cnc zone for bring all these people together.The company I bought the maching from told me of this site.

Hello folks Like every red blooded male, I must have at least one of every power tool available on this planet. So I've decided to build a CNC thingy, I don't know what I'll do with it yet, but it's vital I have one. With the confidence that only comes from complete ignorance, I can say the mechanical parts look pretty straight forward, but as an elec engineer I can see a few problems with the software / electronics / electrics.

Hopefully this group will offer inspiration and some good advice. I would like to thank you for your interest, and for the opportunity you gave me, to participate to your forum, for the moment, just reading about excellent things made from amateurs. I leave in Greece so many things that you are usually involving are quite different here.

I am a Schoolteacher in Technical Schools and my first construction, was an educational cnc router, made with the help of the students. And with this, we gain a first award in a Pan Hellenic Student competition, with a trip to Cyprus, for all of us, as a prize.

Now I am designing a small experiment cnc from surplus components I already have, and for this and the previous I mentionent, I will send photos asap. Thanks for all, Fotis Zachos Electrical and IT Engineer NTUA Schoolteacher. Because I am too busy trying to make some coin with the machines I've got. I expect my posting will ebb and flow with hobby time. Rekd what do you have in your dune buggy?

I spent a *lot* of time in the sand at Glamis when I was a kid. I think we started going there in the early/mid eighties. I completely rebuilt my dads buggy when I was 14, built my own engine, 'restyled' the 4 seater Johnny's Speed and Chrome frame. I hear Glamis has changed a lot.

Competition hill is now a mole hill. Oldsmobile hill is getting shorter, and closed at night. My dad and his group still go out on off weekends. Hi, I'm a Design and Technology (Shop) teacher from Western Australia. I have been fascinated at the potential of CNC and hve purchased a PlasmCAM unit for the last school I was. It works quite well in a school situation and the plasma cut metal pieces can be more easily integrated into projects than the small plastic and non ferrous metal pieces from our small Emco CNClathe.

I am presently building a 2 x 3 metre plasma table using servo motors from HomeshopCNC and a torch height control and power supply from Tom at CandCNC. I hope to use a Hypertherm 1000 or 1250 unit with machine torch. The linear motion bearings will be vee bearings and the drive via timing belts.

This will allow for a reasonably robust and cheap solution in a dusty and abrasive environment. The table is mainly steel and the gantry will be mainly aluminium for weight savings and hopefully brisk cutting performance. I am struggling to decide on the best way to control smoke and dust. Water table or downdraft? Will post photos on the projects section when it is further down the road to completion. Richard Honey:wave.

Awright, The water table mentioned is a shallow tray / tank about 6 inches (150mm) deep in which the metal supporting slats sit. The metal to be cut sits on top of the slats and either just sits on top of the water or slightly under it.

The plasma torch cuts the metal and the metal dust and gases go into the water. Obviously the gas bubbles to the surface and needs to be extracted via a fume hood and the nasty metal particles are trapped in the water bath. The trick is how to remove the rusty metal powder sludge from the tank and stop everything going rusty, including the metal support slats. There are photos of a bloke's setup in the metalwork - plasma projects thread.

Something like Santana from down Mexico way. I like the concept of the water table only the rusting, sludge removal and disposal and weight of water is a concern.

The downdraft table seems cleaner however sizing a suitable air fan, making sure that it sucks all of the gases away from a full size table, exhausting the gas outside, the noise issues and the expense of running big fans make it a slightly more complicated process. I also note that you wimpy American guys don't like sucking freezing air into your workshops to replace the air that you're sucking out with the big fans. It ain't a problem in Oz. The trick here is to stop the hot air coming in.:-) If anyone knows how to make a great water table I'd love to hear. Richard Honey Western Australia. Stephen Barnes here, Thanks for the hardy welcome! I am an electrical engineer specializing in factory automation and controls.

Used to do a lot of pro cnc repair work and have recently become interested in setting up a micro or mini mill cnc setup for my bench top. It would come in handy for my hobby robotics work and the occasional real world repair/parts making tasks.

