DIY 3D CNC milling machine. Creating a CNC machine with your own hands

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Knowing that this is a complex technical and electronic device, many craftsmen think that it is simply impossible to make it with their own hands. However, this opinion is wrong: you can make such equipment yourself, but to do this you need to have not only detailed drawing, but also a set of necessary tools and related components.

Processing a duralumin blank on a homemade desktop milling machine

When deciding to make your own CNC machine, keep in mind that it can take a significant amount of time. In addition, certain financial costs will be required. However, by not being afraid of such difficulties and by correctly approaching all issues, you can become the owner of affordable, efficient and productive equipment that allows you to process workpieces from various materials With high degree accuracy.

To do milling machine equipped with a CNC system, you can use two options: buy a ready-made kit, from which such equipment is assembled from specially selected elements, or find all the components and assemble a device with your own hands that fully satisfies all your requirements.

Instructions for assembling a homemade CNC milling machine

Below in the photo you can see the made with my own hands, to which is attached detailed instructions on manufacturing and assembly, indicating the materials and components used, exact “patterns” of machine parts and approximate costs. The only negative is the instructions on English language, but it is quite possible to understand the detailed drawings without knowing the language.

Download free instructions for making the machine:

The CNC milling machine is assembled and ready to go. Below are some illustrations from the assembly instructions for this machine.

“Patterns” of machine parts (reduced view) Beginning of machine assembly Intermediate stage Final stage of assembly

Preparatory work

If you decide that you will construct a CNC machine with your own hands, without using a ready-made kit, then the first thing you will need to do is to choose a circuit diagram according to which such mini-equipment will work.

As a basis for CNC milling equipment, you can take an old drilling machine, in which the working head with a drill is replaced with a milling one. The most difficult thing that will have to be designed in such equipment is the mechanism that ensures the movement of the tool in three independent planes. This mechanism can be assembled using carriages from a non-working printer; it will ensure the movement of the tool in two planes.

It is easy to connect software control to a device assembled according to this concept. However, its main disadvantage is that only workpieces made of plastic, wood and thin materials can be processed on such a CNC machine. sheet metal. This is explained by the fact that the carriages from the old printer, which will ensure the movement of the cutting tool, do not have a sufficient degree of rigidity.

In order for your homemade CNC machine to be able to perform full-fledged milling operations with workpieces made of various materials, a sufficiently powerful one must be responsible for moving the working tool stepper motor. It is absolutely not necessary to look for a stepper type motor; it can be made from a conventional electric motor, subjecting the latter to minor modifications.

Using a stepper motor in yours will make it possible to avoid using a screw drive, and functionality and characteristics homemade equipment it won't make things any worse. If you still decide to use carriages from a printer for your mini-machine, then it is advisable to select them from a larger model of the printing device. To transfer force to the shaft of milling equipment, it is better to use not ordinary, but toothed belts that will not slip on the pulleys.

One of the most important components of any such machine is the milling mechanism. It is its production that needs to be given special attention. To properly make such a mechanism, you will need detailed drawings, which will need to be strictly followed.

CNC milling machine drawings

Let's start assembling the equipment

The basis of homemade CNC milling equipment can be a rectangular beam, which must be securely fixed on guides.

The supporting structure of the machine must have high rigidity; when installing it, it is better not to use welded joints, and all elements should be connected only with screws.

This requirement is explained by the fact that welded seams very poorly withstand vibration loads, to which they will necessarily be subjected Basic structure equipment. Such loads will ultimately lead to the machine frame beginning to deteriorate over time, and changes in geometric dimensions will occur in it, which will affect the accuracy of the equipment settings and its performance.

Welds when installing the frame of a homemade milling machine often provoke the development of play in its components, as well as deflection of the guides, which occurs under heavy loads.

The milling machine that you will assemble with your own hands must have a mechanism that ensures the movement of the working tool in the vertical direction. It is best to use a screw gear for this, the rotation of which will be transmitted using a toothed belt.

An important part of a milling machine is its vertical axis, which for a homemade device can be made from an aluminum plate. It is very important that the dimensions of this axis are precisely adjusted to the dimensions of the device being assembled. If you have a muffle furnace at your disposal, then you can make the vertical axis of the machine yourself by casting it from aluminum according to the dimensions indicated in the finished drawing.

