CNC Router
2009 - Present
I have been interested in CNC milling for a long time, and I finally had enough money to get one. Over the summer, I started researching into the hobbyist CNC world and found a company which makes good quality cheap CNC routers (http://www.k2cnc.com). I had no previous experience with CNC machines, but I spent a large portion of my summer reading about how these machines work and how to set them up. I ordered a CNC router from the company, but decided to setup all the electronics myself. I purchased some stepper motors, stepper drivers, a power supply, and all the necessary components to get my CNC router running. While researching online, I learned about G code and how to program a CNC machine. I also stumbled across Mach 3, a software package that turns a computer into a CNC controller via the parallel port. I have dedicated an old laptop to run this program. Once everything arrived in the mail, I immediately wired my electronics together, mounted my stepper motors, and configured the software settings in Mach 3. It was a glorious moment when I made my first G0 rapid! Below are pictures of my CNC when it first came alive.
When I first got my CNC, I quickly zip tied all the electronics in a cardboard box and wired them together so that I could get my CNC running immediately. I knew that this was not a long term solution so I started looking around for a nice case to mount the electronics inside. I eventually ordered the case seen below, but did not have the time to move all the electronics from the card board box. Eventually I decided to make it a priority and I spent several days in the PRL (machine shop) modifying the case to accommodate the necessary components. The case came out very nice! I also included some pics of the router in my college door room closet...
Now that I have a complete CNC setup I’m always thinking of things I could cut. Lately I’ve become interested in electronic circuit design and I found a program on the web that takes PCB designs and translates them into G code. I use Cadsoft Eagle to do the layout, and a ULP plugin called pcb-g-code to convert the schematic file to G code. This allows you to do a standard board layout with eagle and export G-code that will route out the traces and drill the holes/vias. Routing PCBs is a much faster and cleaner way to go when compared to the usual acid etching system. Several boards that I have already cut are shown below.