I am not a machinist by trade and have been lurking on the list for a while getting ideas for the ideal setup for my needs on a shoestring budget! If anyone has questions concerning the electronics side of things, feel free to ask! I am a newbie, and a new member. I have not had the time to read all FAQs as yet, but tried to find how to post to the introductions forum. The FAQ says to click on the big button that says 'new thread'.

Now where is this page? I am probably dumber than most, but I need help in ALL matters, including how to post. If I am posting to the(wrong) forum, I apologize unreservedly. I am retired, and am interested in model engineering, own a sherline lathe and mill. I have the CNC conversion kit for the mill and DeskNC software but have not yet actually modified the mill.

Before mucking up my sherline mill, I thought I will build the simplest CNC machine first. That way I can make all the mistakes I want and not lose/damage my mill. I am also have reasonable skill in electronics and model railroading (HO & N). I will be grateful for some suggestions on where to start. Thanks, Arvind. Hello, I'm a manufacturing engineer and new to this forum. I am not a home hobbyist for now, maybe when the kids get older?

I use mastercam and also autodesk inventor during my many daily duties. I joined Cnczone for some possible help if i ever run into trouble or add my two cents if there is somthing i can help with. At this point I am in the middle of setting up three new mazaks and trying to learn the intagrex. From the looks of things there are alot of knowledgeable people on here. I guess that is all for now.

Here's where I've been. Mostly in the hospital. I've been losing most of my life to Crohn's disease, and have been looking to use a CNC router setup to do custom artwork to hopefully make a living.

So far my build is coming along okay, but with my health wobbling so much lately, I've been having a tough time. My dad has helped me build a few parts, and a long-time friend volunteered a couple hours of time to make a couple of others. When my machine starts to look more like a machine, instead of a pile of random parts, I will start posting pictures. I'll get my own thread going with what I've built, and why i've built it that way. (so far I've built most of it). Hi, This is a neat thread.

I'm not sure but this might be my first post on this forum. I usually hang out on the www.RCGroup.com (forum and discuss sailplanes, but, since I recently built a CNC Foamcutter, I've found myself over in this forum more then my airplane hangout. After building my foamcutter, I succeeded in getting a fellow engineer involved.

He told me he 'always wanted to build a CNC mill'. Keep in mind, I was perfectly happy cutting foam until John kept bothering me with questions about CNC router details.

So together we started researching a CNC router, which of course led me here. Before you know it, I'm hooked on building a router too. I should start cutting MDF soon. Dave Edit: Yup this is my first post. I have been reading posts in the cnc zone for a long time now.

A very good source of info. I am attempting to scratch build a cnc gantry mill from alumininium extrusion, thk rails, and ball screws. I hope to get 300mm x 300mm x 150mm travel and good to 0.001' in any direction. Hopefully sturdy enough to mill stianless. Currently it going to be stepper based but if mk1 sucedds maybe mk2 might be bigger with servos.maybe 4th axis etc.

Well thats the theory! Currently in the process of moving the workshop then i hope to get going. I am purely an amatuer based in Jersey which is a tiny island 80 miles of the south coast of the uk.

I'm Neil Robertson from Invercargill New Zealand. Home of the Worlds Fastest Indian (Motorcycle film).

I have a Matchmaker (Shizuoka ) cnc mill that had Posidata 2800 system. I shipped it 12,000 miles from UK to the bottom end of New Zealand and under the instructions from Eagland machine tools UK converted it to Ahha system using Dolphin cam and Generic cad ver. 6 for the dxf files.