Once all the components of your homemade milling machine are prepared, you can begin assembling it. This process begins with the installation of two stepper motors, which are mounted on the equipment body behind its vertical axis. One of these electric motors will be responsible for moving the milling head in the horizontal plane, and the second will be responsible for moving the head, respectively, in the vertical plane. After this, the remaining components and assemblies of home-made equipment are installed.

Rotation to all components of homemade CNC equipment should be transmitted only through belt drives. Before connecting to assembled machine program control system, you should check its performance in manual mode and immediately eliminate all identified deficiencies in its operation.

You can watch the assembly process in the video, which is easy to find on the Internet.

Stepper motors

The design of any CNC-equipped milling machine necessarily contains stepper motors that ensure the movement of the tool in three planes: 3D. When designing homemade machine For this purpose, you can use electric motors installed in a dot matrix printer. Most older models of dot matrix printing devices were equipped with electric motors with fairly high power. In addition to stepper motors, it is worth taking strong steel rods from an old printer, which can also be used in the design of your homemade machine.

To make your own CNC milling machine, you will need three stepper motors. Since there are only two of them in the dot matrix printer, it will be necessary to find and disassemble another old printing device.

It will be a big plus if the motors you find have five control wires: this will significantly increase the functionality of your future mini-machine. It is also important to find out the following parameters of the stepper motors you have found: how many degrees are rotated in one step, what is the supply voltage, as well as the value of the winding resistance.

The drive design of a homemade CNC milling machine is assembled from a nut and a stud, the dimensions of which should be pre-selected according to the drawing of your equipment. To fix the motor shaft and attach it to the stud, it is convenient to use a thick rubber winding from electric cable. Parts of your CNC machine, such as clamps, can be made in the form of a nylon sleeve into which a screw is inserted. In order to make such simple structural elements, you will need a regular file and a drill.

Electronic equipment

Your DIY CNC machine will be controlled by software, and it needs to be selected correctly. When choosing such software (you can write it yourself), it is important to pay attention to the fact that it is operational and allows the machine to realize all its functionality. Such software must contain drivers for the controllers that will be installed on your mini-milling machine.

In a homemade CNC machine, an LPT port is required, through which electronic system control and connects to the machine. It is very important that such connection is made through installed stepper motors.

When choosing electronic components for your homemade machine, it is important to pay attention to their quality, since the accuracy of the technological operations that will be performed on it will depend on this. After installing and connecting all electronic components of the CNC system, you need to download the necessary software and drivers. Only after this is a test run of the machine, checking the correct operation of it under the control of loaded programs, identifying deficiencies and promptly eliminating them.

Machines equipped with numerical software(CNC) are presented in the form modern equipment for cutting, turning, drilling or grinding metal, plywood, wood, foam and other materials.

Built-in electronics based on Arduino printed circuit boards ensure maximum automation of work.

1 What is a CNC machine?

CNC machines based on Arduino printed circuit boards are capable of automatically continuously changing the spindle speed, as well as the feed speed of supports, tables and other mechanisms. Auxiliary elements CNC machine automatically takes the desired position, and can be used for cutting plywood or aluminum profile.

In devices based on Arduino printed circuit boards cutting tool(preset) also changes automatically.

In CNC devices based on Arduino printed circuit boards, all commands are sent through the controller.

The controller receives signals from the software. For such plywood cutting equipment, metal profiles or foam, the program carriers are cams, stops or copiers.

The signal received from the program carrier sends a command through the controller to an automatic machine, semi-automatic machine or copying machine. If it is necessary to change a sheet of plywood or foam plastic for cutting, then the cams or copiers are replaced with other elements.

Units with program controlled based on Arduino boards, punched tapes, punched cards or magnetic tapes are used as a program carrier, which contain all the necessary information. With the use of Arduino boards, the entire process of cutting plywood, foam plastic or other material is fully automated, minimizing labor costs.

It is worth noting that building a CNC machine for cutting plywood or foam plastic based on Arduino boards you can do it yourself without much difficulty. Control in CNC units based on Arduino is carried out by a controller that transmits both technological and dimensional information.

Using CNC plasma cutters based on Arduino boards, you can free up a large number of universal equipment and, at the same time, increase labor productivity. The main advantages of Arduino-based machines assembled by yourself are expressed in:

high (compared to manual machines) productivity;
flexibility of universal equipment combined with precision;
reducing the need to attract qualified specialists to work;
the possibility of manufacturing interchangeable parts according to one program;
reduced preparation times for the manufacture of new parts;
the opportunity to make a machine with your own hands.

