The question of how to make a CNC machine can be answered briefly. Knowing that a home-made CNC milling machine, in general, is a complex device with a complex structure, it is desirable for the designer:

• get drawings;
• purchase reliable components and fasteners;
• prepare a good tool;
• have a CNC lathe and drill on hand to quickly produce.

It does not hurt to watch the video - a kind of instruction, teaching - where to start. And I’ll start with preparation, I’ll buy everything I need, I’ll deal with the drawing - here the right decision budding designer. That's why preparatory stage, preceding the assembly, is very important.

Works of the preparatory stage

To make a homemade CNC for milling, there are two options:

1. You take a ready-made running set of parts (specially selected units), from which we assemble the equipment ourselves.
2. Find (make) all the components and start assembling the CNC machine with your own hands, which would meet all the requirements.

It is important to decide on the purpose, size and design (how to do without a drawing of a home-made CNC machine), find schemes for its manufacture, purchase or manufacture some of the parts that are needed for this, acquire lead screws.

If a decision is made to create a CNC machine with your own hands and do without ready-made sets of components and mechanisms, fasteners, you need the scheme assembled according to which the machine will work.

Usually, having found a schematic diagram of the device, they first model all the details of the machine, prepare technical drawings, and then use them on turning and milling machines (sometimes it is necessary to use a drilling machine) to make components from plywood or aluminum. Most often, work surfaces (also called a desktop) are plywood with a thickness of 18 mm.

Assembly of some important machine components

In the machine that you started to assemble with your own hands, it is necessary to provide for a number of critical nodes that ensure the vertical movement of the working tool. In this list:

• screw transmission - rotation is transmitted using a toothed belt. It is good because it does not slip on the pulleys, evenly transferring forces to the shaft milling equipment;
• if a stepper motor (SM) is used for a mini-machine, it is advisable to take a carriage from a larger printer model - more powerful; old dot matrix printers had fairly powerful electric motors;

• for a three-coordinate device, you need three step motors. Well, if there are 5 control wires in each, the functionality of the mini-machine will increase. It is worth evaluating the magnitude of the parameters: supply voltage, winding resistance and the rotation angle of the stepper motor in one step. To connect each stepper motor, a separate controller is needed;
• with the help of screws, the rotational movement from the stepper motor is converted into a linear one. To achieve high accuracy, many consider it necessary to have ball screws (ball screws), but this component is not cheap. When choosing a set of nuts and mounting screws for mounting blocks, they are chosen with plastic inserts, this reduces friction and eliminates backlash;

• instead of a stepper motor, you can take a conventional electric motor, after a little refinement;
• vertical axis, which provides movement of the tool in 3D, covering the entire coordinate table. It is made from aluminum plate. It is important that the dimensions of the axis are adjusted to the dimensions of the device. In the presence of a muffle furnace, the axis can be cast according to the dimensions of the drawings.

Below is a drawing made in three projections: side, rear, and top view.

Maximum attention - bed

The necessary rigidity to the machine is provided by the frame. A movable portal, a system of rail guides, a stepper motor, a work surface, a Z axis and a spindle are installed on it.

For example, one of the creators of a home-made CNC machine made the supporting frame from aluminum profile Maytec - two parts (section 40x80 mm) and two end plates 10 mm thick from the same material, connecting the elements aluminum corners. The design is reinforced, inside the frame a frame is made of smaller profiles in the shape of a square.

The bed is mounted without the use of welded joints (welds are poorly able to withstand vibration loads). It is better to use T-nuts as fasteners. On the end plates, a bearing block is provided for installing the lead screw. You will need a plain bearing and a spindle bearing.

The craftsman determined the main task of the hand-made CNC machine to be the manufacture of aluminum parts. Since workpieces with a maximum thickness of 60 mm were suitable for him, he made a portal clearance of 125 mm (this is the distance from the top cross beam to work surface).

