CNC Router "replication"...

General
1

Now that the Hive has a big CNC router, I was wondering if there is interest to use it to mill MDF to make smaller “home-size CNC routers” (for a nominal fee).

I’ve lusted after one that could take a 4 ft x 4 ft panel, but realistically my garage can only handle a 2 x 4 ft.

I’ve had this book for a few years now: https://buildyourcnc.com/Book.aspx

I’m not sure if that book design is up to current “Maker” build standards, but perhaps others might be interested in working on a design or a series of different sizes depending on interest or budget—for example, using the book’s homemade linear slides or buying proper ones. It might be worth designing starting with a 4x8 or 4x4 MDF sheet and trying to maximize the table size and minimize waste wood.

My interest right now is a 2x4 or 2x2 ft capable CNC router with minimum cost. I’ll bring the book to the Hive for a Tuesday meeting in the next few weeks so others can see the plans. If I can find time I’ll try to sketch some ideas for filling a sheet with minimum waste. (I could fit a 4x4 ft in my garage if it could be broken down a bit and stored with the table vertical.)

Does a design like this already exist? I wouldn’t know where to start looking other than google, and my first searches haven’t found anything.

Matthew
(not a member!)

2

This sounds interesting!

3

Hi Matthew -

I’m sure you’d find multiple members interested in discussing CNC machinery at any Tuesday meeting. We’d be happy to have you down.

The Hive’s large CNC router is a riff off the http://www.joescnc.com/ Evolution plans. The baseline design is a 4x4 foot model. We simply increased the size of the table and support rails to accommodate full sheets of 1.5M x 1.5M and 4’x8’ plywood.

One of the guys on the Joe’s CNC forums created a 5’x10’ folding table design that might be of interest to you. He has some videos here. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ussNmpn-JU0PWC8ZoBVgw/videos

While I don’t know of any full MDF CNC plans offhand, there have been a couple aborted starts at smaller wooden CNCs at the hive, such as http://wiki.hive13.org/view/DIY_CNC_Router. Some of the frame parts for these are still lying around, and might be worth examining.

  • Ry