1.1 Process of operation of a CNC milling machine (video)

1.2 Types of CNC machines

The presented units for cutting plywood or foam plastic, using Arduino boards for operation, are divided into classes according to:

technological capabilities;
the principle of tool change;
method of changing the workpiece.

Any class of such equipment can be made with your own hands, and the Arduino electronics will provide maximum automation of the work process. Along with classes, machines can be:

turning;
drilling and boring;
milling;
grinding;
electrophysical machines;
multi-purpose.

Arduino-based turning units can process the external and internal surfaces of all kinds of parts.

Rotation of workpieces can be carried out in both straight and curved contours. The device is also designed for cutting external and internal threads. Arduino-based milling units are designed for milling simple and complex body-type parts.

In addition, they can perform drilling and boring. Grinding machines, which can also be made with your own hands, can be used for finishing details.

Depending on the type of surfaces being processed, units can be:

surface grinding;
internal grinding;
spline grinding.

Multi-purpose units can be used for cutting plywood or foam plastic, perform drilling, milling, boring and turning parts. Before you make a CNC machine with your own hands, it is important to consider that the equipment is divided according to the method of changing tools. Replacement can be made:

manually;
automatically in the turret;
automatically in the store.

If the electronics (controller) can provide automatic change of workpieces using special drives, then the device can long time work without operator participation.

In order to make the presented unit for cutting plywood or foam plastic with your own hands, you need to prepare the initial equipment. A used one may be suitable for this.

In it, the working element is replaced with a milling cutter. In addition, you can make a mechanism with your own hands from the carriages of an old printer.

This will allow the working cutter to move in the direction of two planes. Next, electronics are connected to the structure, key element which is the controller and the Arduino board.

The assembly diagram allows you to do it yourself homemade unit CNC automatic. Such equipment may be designed for cutting plastic, foam, plywood or thin metal. In order for the device to perform more complex species work, you need not only a controller, but also a stepper motor.

It must have high power indicators - at least 40-50 watts. It is recommended to use a conventional electric motor, since its use will eliminate the need to create a screw drive, and the controller will ensure timely delivery of commands.

The required force on the transmission shaft in a homemade device must be transmitted via timing belts. If a homemade CNC machine will use carriages from printers to move the working cutter, then for this purpose it is necessary to select parts from large-sized printers.

The basis of the future unit can be a rectangular beam, which must be firmly fixed to the guides. The frame must have a high degree of rigidity, but welding is not recommended. It is better to use a bolted connection.

Welding seams will be subject to deformation due to constant loads during machine operation. In this case, the fastening elements are destroyed, which will lead to settings failure, and the controller will not work correctly.

2.1 About stepper motors, supports and guides

A self-assembled CNC unit must be equipped with stepper motors. As mentioned above, it is best to use motors from old dot matrix printers to assemble the unit.

For efficient operation of the device you will need three separate engines stepper type. It is recommended to use motors with five separate control wires. This will increase functionality homemade apparatus several times.

When selecting motors for a future machine, you need to know the number of degrees per step, the operating voltage and the winding resistance. Subsequently, this will help to configure the entire software correctly.

The ball motor shaft is fastened using a rubber cable covered with a thick winding. In addition, using such a cable you can connect the motor to the running pin. The frame can be made of plastic with a thickness of 10-12 mm.

Along with plastic, it is possible to use aluminum or organic glass.

The leading parts of the frame are attached using self-tapping screws, and when using wood, the elements can be attached with PVA glue. The guides are steel rods with a cross-section of 12 mm and a length of 20 mm. There are 2 rods for each axis.

The support is made of textolite, its dimensions should be 30x100x40 cm. The guide parts of the textolite are fastened with M6 screws, and the supports “X” and “Y” at the top must have 4 threaded holes to secure the frame. Stepper motors are installed using fasteners.

Fastenings can be made using steel leaf type. The sheet thickness should be 2-3 mm. Next, the screw is connected to the axis of the stepper motor via a flexible shaft. For this purpose, you can use a regular rubber hose.

Nowadays, the production of small parts made of wood for various structures is becoming increasingly common. Also in stores you can find a variety of beautiful three-dimensional paintings made on wood canvas. Such operations are performed using milling machines with numerical control. The accuracy of parts or pictures made of wood is achieved through control from a computer, a specialized program.

The numerical control wood milling machine is a highly professional machine built with the latest technology.

