“In the first four days it’s garnered over 20K views which really blindsided me. I guess there’s lot’s of CNC enthusiasts out there! If you find this article of interest please consider voting for it in the First Time Authors contest here. Thanks for stopping by!
UPDATE: I’ve been getting many requests to publish plans for this build. I’ve been hesitant because I don’t really have a plans set ready to go and many of the metal parts have been machined which would be difficult to replicate for someone without access to a metal lathe. What I’ve decided to do is to develop a MK2 version of my router that I will publish the plans for. I’ll take what I’ve learned with this machine and incorporate off the shelf hardware as much as possible. Look for the new design and build Instructable within the next few months.
Steve T.
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This is a hobby CNC router I built for myself that I’d thought I’d share with the Instructables community. This is not a detailed build log of the router but more of an exploration of my design choices that went into this somewhat unique tool. There are no plans for this router. Beyond a couple of initial sketches to determine general size, lengths, and spacing, this router pretty much grew out organically as I was building it. Hopefully other CNC enthusiasts may see an idea or two that might help them with their projects.
Design parameters
Use as much stuff that I had laying around the shop as possible.
Able to use the router as a bench top when not routing.
A cutting area of 30”x60”x2”.
Make it as rigid as possible (for a plywood design).
As to the design I came up with. This is a classic XYZ 3-axis wood cutting router. By classic I mean it has a gantry that moves along the length of the machine base (Y axis). There is a carriage that the router is mounted to that runs back and forth on the gantry (X axis). And finally, there is a mechanism that raises and lowers the entire gantry that moves the router up and down (Z axis). Yes, I said the entire gantry moves up and down. We’ll be getting into that later. As to motion, I’m using stepper motors and roller chain. For the linear rails, I’m using steel v-bearings running over steel angle iron. The primary construction material is plywood.”