This difficult installation process

It is better to assemble home-made CNC machines, after preparing the components, strictly according to the drawing, so that they work. The assembly process, using lead screws, should be performed in the following sequence:

• a knowledgeable craftsman begins by attaching the first two step motors to the body - behind the vertical axis of the equipment. One is responsible for horizontal movement milling head(rail guides), and the second for moving in a vertical plane;
• a movable gantry moving along the x-axis carries the milling spindle and carriage (z-axis). The higher the portal, the larger the workpiece can be processed. But at a high portal, in the process of processing, resistance to emerging loads decreases;

• front, rear, top, middle and bottom plates are used to fasten Z-axis stepper motors, linear guides. In the same place, make a lodgement for the milling spindle;
• the drive is assembled from carefully selected nuts and studs. To fix the motor shaft and attach it to the stud, use the rubber winding of a thick electric cable. Screws inserted into the nylon sleeve can be used as a retainer.

Then the assembly of the remaining components and assemblies of the homemade begins.

We mount the electronic filling of the machine

To make a CNC machine with your own hands and control it, you need to operate with a properly selected numerical control, high-quality printed circuit boards and electronic components (especially if they are Chinese), which will allow you to implement all the functionality on a CNC machine, processing a part of a complex configuration.

In order to avoid problems in management, home-made CNC machines, among the nodes, have the following mandatory:

• stepper motors, some have stopped for example Nema;
• LPT port through which the CNC control unit can be connected to the machine;
• drivers for controllers, they are installed on a mini-milling machine, connected in accordance with the diagram;

• switching boards (controllers);
• a 36V power supply unit with a step-down transformer that converts to 5V to power the control circuit;
• laptop or PC;
• emergency stop button.

Only after that, the CNC machines are tested (at the same time, the craftsman will make a test run by downloading all the programs), the existing shortcomings are identified and eliminated.

Instead of a conclusion

As you can see, making a CNC that is not inferior to Chinese models is real. Having made a set of spare parts with the right size, having high-quality bearings and enough fasteners for assembly, this task is within the power of those who are interested in software engineering. It won't take long to find an example.

In the photo below - some samples of machine tools with numerical control, which are made by the same craftsmen, not professionals. Not a single part was made hastily, of arbitrary size, but fitting the block with great accuracy, with careful alignment of the axes, using high-quality lead screws and with reliable bearings. The statement is true: as you collect, so you will work.

On the CNC, processing of an duralumin blank is performed. Such a machine, which was assembled by a craftsman, can perform a lot of milling work.

The aim of this project is to create desktop machine with CNC. It was possible to buy a ready-made machine, but its price and dimensions did not suit me, and I decided to build a CNC machine with the following requirements:
- usage simple tools(only need drilling machine, band-saw and hand tools)
- low cost (I was looking for low cost, but I still bought items for about $600, you can save a lot by buying items in the appropriate stores)
- small footprint(30"x25")
- Normal working space (10" X, 14" Y, 4" Z)
- high speed cutting (60" per minute)
- a small number of elements (less than 30 unique)
- available elements (all elements can be bought in one hardware and three online stores)
- the possibility of successful processing of plywood

Other people's machines

Here are some photos of other machines that have been assembled according to this article

Photo 1 - Chris and a friend assembled the machine by laser-cutting parts from 0.5" acrylic. But everyone who has worked with acrylic knows that laser cutting that's good, but acrylic doesn't handle drilling well, and there are a lot of holes in this project. They did Good work, more information can be found on Chris's blog. I especially liked making a 3D object with 2D cuts.

Photo 2 - Sam McCaskill made a really nice desktop CNC machine. I was impressed that he did not simplify his work and cut out all the elements by hand. I am impressed with this project.

Photo 3 - Angry Monk's used DMF parts cut with laser cutter and toothed-belt motors converted to propeller motors.

Photo 4 - Bret Golab's assembled the machine and set it up to work with Linux CNC (I also tried to do this, but I couldn't because of the complexity). If you are interested in his settings, you can contact him. He did a great job!

I'm afraid I don't have enough experience and knowledge to explain the basics of CNC, but the CNCZone.com forum has an extensive section on homemade machines, which helped me a lot.