All work consists of processing with a special wood cutter, which can be used to cut out small parts from wood material, creating beautiful drawings. The work is carried out by sending signals to stepper motors, which, in turn, move the router along three axes.

Due to this, high-precision processing occurs. As a rule, it is impossible to do such work manually with such high quality. Therefore, CNC wood milling machines are a great find for woodworkers.

Purpose

Since ancient times, milling was intended for planing work with wood. But the engine of progress moves strictly forward and in our time, numerical program control has been created for such machines. At this stage, the milling machine can perform a variety of actions that relate to wood processing:

Cutting various parts from solid wood.
Cutting off excess parts of the workpiece.
Possibility to make grooves and holes of various diameters.
Drawing complex patterns using a cutter.
3D Three-dimensional images on solid wood.
Full furniture manufacturing and much more.

Whatever the task, it will be completed with high precision and accuracy.

Tip: When working on homemade CNC equipment, you must smoothly remove the thickness of the wood, otherwise your part will be damaged or burned by the cutter!

Variety

In the modern technological world, the following types of numerically controlled wood milling machines are distinguished:

Stationary

These machines are used in production facilities, as they are huge in size and weight. But such equipment is capable of producing products in large volumes.

Manual

This homemade devices or devices from ready-made kits. These machines can be safely installed in your garage or your own workshop. These include the following subspecies:

Equipment using gantry, numerically controlled

The milling cutter itself is capable of moving along two Cartesian axes X and Z. This type of machine has high rigidity when processing bends. The design of a portal milling machine with numerical control is quite simple in its implementation. Many carpenters begin their knowledge of CNC machines with this subtype. However, in in this case the size of the workpiece will be limited by the size of the portal itself.

With numerical control and mobile portal

The design of this subtype is a little more complicated.

Mobile portal

It is this type that moves the router along all three Cartesian axes, X, Z and Y. In this case, it will be necessary to use a strong guide for the X axis, since all the large load will be directed to it.

With a movable gantry it is very convenient for creating printed circuit boards. Along the Y axis it is possible to process long parts.

The cutter moves along the Z axis.

A machine on which the milling part is capable of moving in a vertical direction

This subtype is usually used when refining production samples or when converting drilling equipment into engraving and milling equipment.

The working field, that is, the tabletop itself, has dimensions of 15x15 centimeters, which makes it impossible to process large parts.

This type is not very convenient to use.

Gantryless with numerical control

This type of machine is very complex in its design, but it is the most productive and convenient.

Workpieces up to five meters long can be processed, even if the X axis is 20 centimeters.

This subtype is extremely unsuitable for the first experience, as it requires skills on this equipment.

Below we will look at the design of a hand-made CNC wood milling machine and analyze the principles of its operation. Let's find out how to do this brainchild and how such equipment is set up.

Design and principle of operation

The main parts of the milling device are the following:

bed

The actual design of the machine itself, on which all other parts are located.

Calipers

A unit that is a mount for supporting the movement of an automatic tool.

Desktop

The area where all necessary work is done.

Spindle shaft or router

A tool that performs milling work.

Wood milling cutter

Tool, a more precisely a device for a router, of various sizes and shapes, with the help of which wood is processed.

CNC

Let's just say the brain and heart of the whole structure. The software performs precise control of all work.

The work involves software control. A specialized program is installed on the computer; it is this program that converts the circuits loaded into it into special codes, which the program distributes to the controller and then to the stepper motors. Stepper motors, in turn, move the router along the coordinate axes Z, Y, X, due to which the wood workpiece is processed.

Selection of components

The main step in the invention homemade milling machine is the choice of components. After all, if you choose bad material, something can go wrong

An example of an aluminum frame assembly.

the work itself. Usually used simple materials, such as: aluminum, wood (solid wood, MDF), plexiglass. For the correct and accurate operation of the entire structure, it is important to develop the entire design of the calipers.

Tip: Before assembly with your own hands, it is necessary to check all already prepared parts for compatibility.

Check if there are any snags that will interfere. And most importantly, to prevent various types of vibrations, as this will directly lead to poor-quality milling.

There are some purposes for selecting work items that will help in creation, namely:

Guides

Scheme of CNC guides for a router.

For them, rods with a diameter of 12 millimeters are used. For the X axis, the length of the rod is 200 millimeters, and for the Y axis, the length is 90 millimeters.

The use of guides will allow for high-precision installation of moving parts

Calipers

Caliper CNC milling machine

The caliper is assembled.