This is one of only two machines within 150 miles. And the recent job has been to machine 4x 4340 connecting rods for an old Ace motorcycle rebuild. This engine was used in Indian,Henderson, and the above bikes.- along with early aircraft engines. I have VDF lathe.Cincinatti Mill,Surface grinder from the workshop that Burt Munro ( Worlds Fastest Indian engineer) frequented. I'm an ex dairy/sheep farmer,Have aircraft engineers license and a Commercial. Had interests in Tiger Moth,Piper Twin Comanchie, Victa Airtourer, and Taylor Monoplane aircraft, 1600 hr. Have parts built for HCI radial engine ( 5 cylinder) Make mainly one offs for folk with the above interests My workshop equipment is in the x dairy shed and the swarfe goes into the pit.

It is cleaner work and now a different smell Neil Robertson 'Lathes-Mills & Cnc.' Hey Booge, I decided to build the jgro table because of the excellent plans and easy build. If you are an expert wood craftsman, then consider the Joe2006 table. As far as electronics I can tell you what I own. I own the HobbyCNC.com components. This kit is really a kit, all the pieces come in a bag, and you have to solder them together.

Easy to assemble, but be warned, you need a desire to solder for this kit. This kit is cost effective for the budget minded.

Hi to all: I'm new to all this but very interested after seeing my friends home built cnc router setup. I'd be interested in building my own set up but wouldnt know where to start.

I'm open to suggestions. Dave Booge:). Arhg, had a nice long new post and it got lost when I tried to add a pic:o Anyway this is my first post and looking for a little help. Just got an Emco Super 11 with mill head (4th lathe, 3rd mill) and I am trying to refit a Wabeco that got burned up in a fire.

The mill had Nema34 steppers and I would like to stay with them. Need advice on software that is user freindly (draw a picture, pick tools and go) if that is possible. I had OneCNC for it before which seemed good, but I never made a cut. Any input would be welcome but right now I am leaning towards the OneCNC or Mach/Rhino again. Hi All, At the moment, I am a raw beginner to this process. I keep silent because I am trying to absorb as much infomation as possible before taking the initiative to build a CNC machine myself.

I like to learn from others before plunging into the something I know very little about. My plan is to built a very small labelling machine or 'stamper' to mark key blanks as a start. I am trying to make an X - Y axis with available materials. It is difficult to start because of my poor technical knowledge. Also I need to think of software to run it. I have in my possession many computers from 486 to Pentiums etc.

As I am in IT. Maybe someone can suggest something, which will be much appreciated. All journey begins with a first step.so I am at the start of my first step.

I'll post my experience when I get there, now I'm just reading up and trying to learn. Thanks for all of you who are sharing your experiences, this is a very good community of people who can share their experiences and knowledge.

We need people in this world who do not think of just money only. (I know that we all need money to survive but we don't have to make it our GOD) Regards Prosper. Hi Epineh, Thanks for your kind reply. I am in Rockhampton, quite a distance from Cairns. However, I might take a drive up one day and drop in to see your Router.what are the specs?

I work in Keycut Services as a GD person. At the moment, I am trying to design a key engraver to mark keys instead of stamping them by hand. The company bought a Silca stamper, which cost thousands but makes so much noise that legally an operator should wear ear muffs to use it.

I would like to construct an engraver type machine to solve the problem. Anyway, the road is long but I have been through more difficult paths before, so this is not something I find difficult, just a lack of time and available resources to experiment.

Thanks again for your offer. Please have a nice day and take care. Regards Prosper. Hi My name is Daniel. I'm a absormer of information here in the zone, and find this fashinating and inspiring.

All amazing work that is done here make me wanna try it too. I have some discarded junkpieces that I might be useful afterall.:) I have worked as a computer consultatant and electronics constructor. But now I re-educate myself to an energy technician. As a hobby I'm find it fun to work with my lathe and milling machines.

I'm running Linux, and just now I have two runnning unipolar steppers from discarded 5.25' diskette drives on my desk. A simple motor driver using some LM317 (a voltage regulator) as current limiter, and a small parport program written in c to generate the stepping sequence. If someone is interested in the circuit/program I can post it here. I really like the sharing idea with this forum. Have a great day! Zackbass; I am eager to start building a router table but have no plans is it possible to copy and send some to me,Im happy to pay postage.

