“I’m a recent college grad with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and love to build things. For my job I get to design and integrate parts of large, expensive satellite assemblies, however I don’t get much hands on work with what I design due to the scale. I’ve always been interested in CNC machines and laser cutters/engravers, but I never really had the money or space to buy one myself. I decided to put my engineering background to the test, and build my own CNC machine with the ability to be upgraded and use the least amount of tools possible. This Instructable includes what I’ve designed and how to follow these steps to create your own machine.
For the first iteration and documentation of my design, refer to my original Instructable: Modular DIY CNC Machine for ~$300. I originally wrote this Instructable as I was designing and building my first rev of the machine. After two 3D printers and several design iterations later, I’ve finally created a machine I believe to be solid enough for others to create. You can reference the attached image for a documentation of my other revisions and the issues to see why I’ve designed the machine the way I have.
I’ve recreated the assembly process using rendered images from Inventor. This makes it easy to see what goes where and should make it easy to follow along at home. If for some reason the images in the steps are hard to read, you can reference the attached PDF of the instructions. For some steps, I do provide additional tips and tricks in this Instructable that aren’t included in the PDF.
I hope you find this Instructable helpful in your own CNC build and feel free to leave any comments or questions down below! If you like what you see please vote for me in some of the contests I’ve entered!”