Textolite material can be used for these components. Enough durable material of a kind. As a rule, the dimensions of the textolite pad are 25x100x45 millimeter

Router fixation block

An example of a frame for fixing a router.

You can also use a textolite frame. The dimensions directly depend on the tool you have.

Stepper motors or servo motors

power unit

Controller

An electronic board that distributes electricity to stepper motors to move them along their axes.

Tip: When soldering the board, you must use capacitors and resistors in special SMD cases (aluminum, ceramics, and plastic are used to make cases for such parts). This will reduce the dimensions of the board, as well as inner space the design will be optimized.

Assembly

Diagram of a homemade machine with numerical control

Assembly will not take you too much time. The only thing is that the setup process will be the longest in the entire manufacturing process.

To start

It is necessary to develop a diagram and drawings of a future numerically controlled machine.

If you don’t want to do this, you can download the drawings from the Internet. By all sizes prepare all the necessary details.

Make all the necessary holes

Designed for bearings and guides. The main thing is to comply with everything required dimensions, otherwise the operation of the machine will be disrupted. A diagram describing the location of the mechanisms is presented. This will give you a general idea, especially if you are putting it together for the first time.

When all the elements and parts of the mechanism are ready, you can safely begin assembly. The first step is to assemble the equipment frame.

Frame

Must be geometrically correctly assembled. All angles must be even and equal. When the frame is ready, you can mount the axle guides, work table, and supports. When these elements are installed, you can install the router or spindle.

The last step remains - electronics. Installing the electronics is the main step in the assembly. A controller is connected to the stepper motors installed on the machine, which will be responsible for their operation.

Next, the controller is connected to a computer on which a special control program should already be installed. Widely applied trademark Arduino, which manufactures and supplies hardware equipment.

Once everything is connected and ready, it's time to run a test piece. Any wood that will not extend beyond the desktop is suitable for this. If your workpiece has been processed and everything is in order, then you can begin the full production of this or that milling product.

Safety precautions

Safety with milling equipment is fundamental. If you don't take care of yourself, you can end up in the hospital with serious injuries. All safety rules are the same, but the most basic ones are listed below:

It is necessary to ground your equipment to avoid electric shock.
Keep children away from the machine.
Do not eat or drink at your desk.
Clothing should be selected appropriately.
Do not process bulky parts that exceed the size of the work table or machine equipment.
Do not throw various instruments to the working area of the machine.
Do not use material (metal, plastic, etc.).

Video reviews

Video review of parts for the machine and where to get them:

Video review of the operation of a wood milling machine:

Video review of electronics

Condition for fulfillment professional work on wood is availability . The roads available for sale are not affordable for everyone. Therefore, many make them with their own hands, saving money and enjoying the creative process.

There are two options for manufacturing mini machines for:

purchasing a set of parts and its manufacture (Modelist kits costing from 40 to 110 thousand rubles);
make it yourself.

Let's consider making mini CNC milling machines with your own hands.

Selection of design features

The list of actions when developing and manufacturing a mini device for wood milling is as follows:

First you need to decide what kind of work you are talking about. This will tell you what dimensions and thicknesses of parts can be processed on it.
Make a layout and a proposed list of parts for a homemade desktop machine for making it yourself.
Select software to bring it into working condition so that it works according to a given program.
Purchase the necessary components, parts, products.
Having the drawings, make the missing elements with your own hands, assemble and debug the finished product.

Design

A homemade machine consists of the following main parts:

a bed with a table placed on it;
calipers with the ability to move the cutting mill in three coordinates;
spindle with cutter;
guides for moving calipers and portal;
a power supply that provides electricity to the motors, controller or switching board using microcircuits;
drivers to stabilize operation;
vacuum cleaner for collecting sawdust.

Guides are installed on the frame for moving the portal along the Y axis. Guides are placed on the portal for moving the support along the X axis. The spindle with the cutter is attached to the support. It moves along its guides (Z axis).

The controller and drivers provide automation of the CNC machine by transmitting commands to electric motors. Using the Kcam software package allows you to use any controller and provides control of motors in accordance with the part drawing entered into the program.

The structure must be made rigid in order to withstand the working forces that arise during operation and not lead to vibrations. Vibrations will lead to a decrease in the quality of the resulting product and tool breakage. Therefore, the dimensions of the fastening elements must ensure the solidity of the structure.