Booge Sorry, but I'm not anywhere near a complete design. I've got tons of bits and pieces but would need to build one myself to get the integration down. Besides that, every couple months I pick up new design advice in my classes that changes stuff around. It'll take a couple more years until I can design something worth building.

The amount of little tricks involved in precision machine design is pretty mind boggling to someone just coming into it. Well, I will reply to this. I am a disabled Viet Nam Vet. I was in the midst of setting up a small hobby machinist shop.

And then I got sick.:violin: So I postponed the shop, getting better in health is more important! I have been disabled ten years now, and it took me seven years to get up the gumption to buy my equipment: 1 Taig CNC Micro Mill 2 Taig Micro Lathes. 1 MicroMark Mini Mill 1 MicroMark Mini Lathe I'm almost ready to start up again. But meanwhile, I read this forum, and a few others. Phil, from Oregon, the Wet Part!:tired.

I've been a member for a while, I'm proficient in Solid Works and ok in Solid Edge. I've owned and operated a dyna benchtop CNC mill and am currently working on building a small mill. I'd like to learn Mastercam. I am in need of getting a few parts machined for the mill I'm building, but I've found it very difficult to get anything made here in Calgary due to the fact that most machinists are tied up with oil related machining. If anyone knows of a retired machinist in the Calgary Alberta area that might be willing to help me get my mill done, please let me know. There are four pieces and they're all fairly simple.

I have all the parts completely drawn up in Solid Works and ready to go. Great forum, -Dan Gates. Newbie here I work as an engineering Tech for Parker Hannifin Gas Turbine Fuel Systems Div. Kind of new for me as I spent 11 years in job shops. The last one I worked in I was in the 5-axis department running 5 DMG's and a Mitsui-seiki Horizontal 5-axis with a 240 tool changer and 60 pallet changer.I sure miss that equipment.But being part of the New Product Developement Team here at Parker is pretty cool too. I have about 4 yrs experience with Mastercam Mill level 9.Haven't attemped X yet.

Hi all, new here I do freelance work for a sign shop, looking into getting a small cnc router or mill to do some engraving (data plates, nametags) and some small part milling to expand my services and capabilities heck I might even build a jgro design to do some foam cutting if I can obtain the space for it and materials over the course of the year. At the present im outfitted with all the normal staples tablesaw, smallish scrollsaw, large benchtop drill press, miter saw, chop saw,arc welder, oxy/acetylene and such. Hi, My name is Sid, and I'm sort of getting up there but I'm still in there pitching and having fun.

I learned electronics when tubes were still big and transistors were just taking hold. Then I spent 20 years in the Navy operating some very expensive machinery. Then I worked in maintenance and production supervision in a fair sized factory for almost another 20 years.

Along the way I've been making machine parts and tooling as needed using manual mills/ lathes/ surface grinders etc. Finally I've got my own manufacturing facility and I'm still questioning the wisdom of that choice.:) One of my bright ideas is to reverse engineer a product from WWI which would have some limited demand. To that end, I just picked up a small D&M (High School) mill which I am hoping to control with Mach III software. It should be a slam dunk once I figure out the issues. It seems with all the native talent on this board, I ought to be able to sort out my misconceptions faster and maybe achieve my end objective before I run out of useful time on the planet.:wee. Hi Guys and Gals (if there are any), My name is Paul Hoffman. I started machining in the late 60's.

Ran NC (no CNC then), and manual machines. I had my own job shop for many years. Things got tough, so I went back to school and got an engineering degree. I have been retired from Boeing for 15 years. I was a controls engineer and helped design autopilots and autothrottles.

