CNC Router

woodturner

I've been strongly thinking about building or buying a cnc around 1m x 1m. Has anyone here ever built one? What are the pros and cons between buying and building?

faithful chippie

have you heard of these
https://www.inventables.com/technologies/x-carve

all the youtubers seem to have got one for free to review.

woodturner

Yeah they look great. I didn't know if they'd work over here with the different frequency in the electricity or current. Isn't that normally the problem with buying power tools and such from the US?

Vexorg

Hi woodturner

The xcarve without the spindle can be switched to both 110v and 220v, so no problem with power:

From the x carve website:
Will X-Carve work with both 110V and 220V?

Yes. The power supply that powers the electronics is universal and can be switched to work with either a 110V or 220V requirement. We offer a US configured power plug that comes with the power supply. Depending on your country’s plug requirements you may need to source your own plug and/or plug adapter.

A lot of people use a Dewalt 611 1/4 inch router as a low cost spindle, this is a 110v tool, however the 220v version available in Europe is model number DeWalt D26200 which is widely available.

I have been looking at cnc kits for a couple of weeks, they would a a fun tool to have.

Are you familiar with cad/cam software? There can be a bit a learning curve with these (well for me anyway)

Let us know if you take the plunge

woodturner

No I wouldn't be familiar with it at all but I'd be keen to learn. The possibilities with a machine like these are endless.

HorseSea

There is a thread on CNC build here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=99521105
I have recently updated with my experiences.

the_pen_turner

im saving up for a decent cnc .
I was looking at the shapoko and the x carve.
they are only hobby machines aimed at the occasional user.
if you want a proper cnc then you will need to spend a lot more

HorseSea

the_pen_turner wrote: »

im saving up for a decent cnc .
I was looking at the shapoko and the x carve.
they are only hobby machines aimed at the occasional user.
if you want a proper cnc then you will need to spend a lot more

Depends what you define at "proper", you can spend at much as you like. Nothing wrong with Ox builds, check out some of the builds on Openbuilds. Personally I would not buy an x-carve, too many issues.

the_pen_turner

HorseSea wrote: »

Depends what you define at "proper", you can spend at much as you like. Nothing wrong with Ox builds, check out some of the builds on Openbuilds. Personally I would not buy an x-carve, too many issues.

lots of people have built proper ones themselves. that is because they know how. the x carve and shapoko etc are for those that cant

HorseSea

the_pen_turner wrote: »

lots of people have built proper ones themselves. that is because they know how. the x carve and shapoko etc are for those that cant

There is no more building on an Ox than there is on an x-carve, I would have put myself in the "can't" category until I actually built it. I put it off for three months thinking it was going to be a huge project and wanted the time to get stuck into it, as it turned out it was up and running in two days and not full days at that. The electrics were a bit tricky for me but there is loads of info online, particularly on the Openbuilds.com forum and I did phone the parts supplier Ooznest and they were very helpful, but apart from that the biggest learning curve for me is the software, still trying to get my head around CAD/CAM. That has not stopped me doing a few cuts and relief carvings etc to test the machine.

Suggest you look at Ooznest in the UK for the kits they supply, link below and or the Openbuilds Parts Store where you can source all the parts too.

nulabert

Hi HorseSea

How are you getting on with the build? New hobby looking up CNC machines, might get one

HorseSea

@nulabert I have not used it for months, nearly a year as I have had a career change and no time, but I have great plans for it as soon as I can get back to it. Once it was set up and square, level and on a solid base (Very very important) it worked great. The software really is the messiest bit, once you get that sorted the machine does exactly what's it's told (but the software). Have fun.