A homemade CNC milling machine is used to obtain a three-dimensional 3D image on wooden part. It is mounted on the table of this device. It can also be used as an engraving tool. The design ensures the movement of the working body - the spindle with the installed cutter in accordance with a given action program. The support moves along the X and Y axes along ground guides using stepper motors.

Moving the spindle along the vertical Z axis allows you to change the depth of processing in the created wood drawing. To obtain a 3D relief design, you need to make drawings. It is advisable to use different kinds cutters that will allow you to get best parameters display the picture.

Selection of components

For guides, steel rods D = 12 mm are used. For better movement of the carriages, they are ground. Their length depends on the size of the table. You can use hardened steel rods from a dot matrix printer.

Stepper motors can be used from there. Their parameters: 24 V, 5 A.

It is advisable to secure the cutters with a collet.

For a homemade mini milling machine, it is better to use a factory-made power supply, since the performance depends on it.

The controller must use capacitors and resistors in surface-mount SMD packages.

Assembly

To assemble a homemade machine for milling 3D parts on wood with your own hands, you need to make drawings, prepare necessary tool, components, manufacture missing parts. After this, you can begin assembly.

The sequence of assembling a mini CNC machine with 3D processing with your own hands consists of:

The caliper guides are installed in the sidewalls along with the carriage (without a screw).
the carriages are moved along the guides until their movement becomes smooth. This grinds in the holes in the caliper.
tightening the bolts on the calipers.
fastening assembly units on the machine and installing screws.
installation of stepper motors and connecting them to screws using couplings.
The controller is separated into a separate block to reduce the influence of operating mechanisms on it.

A homemade CNC machine must be tested after assembly! Testing of 3D processing is carried out using gentle modes to identify all problems and eliminate them.

Automatic operation is provided by software. Advanced computer users can use power supplies and drivers for controllers and stepper motors. The power supply converts the incoming AC (220 V, 50 Hz) into D.C. necessary to power the controller and stepper motors. For them, control of the machine from a personal computer passes through the LPT port. The working programs are Turbo CNC and VRI-CNC. To prepare the drawings necessary for implementation in the tree, the graphic editor programs CorelDRAW and ArtCAM are used.

Results

A homemade mini CNC milling machine for producing 3D parts is easy to operate, ensures accuracy and quality of processing. If it is necessary to do more complex work, you need to use stepper motors of higher power (for example: 57BYGH-401A). In this case, to move the calipers, you need to use timing belts to rotate the screws, rather than a clutch.

Installation of the power supply (S-250-24), switching board, and drivers can be done in an old computer case by modifying it. You can install a red “stop” button on it to emergency shutdown equipment.

The question of how to make a CNC machine can be answered briefly. Knowing that a homemade CNC milling machine, in general, is a complex device with a complex structure, it is advisable for the designer to:

acquire drawings;
purchase reliable components and fasteners;
prepare a good tool;
have a lathe on hand and drilling machines CNC machined to produce quickly.

It wouldn’t hurt to watch the video – a kind of instructional guide on where to start. I’ll start with preparation, buy everything I need, figure out the drawing - here correct solution novice designer. That's why preparatory stage, preceding assembly, is very important.

Preparatory stage work

To do homemade CNC for milling, there are two options:

You take a ready-made running set of parts (specially selected components), from which we assemble the equipment yourself.
Find (make) all the components and start assembling a CNC machine with your own hands that would meet all the requirements.

It is important to decide on the purpose, size and design (how to do without a drawing of a homemade CNC machine), find diagrams for its manufacture, purchase or manufacture some parts that are needed for this, and acquire lead screws.

If you decide to create a CNC machine with your own hands and do without ready-made sets of components and mechanisms, fasteners, you need a diagram assembled according to which the machine will work.

Usually, having found schematic diagram devices, they first model all the machine parts, prepare technical drawings, and then use them to produce components from plywood or aluminum on lathes and milling machines (sometimes it is necessary to use a drilling machine). Most often, working surfaces (also called a work table) are plywood with a thickness of 18 mm.