Cutter: Dremel or Dremel Type Tool

Axes options:

X axis
Travel Distance: 14"

Speed: 60"/min
Acceleration: 1"/s2
Resolution: 1/2000"
Pulses per inch: 2001

Y-axis
Travel Distance: 10"
Drive: Toothed belt drive
Speed: 60"/min
Acceleration: 1"/s2
Resolution: 1/2000"
Pulses per inch: 2001

Z-axis (up-down)
Travel Distance: 4"
Drive: Screw
Acceleration: .2"/s2
Speed: 12"/min
Resolution: 1/8000"
Pulses per inch: 8000

Required Tools

I aimed to use popular tools that can be purchased at a regular craft store.

Power tool:
- band saw or jigsaw
- drilling machine (drills 1/4", 5/16", 7/16", 5/8", 7/8", 8mm (about 5/16")), also called Q
- Printer
- Dremel or similar tool (to be installed in the finished machine).

Hand tool:
- rubber mallet(for planting elements in place)
- hexagons (5/64", 1/16")
- screwdriver
- glue stick or spray glue
- Adjustable wrench (or socket wrench with ratchet and 7/16" socket)

Necessary materials

The attached PDF file (CNC-Part-Summary.pdf) provides all costs and information about each item. Only summarized information is provided here.

Sheets---$20
- A piece of 48"x48" 1/2" MDF (any sheet material 1/2" thick. I plan to use UHMW in the next version of the machine, but now it is too expensive)
- A piece of 5"x5" 3/4" MDF (this piece is used as a spacer so you can use any 3/4" piece of material)

Motors and controllers --- $255
-A whole article can be written about the choice of controllers and motors. In short, you need a controller capable of controlling three motors and motors with about 100 oz/in torque. I bought motors and a ready-made controller and everything worked well.

Hardware --- $275
-I bought these items in three stores. Simple elements I bought from a hardware store, I bought specialized drivers from McMaster Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com), and I bought bearings, which I need a lot, from an online seller, paying $ 40 for 100 pieces (it turns out to be quite profitable, a lot bearings remain for other projects).

Software --- (Free)
-You need a program to draw your design (I use CorelDraw) and I'm currently using a trial version of Mach3, but I have plans to switch to LinuxCNC (an open source machine controller using Linux)

Head Unit --- (Optional)
-I installed Dremel on my machine, but if you are interested in 3D printing (like RepRap) you can install your device.

Printing templates

I had some experience with a jigsaw, so I decided to glue on the templates. It is necessary to print PDF files with templates placed on the sheet, stick the sheet on the material and cut out the details.

File name and material:
All: CNC-Cut-Summary.pdf
0.5" MDF (35 8.5"x11" template sheets): CNC-0.5MDF-CutLayout-(Rev3).pdf
0.75" MDF: CNC-0.75MDF-CutLayout-(Rev2).pdf
0.75" aluminum tube: CNC-0.75Alum-CutLayout-(Rev3).pdf
0.5"MDF (1 48"x48" pattern sheet): CNC-(One 48x48 Page) 05-MDF-CutPattern.pdf

Note: I am attaching CorelDraw drawings in original format (CNC-CorelDrawFormat-CutPatterns (Rev2) ZIP) for those who would like to change something.

Note: There are two options for MDF 0.5". MDF-CutPattern.pdf) with one 48"x48" sheet for printing on a large format printer.

Step by step:
1. Download three PDF templates.
2. Open each file in Adobe Reader
3. Open the print window
4. (IMPORTANT) Disable Page Scaling.
5. Check that the file has not been scaled by accident. The first time I did not do this, and printed everything at a scale of 90%, as described below.

Gluing and cutting elements

Glue the printed templates on MDF and on aluminum pipe. Next, just cut out the part along the contour.

As mentioned above, I accidentally printed the templates at 90% scale, and did not notice this until I started cutting. Unfortunately, I did not understand this until this stage. I was left with 90% scale templates and moving across the country I got access to a full size CNC. I could not resist and cut out the elements with this machine, but I could not drill them with reverse side. That is why all the elements in the photos are without template pieces.

drilling

I didn't count exactly how many, but this project uses a lot of holes. The holes that are drilled on the ends are especially important, but take the time to make them, and you will rarely need to use a rubber hammer.

