DIY CNC mill

[Slisgrinder]

Hey guys,


I am embarking on a DIY CNC mill I am designing and making for the SE7ENTH COLUMN PC scratch build case. I am following a design similar to the "Little Brute" mill made by Fandz here except mine is going to have a working area of 2' by 3'. I plan on using a dremel as the tool with its endmill bits to cut wood/plastic/metal (aluminum and copper for CPU water blocks). I plan on using a slave stepper config for the X axis and use single steppers for the Y and Z axis.

I was wondering if you guys have made your own or have experience on a commercial mill and would like to share ideas to help improve the design. I am trying to get everything built from hardware store parts...pics are always welcome. Also, suppliers of various parts are always welcome...

I have ordered 8 1/2" pillow block bearings
100 608zz ball bearings
4 1/2" anti-backslash nuts

I still need to get the aluminum/steel square tubing and the 1/2" acme rod with 5 TIP (turns per inch) and all the hardware (nuts, bolts), the aluminum plates to serve as the "deck" where the part will be held for machining and all the electronics (steppers, stepper drivers ets), acme rod couplers for joining the stepper with the acme rod.

Also need to design a system to catch and recirculate the water/soap lubricant-coolant to keep the machining cool and avoid stress on the parts being milled...

so much work ahead of me...so again, any ideas are welcome.

[robodude666]

Looks like a sick project! I've been wanting to design my own CNC mill for a few years, so looking forward to what you have cookin'.

For the water system, I was thinking something like an elevated work area would work. Under it would be another area with curved in edges so all the liquid goes to the center. In there, would be holes where the water would fall into to get back into the tank. From there, you can get a regular LC pump, or probably a fish tank pump to pump it back to where the dremel is currently at. For that, you can attach the tube to the side of the dremel so it can cooler whenever the dremel moves.

-robodude666

[Slisgrinder]

yeah, but one has to be sure to put a metal wire grill (like the one in a house window) to prevent any metal/plastic going into the pump... I have the same idea as you except that the pump I was thinking of was a cheap watercooling pump...

[Dacooter]

this is nice. a buddy and i were looking for some type of way to do this thanks!!

[Slisgrinder]

you mean how to recirculate the cooling/lubricant fluid?

[Dacooter]

yeah i was

[Slisgrinder]

small update, here is my CNCs frame that I thought up...