I was also involved with developing real-time simulators, and testing labs. I have a large shop where I am rebuilding my machine tools including an 80's CNC mill. I found CNC zone during a google search on 'using a VFD as a phase converter'. Hello, my name is Lars and i'm 16 and still at school doing AOT and that means in dutch: Algemene operationele techniek. I'm am here to learn from other people's mistakes:P and maybe making a cnc myself (it's expensive so that's wy i first take a look here) it's a very good forum by the way, lars zonneveld and I thought I was young.:) Hello, I am Dan. I am 17 (recently) and I have been browsing this forum on and off for who knows how long. I first started looking at small CNC machines for modifying paintball guns (thus my name) but I have left that hobby for about a year now.

I have moved into computer case modding (after building some rigs). I saw a worklog on someones CNC router awhile ago and thought about making once since. So I came back here and started looking. Once I start getting some more money, I will start building my first CNC router, which will assist in my case modding (cutting acyrlic and aluminum sheets). Luckly for me I know how to use CAD, just have to move into the CAM world. Hi there I am quite new to this whole forum thing but thought I would at least say hello.

I'm 23 and have spent the last 5 years in the Navy as a Marine Technician. I haven't really specialised with my trade, although when you have to maintain anything and everything your skills become quite diverse. I spend a lot of my time building and designing parts/equipment when alongside and most of my life fixing that same stuff when I'm at sea. CNC, in many ways could assist me with work and with my hobbies so I figured it was about time to get involved. I have started playing with Kcam and some control boards and stepper motors with some luck recently but it is now time to put all this into a machine and begin. Thanks to all the guys out there helping us get started Cameron. Hi guys - I'm another zero poster:) I just wanted to be able to make things.

Metal parts and things for my car - brackets and what not to help mount non-standard things. I was interested in piping as well, say 3' tubing, because I see some 'performance tuners' are offering simple 3' downpipes for silly money, but alas it all looks far too difficult. If I had a cellar I'd love to have some kind of CNC setup and learn how to make things, but I think this is all too far over my head. I was very interested in the RC boat hull that was CNC'd out of wood.

One day maybe. Been hanging around the Zone for awhile and figure that it is time to introduce myself and my shop. I've been a Tool Maker for more years than I care to think about. I've built dies, molds, machines and everything in between. My son and I have been putting a small shop together, part time, for the last six or seven years and at the beginning of this year, I semi-retired into it. He is still part time and does the 3-d programing and cutting. We also have a couple of younger guys that help when we need it We have a couple of small CNC bed mills and the usual Bridgeports, surface grinders, wet grinder, lathes,sinker EDMs and all the tooling that goes along with them.

There sure is a lot of good information here and I have only been able to skim the surface. Hope to get to know some of you better in the future. Steve Square Tech www.square-tech.com. Well i joined yesterday and not sure if I belong or not. I am a cad jewelry designer with a small mill that I cut waxes on. For those interested here is a link to the mill I use also here is a link to my web pages www.cadmania.com I am looking to expand from the jewelry industry into other design applications I had a retail business that I sold and now would like to concentrate on freelance cad and milling work I would appreciate any feedback 1) if this is the right forum for me 2) any advise on helping getting business 3) any work that you might have for me I apologize if this type of post is wrong just a little down at the moment and need some advise my well is drying up and looks like no rain in sight Ira.

17 year old from Central Ohio right here. Long time member new name. Never really posted much as I strayed away as life grew more fatiguing. But now that's going to change. Too much to learn from here as well as share with otheres.

Unemployed and in dire need of funding (physical limitations are ruining my career opportunites as a production machinist). I am busy finishing the developmental stages of my own company and will be attending college in March for: computers, engineering design, tool/die, and electronics. Hope I can be of help to anyone and hope to learn even more from others. Great people. Couldn't ask for a better online home. Look forward to speaking with you all.

Hi all My name is Jeffrey, been looking for awhile to get some info to build my own 3-4axes router. I ran a machine shop for a few years, then left for a job building prototypes, and proof of concepts for the aircraft industry. I build a lot of molds for casting aluminum, and laying up of composite matl's. I will be posting pictures of my router build starting next week, then the mold making process for a cylinder head.