Places with holes in the lining on top of each other is an attempt to make grooves. Perhaps you have a CNC machine that can do this better.

If you have reached this step, then I congratulate you! Looking at a bunch of elements, it is quite difficult to imagine how to assemble a machine, so I tried to make detailed instructions similar to LEGO instructions. (attached PDF CNC-Assembly-Instructions.pdf). Looks pretty interesting step by step photos assemblies.

Ready!

The machine is ready! I hope you made and run it. I hope the article is not missing important details and moments. Here is a video that shows the machine cutting a pattern on pink foam.

The article describes homemade machine with CNC. The main advantage of this version of the machine is a simple method of connecting stepper motors to a computer via the LPT port.

Mechanical

bed
The bed of our machine is made of plastic 11-12 mm thick. The material is not critical, aluminum can be used, organic glass plywood and any other available material. The main parts of the frame are attached using self-tapping screws, if desired, you can additionally decorate the attachment points with glue, if you use wood, you can use PVA glue.

Calipers and guides
Steel bars with a diameter of 12mm, length 200mm (on the Z axis 90mm), two pieces per axis, were used as guides. Calipers are made of textolite with dimensions 25X100X45. The textolite has three through holes, two of them for guides and one for a nut. The guide parts are fixed with M6 screws. Supports X and Y in the upper part have 4 threaded holes for fixing the table and the Z-axis assembly.

Caliper Z
The Z axis guides are attached to the X support through a steel plate, which is transitional, plate dimensions 45x100x4.

Stepper motors are mounted on fasteners, which can be made of sheet steel with a thickness of 2-3mm. The screw must be connected to the axis of the stepper motor using a flexible shaft, which can be used as a rubber hose. When using a rigid shaft, the system will not work accurately. The nut is made of brass, which is glued into the caliper.

Assembly
Assembly homemade CNC machine, is carried out in the following sequence:

• First you need to install all the guide components in the calipers and screw them to the sidewalls, which were not initially installed on the base.
• We move the caliper along the guides until we achieve a smooth ride.
• We tighten the bolts, fixing the guide parts.
• We attach a caliper, a guide assembly and a sidewall to the base, we use self-tapping screws for fastening.
• We assemble the Z assembly and, together with the adapter plate, attach it to the X caliper.
• Next, install the lead screws along with the couplings.
• We install stepper motors, connecting the motor rotor and the screw with a coupling. We pay strict attention to the fact that the lead screws rotate smoothly.

Recommendations for assembling the machine:
Nuts can also be made from cast iron, you should not use other materials, screws can be bought at any hardware store and trim to fit your needs. When using screws with M6x1 thread, the length of the nut will be 10 mm.

Machine drawings.rar

We turn to the second part of the assembly of the CNC machine with our own hands, namely to electronics.

Electronics

Power Supply
A 12V 3A block was used as a power source. The unit is designed to power stepper motors. Another voltage source at 5V and with a current of 0.3A was used to power the controller microcircuits. The power supply depends on the power of the stepper motors.

We present the calculation of the power supply. The calculation is simple - 3x2x1 \u003d 6A, where 3 is the number of stepper motors used, 2 is the number of powered windings, 1 is the current in Amperes.

Control Controller
The control controller was assembled on only 3 microcircuits of the 555TM7 series. The controller does not require firmware and has a fairly simple circuit diagram, thanks to this, this CNC machine can be made by a person who is not particularly versed in electronics.

Description and pin assignment of the LPT port connector.

Pin.	Name	Direction	Description
1	STROBE	input and output	Set by PC after completion of each data transfer
2..9	DO-D7	conclusion	Conclusion
10	ASK	input	Set to "0" by an external device after receiving a byte
11	BUSY	input	The device indicates that it is busy by setting this line to "1"
12	paper out	input	For printers
13	Select	input	The device indicates that it is ready by setting this line to "1"
14	Autofeed
15	error	input	Indicates an error
16	Initialize	input and output
17	Select In	input and output
18..25	Ground GND	GND	common wire

For the experiment, a stepper motor from an old 5.25-inch was used. In the scheme, 7 bits are not used. 3 engines used. You can hang a key on it to turn on the main engine (cutter or drill).

