Kyle's Woodworking

Well today I didn’t have school due to a snow day, so I figured I would work on my CNC some more. I knew that I needed a stand to put the CNC on and to make it sturdier, so I was off to Google SketchUp! I wanted to make the CNC about counter height, so I made the stand 34 1/2” high plus the 1 1/2” table of the CNC makes it 36” high overall. Here is the simple design that I came up with using 2×4s for the stand:

So I was off to making saw dust!

First, I cut five 2×4s up to get all four legs and eight supports:

Then I drilled pocket holes in the ends of all eight supports:

Here is a video of me assembling the stand:

Here is the stand completed:

I also got all the threaded rods in all 3 axis:

I did receive quite a few questions about my CNC so I will answer some of them here:

Q: What do you have in mind for the software?

A: I have Mach3 and LazyCam. Not familiar w/ them yet because I have not been able to use them. I also am using Google SketchUp to design the projects and then I got a plugin to convert them into g-code.

Q: What size working/cutting envelope for your cnc?

A: The table size is 2’ x 4’. The cutting envelope is about 19” x 38.”

Q: What materials/projects are planned for your machine?

A: With this CNC, I plan to make custom signs, hard to make pieces for projects, I might play around with making 3D stuff, and whatever else I could use it for.

Q: Is the CNC in your room? Besides being noisy they get really messy fast.

A: Yes, this CNC is in my room. But I defiantly do not plan on using it in my room. Right now I have it in my room only to assemble and test out the electronics(when ever I get them)

Q: What type of electronics do you need?

A: (3) 425 oz-in stepping motors

(3) Drivers (3.0Amp 24-40 Volts, 1-1/64 microstepping)

(1) 36v 8.8a Power Supply

(1) Breakout board

(1) Cooling Fan

Here is the website that I plan on eventually buying them when I save up enough money:

http://buildyourcnc.com/electronicscombo.aspx

Also, I just wanted to let everyone know that there is a donate button on the left hand side if anyone is interested in helping me out. You can donate any amount you want (even a penny if you would like) and I would greatly appreciate it and I could get this project done a lot faster.

I know someone is probably also going to suggest that I should make shelves on the stand. Well I plan to make two shelves, one for the electronics and computer to be mounted on, and the other for random stuff/ accessories. I also plan on closing the electronics in with Plexiglas to keep the dust out. I also plan on getting caster (wheels) for the stand to make it easier to move around. These are the casters I want to get from Rockler.com:

Thanks for reading, more questions are welcomed!