Thanks for the info so far!! Jeffrey Jeffrey, On the www.machsupport.com website there is a whole subheaded toppic where the Mach owner is putting down a thread/step by step on building a router specifically geared tward first timers. If you can't find it and i will dig up the link for it welcome and Happy Hunting archie =) =) =).

?Are we the only ones needing large area XY Tables for light duty application? Our project is a Niche/Special purpose machine, it is a robust and precision yet value designed XY Table for liquid dispensing. I've become tired of lumbering gantries and high costs per square foot to move our less than one oz electronic nozzles about. My design uses CNC software and electronics but the mechanical backbone has been simplified and costs carefully controlled by using a robust precision rail system with a motorized carriage pulling itself around with a pinion on a rack. So far so good but project taking 2X longer than expected. Cost per square foot covered will be 'my claim to fame' if this cantilevered arm system works out.

Assuming it does my cost to extend our benches will be about $35 per additional foot on the long axis, as the short axis can be up to 3 foot, the cost per additional square foot is about $12. Andd with Rack there is no (known) need to redesign! I won't go on except to say I have the carriages built and between the motor and the pinion in the rack I could not detect any backlash. Electronics are coming along slowly, if they work I think I will have earned some low cost bragging rights (if I don't count my time).

I have been reading and researching - I dont like to post for the sake of it. I would like to build a CNC router for some R&D activities for the company I work for. I am the R&D engineer and the General Manager of Engineering. Www.qukcorp.biz We design and manufacture hose reels and fire fighting equipment in Aluminium and steel. I currently get my Aluminium prototypes laser cut. I will at some stage put out my ideas and design for discussion - I am still looking at the pros and cons of setups and costing equipment and parts.

This site has a wealth of knowledge and I am happy to sit back, read, learn and also put in my bit when I can. I have also restored a Moke - from the ground up. I couls see a CNC router handy for the fabrication of some of the items I had to hand make. See the link below. Hello, My name is Kyle and I am from St. I am an engineering technician at an independent testing lab here in town. I work with automated tests and motion control.

Most of my programming is done on PLC's but we are moving towards more user friendly systems running on LabView and VB.NET. I am a programming student and write Ladder Logic, C++, VB.NET, and assembler for 8 bit micros. Most of my apps are much simpler then anything here and the amount of info on CNC is great. I would like to add CNC programming to my list but will only be able to do so but buying a mill and doing it myself. I am a self taught and very (VERY) green machinist. We have one CNC mill in our machine shop and I have never seen it turned off, seriously. As for us techs, we have an old Comet (Bridgeport style) manual mill and some cutting and welding equipment.

We hope to have a good size lathe by the end of the year. At home I have a Harbor Freight 7X10 and an ancient 2hp Cummins Tool Company bench top drill press. I love them both.

Most of my hobby machining is making parts for my mud trucks or pet projects that come along. I am currently working on a cooler to couch beer delivery system for a friends condo, apparently the 3 steps between his kitchen and sunken living room have become too much to overcome when he becomes thirsty.

Everyone here keep up the good work, I love following these threads and thank you for all of the shared information available on this site. Hi, I check the website when I can. I don't usually have much to say. We make a range of part quantities from a couple to a couple thousand. I work programming,setup and running a Dahlih(40x20x25) and a Haas toolroom mill with a toolchanger. I do almost exclusively G-code programming and working with EZ Cam on my own and PRO-E through another programmer. We make replacement parts for the our printing company,hence the 'Quad' bob label.

I don't know programming for CNC lathes, so I deal with milling machines. There isn't much I can contribute for the Mazak, Mastercam, etc., groups, so I just pick up what I can, and contribute when I can. I have been doing this for 15 years or so. So, greetings from Denmark!!!

Being a member for a long time without having posted you´re right.This is the time! I´m at the time finishing my 3rd router, but more interresting. The Drivers/controllers (Own design). I made up a 3 axis mosfet driver board with chopper. It´s finished and running, and after a little more ´torture testing´i´ll be posting the schematics and PCB´s in the ´open source driver´ section. It´s 2 very space-saving boards and inexpensive to make, so stay tuned. Greetings from Denmark.