Driver for stepper motors
To control the stepper motor, a driver is used, which is an amplifier with 4 channels. The design is implemented on only 4 transistors of the KT917 type.

You can also use serial microcircuits, for example - ULN 2004 (9 keys) with a current of 0.5-0.6A.

The vri-cnc program is used for control. Detailed description and instructions for using the program are on .

Having assembled this CNC machine with your own hands, you will become the owner of a machine capable of machining (drilling, milling) plastics. Steel engraving. Also, a home-made CNC machine can be used as a plotter, you can draw and drill printed circuit boards on it.

Based on materials from the site: vri-cnc.ru

In order to perform a three-dimensional drawing on wooden surface, factory milling machines are usually used. But it is quite possible to make such a mini-model on your own, but first you need to familiarize yourself with the design. The basis can be a spare part from a printer, which can be purchased for a penny.

The principle of the machine

If you decide to make a CNC router with your own hands, you should familiarize yourself with the features of the operation of such equipment. It is designed to form a pattern on a wooden surface. The design should include electronic and mechanical parts. Together they allow you to automate the work.

For the manufacture of a desktop machine, you should know that the cutter is the cutting element. It is installed in the spindle on the shaft of the electric motor. The whole structure is fixed on the frame. It can move along two coordinate axes. To fix the workpiece, a support table should be made. With stepper motors, an electronic control unit must be connected.

The motor and control unit provide displacement of the carriage in relation to the workpiece. This technology allows you to perform three-dimensional drawings on the surface. Mini-equipment works in a certain sequence. At the first stage, a program is written that will allow you to prepare a plan for moving the cutting part. For this, they are used software complexes for adaptation in homemade models.

The next step is to install the workpiece. The program is entered into the CNC. The equipment is turned on, and then the control is carried out automatic actions. In order to ensure maximum automation, it is necessary to draw up a diagram and select components.

Before you start making a CNC router with your own hands, you need to familiarize yourself with the factory models. To obtain complex patterns and patterns, several types of cutters should be used. You can do some of them yourself, but for fine workmanship need factory options.

Scheme of a homemade machine

The most difficult and milestone in the manufacture of the described equipment, the choice of the scheme is used. It will depend on the degree of processing and the size of the workpiece. For living conditions it is better to use a mini-machine that will be installed on the table. Suitable option is a design of two carriages that will move along the coordinate axes.

The bases can be ground metal rods. Carriages are installed on them. To create a transmission, you will need stepper motors and screws, which are complemented by rolling bearings. To automate the process, it is necessary to think over the electronic part. It will consist of:

• power supply;
• controller
• drivers.

When making a CNC router with your own hands, you should familiarize yourself with design features devices. For example, a power supply is required to supply power to the stepper motors and the controller chip. For this, a 12V 3A model is used. The controller is required to send commands to the engine. For the operation of the device, a simple circuit for the controller will suffice, which will give commands to three engines.

The driver is also an element of regulation. He will be responsible for the moving part. For management, standard software systems should be used. One of them is KCam, which has a flexible structure to adapt to any controller. This complex has one important advantage, which is the ability to import files of common formats. Using the application, you can create a three-dimensional drawing of the workpiece for analysis.

In order for stepper motors to work with a given input frequency, it will be necessary to enter into the control program technical specifications. When compiling a program, separate blocks should be made. They are designed for:

• drawing;
• milling;
• engravings;
• drilling.

This will eliminate the idle movement of the cutter.

Selection of components

Before making a DIY CNC router, you must select the components to assemble. A suitable option is the use of improvised means. The basis of the machine can be plexiglass, aluminum or wood. For the correct functioning of the complex, it is necessary to develop the design of the calipers. Their movement should not be accompanied by vibrations, which can cause inaccurate processing of the part.