Assembly of some important machine components

In the machine that you started assembling with your own hands, you need to provide a number of critical components that ensure the vertical movement of the working tool. In this list:

helical gear – rotation is transmitted using a toothed belt. It is good because the pulleys do not slip, evenly transferring forces to the shaft of the milling equipment;
if you use a stepper motor (SM) for a mini-machine, it is advisable to take a carriage from a larger printer model - more powerful; old dot matrix printers had fairly powerful electric motors;

for a three-coordinate device, you will need three SDs. It’s good if there are 5 control wires in each, the functionality of the mini-machine will increase. It is worth assessing the magnitude of the parameters: supply voltage, winding resistance and motor rotation angle in one step. To connect each stepper motor you need a separate controller;
with the help of screws, the rotational movement from the motor is converted into linear. For achievement high precision, many people consider it necessary to have ball screws (ball screws), but this component is not cheap. When selecting a set of nuts and mounting screws for mounting blocks, choose them with plastic inserts, this reduces friction and eliminates backlash;

instead of a stepper motor, you can take a regular electric motor, after a little modification;
a vertical axis that allows the tool to move in 3D, covering the entire X-ray table. It is made from aluminum plate. It is important that the dimensions of the axis are adjusted to the dimensions of the device. If you have a muffle furnace, the axle can be cast according to the dimensions of the drawings.

Below is a drawing made in three projections: side view, rear view, and top view.

Maximum attention to the bed

The necessary rigidity of the machine is provided by the bed. A movable portal, a system of rail guides, a stepper motor, work surface, Z axis and spindle.

For example, one of the creators of a homemade CNC machine made a supporting frame from Maytec aluminum profile - two parts (section 40x80 mm) and two end plates 10 mm thick from the same material, connecting the elements with aluminum corners. The structure is reinforced; inside the frame there is a frame made of smaller profiles in the shape of a square.

The frame is mounted without the use of welded joints (welded seams are poorly able to withstand vibration loads). It is better to use T-nuts as fastenings. The end plates provide for the installation of a bearing block for mounting the lead screw. You will need a plain bearing and a spindle bearing.

The craftsman determined that the main task of the self-made CNC machine was the production of aluminum parts. Since workpieces with a maximum thickness of 60 mm were suitable for him, he made the portal clearance 125 mm (this is the distance from the upper cross beam to the working surface).

This difficult installation process

It is better to assemble homemade CNC machines, after preparing the components, strictly according to the drawing so that they work. The assembly process using lead screws should be performed in the following sequence:

a knowledgeable craftsman begins by attaching the first two motors to the body - behind the vertical axis of the equipment. One is responsible for the horizontal movement of the milling head (rail guides), and the second is responsible for movement in the vertical plane;
a movable portal moving along the X axis carries the milling spindle and support (z axis). The higher the portal is, the larger the workpiece can be processed. But at a high portal, during processing, the resistance to emerging loads decreases;

For fastening the Z-axis motor and linear guides, front, rear, upper, middle and lower plates are used. Make a cradle for the milling spindle there;
The drive is assembled from carefully selected nuts and studs. To fix the motor shaft and attach it to the stud, use a rubber winding of a thick electric cable. The fixation may be screws inserted into a nylon sleeve.

Then the assembly of the remaining components and assemblies of the homemade product begins.

We install the electronic filling of the machine

To make a CNC machine with your own hands and control it, you need to operate with correctly selected numerical control, high-quality printed circuit boards and electronic components (especially if they are Chinese), which will allow you to implement all the functionality on a CNC machine, processing a part with a complex configuration.

In order to avoid management problems, homemade CNC machines have the following components among the components:

stepper motors, some stopped for example Nema;
LPT port, through which the CNC control unit can be connected to the machine;
drivers for controllers, they are installed on a mini-milling machine, connecting in accordance with the diagram;

switching boards (controllers);
36V power supply unit with a step-down transformer that converts to 5V to power the control circuit;
laptop or PC;
button responsible for emergency stop.

Only after this, CNC machines are tested (in this case, the craftsman will make a test run of it, loading all the programs), and existing shortcomings are identified and eliminated.

Instead of a conclusion

As you can see, it is possible to make a CNC that is not inferior to Chinese models. Having made a set of spare parts with the right size, having high-quality bearings and enough fasteners for assembly, this task is within the power of those who are interested in software technology. You won’t have to look for an example for long.

The photo below shows some examples of numerically controlled machines, which were made by the same craftsmen, not professionals. Not a single detail was done hastily, arbitrary size, and suitable for the block with great precision, with careful alignment of the axes, and the use of high-quality lead screws and with reliable bearings. The statement is true: as you assemble, so will you work.

A duralumin blank is processed using CNC. With such a machine, which was assembled by a craftsman, you can perform a lot of milling work.

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