I was looking thru the list of users and was shocked to see that 3/5th or more of the members have ZERO posts.:eek: I'd like to say WELCOME to all the new members, and to the old members that haven't posted. I'd also like to extend an offer for you all to chime in and say hullo, mayhaps tell us what you do, how you're involved in CNC etc. We'd love to hear from you!!:D (group) 'Rekd i just found this site, didnt see a noob spot so plz feel free to push me there 0 know how on cnc. I want to start building a cnc so i can cut letters in to al or small place cards for the dash of a airplane i'm building in my shop. Thank you in advance, steve.

OK, I've been just sitting back absorbing what I could for a few months. I have 0 experience with cnc but would like to convert my china mini-mill to cnc - just for the sake of doing it. I have a couple drawbacks. One is that I just got the mill last week and have never used a mill. I have had a mini lathe for about a year and it was the first I have run too.

Another is that I don't know any machinists locally, so all my training has been off the 'net or DVDs (I will post a 'help wanted' in the mentor section). Mostly I have just been making a lot of chips, but every once in a while a piece for my motorcycle will fall out. I'm in South East Idaho if anyone is close - I could use some help! Hi, First post on this forum. Followed it a while before joining, getting others impressions on small vertical mills. Gave me enough 'good feeling' on some of them that I took the plunge for a IH mill.

Still waiting delivery. Not sure if I will add cnc control to it or not. I have done n/c programming for around the last 10 years in Catia, doing 3 and 5 axis stuff, but I have been away from running machines for over 30 years.

I'm looking forward to taking delivery of my mill and getting it set up and running. It will be used for mostly one off stuff in the persuit of my main hobby, metal shaping. Thanks for the info and the forum! Looking forward to more learning. Hello from Orange, NSW, Australia!

584 replies when you ask where is everyone - wow! My name is Marko, I am programmer and Network engineer with a strong interest in machining and electronics. I abhor windows and now only work with linux unless you pay me! I have a nice workshop for wood and metal and want to build a pcb router and a large plasma cutter table. By the look of the posts, I should probably start with something simple, but my outlook on life is 'bite off more than you can chew, then chew like hell!' I live on a vineyard and we are in the middle of grape harvest so I will start posting when I get back to the workshop.

This is a great site, thanks everyone. I was looking thru the list of users and was shocked to see that 3/5th or more of the members have ZERO posts.:eek: I'd like to say WELCOME to all the new members, and to the old members that haven't posted.

I'd also like to extend an offer for you all to chime in and say hullo, mayhaps tell us what you do, how you're involved in CNC etc. We'd love to hear from you!!:D (group) 'Rekd I offer services in design, prototyping and automation (30+ years experience).

I have built all the cnc machines that I use. I currently have a cnc mill 36 x 14 x 6 servo control, stepper controled mini lathe to be servo controlled soon, a sinking edm,I am looking into building a wire edm and a 5 axis water jet. Thanks for the opportunity to express myself. I see a wealth of information on the site.

5fm Mixes Free Mp3 Download on this page. I had my department purchase a Sherline 5400 with the stepper mounts. I decided to go with DeskCNC as our computer people are saying the newer computers may not have parallel ports and they did not want to add them after the fact. I still have not fully set it up as I have to do that in my free time, which is non existent.

I make replacement parts for old equipment (we have lots) and special parts for research items I build. I would like to have a Sherline 2000 for home use, but cannot afford one. I was planning to use it to supplement the anodizing I do. You wrote: 'Why not start with your first post today and become an active part of CNCzone.com' I can't speak for the rest of the silent 3/5, but I joined as a complete novice to learn how to get started in CNC, but all the forums seem to be works in progress. I have not found tutorials for beginers so I have not found a place to start participating. Perhaps someone can direct me to where I need to be. My interest is in building a carving machine for wood.