Components are checked for compatibility before assembly. As for the guides, they will be ground steel bars with a diameter of 12 mm. For the X axis, the length is equivalent to 200 mm, for the Y - 90 mm. Before you start making a CNC router with your own hands, you must choose a caliper. Textolite is a suitable option. The dimensions of the site will be as follows: 25x100x45 mm.

The cutter attachment block can be made of textolite. Its configuration will depend on the tool you have. The power supply is usually used factory. If you want to do this work yourself, you must be prepared to possible mistakes which will adversely affect the operation of the equipment.

If you want to assemble a router with your own hands, then you can use the 24v model for this. 5A is also an excellent option. It is quite often compared to disk drives, the former of which has more impressive power. To solder the controller board, you should use capacitors and resistors in SMD packages. This will reduce the parameters, as well as make inner space more optimized.

Instructions for the manufacture of the machine

Once all the components have been selected, you can begin to manufacture the device. All elements are pre-checked, which especially concerns their quality and parameters. Special parts must be used to fasten the knots. Their shape and configuration will depend on the chosen scheme.

The design must necessarily have a rise of the working tool. To do this, use a toothed belt to return rotation. A mandatory element of equipment is a vertical axis. It can be made from aluminum plate. This node is adjusted to the dimensions that were obtained at the design stage and entered into the drawing.

Before you make your own CNC router, you can cast a vertical axis using a muffle plate. Aluminum is an excellent material. Two engines are mounted on the body, which will be located behind the axle. One of them will be responsible for the horizontal, and the other for the vertical movement. Rotation must be transmitted through belts. Once all the elements are in place, the machine must be set to manual control and its operation checked. If deficiencies are identified, you can fix them on the spot.

More about stepper motors

CNC machines must be equipped with electric motors step type. As such a motor, you can use the one that will be borrowed from a dot matrix printer. Usually quite powerful elements are installed in them. Matrix units have steel rods based on durable material. They can also be used in a homemade machine.

If you are wondering how to make a CNC router with your own hands, it is recommended that you first consider the photo. They will let you know how to proceed. The design may include three motors, indicating the need to dismantle two dot matrix printers. It is better if the motors have five control wires, because the functionality of the machine will increase several times. When choosing a stepper motor, you should find out the number of degrees per step and the operating voltage. You should also know the winding resistance. This will allow the software to be properly configured.

Shaft mount

If you decide to make a CNC wood router with your own hands, then you can use a stud or nut of the appropriate size as a drive. It is better to fasten the shaft with a rubber cable with a thick winding. The same approach is relevant when attaching the engine to the stud. You can make clamps from a sleeve with a screw. Nylon is used for this. Helpers-tools in this case are a file and a drill.

Machine electronics

The main element of the described equipment is software. You can use a homemade one that will provide all the drivers for the controllers. The provision must have power supply units and stepper motors. If you are faced with the task of how to assemble a CNC router with your own hands, you must take care of the presence of an LPT port. It will also be necessary working programm, providing control and management of the necessary modes of operation.

The CNC unit itself is connected to the equipment through the port and installed motors. When choosing software for a machine, it is necessary to rely on one that has already proven its stable operation and has functionality. Electronics will affect the quality and accuracy of the operations performed. After installing it, you should download programs and drivers.

Do it yourself using the same technology. However, it will only handle thin workpieces. Before operating the device, it is necessary to check the operation of the electronic software and eliminate the shortcomings.

Instead of a conclusion: features of manufacturing a machine from drilling equipment

Before starting work on the manufacture of a CNC router with your own hands, you need to step by step review the instructions. It may involve the use of one or the other circuit diagram, on the basis of which the mini-equipment will work. A drilling machine sometimes acts as such, in which the working head is replaced by a milling head.

The most difficult thing is that you have to design a mechanism that provides movement in 3 planes. This mechanism is usually assembled on the basis of the same carriages from a non-working printer.

Software control is connected to the device. It will be possible to work with such a device with blanks from sheet metal, wood or plastic. This is because the carriages from the old printer, providing movement cutting tool, will not be able to guarantee a sufficient degree of rigidity.