Bill Morrow I've been working on becoming an idiot savant -- one of those people who can multiply two 10 digit numbers in seconds. I've got the first part pretty well figured out. Howdy all im very new to metal turning. Just ordered my very first lather hf 8x12er14 what ever it is. It arived finaly in about ten broken peices. It must of fell off a forklift HUH.

Im waiting for a new one. I dont know much about lathes except they turn metal into something. So im hoping that i can learn much from you all as i can. I know there are many pros here that do this for a living ect. So be nice to me or ill just have to use my lathe and build something wierd then though it at you. I can use as many pointers as i can get.

But dont start telling about how bad my lathe is (opps my soon to be lathe)hopfully i can start a nice small project soon. I was so happy to finaly see that lathe then opened the box to view a busted up peice of metal (I think a tear must have fallen) anywho thanks for letting me join ill have a millon or so?s as soon as that dern lathe arives all in one peice if it dont arive in one peice ill never buy from them again. Any helpfull reading would be great if you can pointme that way. Ive done a lot of reading so far. Ps i like frree stuuf so if you got some easy plans that anew fella like me can build something please let me know.

Thank you:cheers. Well I just lost interest in cnc for a bit loosing my job being retrenched so it sucks.Here in Adelaide South Australia not much help from governement to retrain us via 1800 aud for training only a truck or fork drivers licence like we are all going to be vehicle drivers an not worth any thing else? Other than that all I do is play online bf2 - joint ops and just test out software trials:) Been playin with Linux and have via mags about 15 os from Linux some really good some well wtf r they:) Too costly to download 1 gig when damn telstra has it 5 gig up an down you get cut or shaped to 64 mb ps aaargh No women in my life gettin a little boring at times but **** life is like that at times.

Still happy and positive but need a bloody new space engine to get off this stupid rock permenatly:) Cheers Chromewarrior. Hi all, I saw this thread in the usual email and figured it applied to me. I'm a student of industrial design in philadelphia. NC production techniques are talked about all the time in my department. Most people are content to leave the workings of this technology to the engineers.

I on the other hand, find it difficult to do or use anything without trying to understand it. With that said, having my own cnc machine would be very useful to me and building it my self is a potentially inexpensive way to really get into the technology. Also, I took the time to teach myself how to use the milling machine (we have one in the department.I'm still learning, just by using the web and reading home shop machinist magazines) and boy, it takes a lot of patience and time to do things accurately on that machine. As a student, time is definitely at a premium, and as much as I'd like to spend my time at the mill, my homework is always calling. A machine that can bust out parts on its own and potentially build itself? This is worth checking out!!

Right now I'm just collecting parts (I got 4 linear bearing pillow blocks last week for free!) and saving up for the electronics (xylotex probably) But like I said, homework is keeping me pretty busy, and pretty quiet on the forum also. I hope to contribute more when the summer rolls around!

• Russ Cellan, Ferguson's coach at Freeport (New York) High, and Ron Prince, his former offensive line coach at Virginia, both attribute Ferguson's dexterity and footwork to his extensive martial arts training —Nunyo Demasio, Sports Illustrated, 10 Apr. 2006 • The Carcanet volume also offers its readers the advantage of seeing the German originals alongside the English, enabling them to perceive at a glance how much sympathy and linguistic dexterity Elliot has brought to the difficult but rewarding task of introducing a new generation of English readers to Heine's tragic but wonderfully vigorous and vivid late poetry. Prawer, Times Literary Supplement, 28 Sept. 1990 • But the mayor showed considerable political dexterity in the days following the fire, taking care to distance himself from on-site decisions while accepting full responsibility for the bombing itself.

He made himself available to reporters, met with people from the fire-ravaged neighborhood, and was gracious enough not to blame subordinates. —Amy Wilentz, Time, 27 May 1985 • The job requires manual dexterity.

• He has the dexterity needed to deal cards quickly. • The amazing dexterity of the acrobat. • He's a teacher known for his imagination and verbal dexterity.