Was wondering if anyone of you here has tried building a home made CNC machine ?
hobbycnc.com offers kits. Would love to build one to use for balsa/ply cutting.
Please share your experiences.
Thanks

+1
I am in for it. Already had plans to look for junk market for scrapped dot Matrix Printers, bad couldn't make it. Hobby CNC would be costlier considering cost + shipping + Customs

Not LHS in this case, it would be great going DIY way. Lots of Electronic/Mechanical/Computer engineers around, people can make them together for shared use.

I am still looking forward for Bangalore Fliers to join me!

-ujjwal

This topic was discussed and pictures posted at the original forum. You may like to search over there.

Alright so I have lately got interested in this and after some research I am planning to build a basic CNC machine for myself. And the most important thing, as I perceive it, is a stepper motor controller that can control 4 stepper motors. I emailed an enquiry to fbots but they didn't reply, Vivek bhaiya(rcelectro) also didnt reply(naturally cause he keeps very busy these days). After some more research I found two websites on the net that sell stepper motor controller boards http://www.sunrom.com/motor-control?sunid=f12aaae3bf3bb0bb17990d903c652bfa and http://www.robotshop.com/phidgetstepper-unipolar-4-motor-1.html . The former is an Indian outlet the latter is US based. So, I request experienced forum members here to please help me out in finding a suitable controller for me, I don't know a lot of Robotics sites, just the two above, so please help me out here if you know of any other site that will suffice my requirement or whether the products on the site that I have listed will work?. As usual price is the limiting factor here and that is the reason why I can't afford the driver from Hobby CNC. So I am basically looking into a low cost solution, I need a very basic machine(that can cut basic RC wings/fuselages shapes).

One more thing, does one have to go through the same custom hassles(that one goes through while buying RC stuffs) while buying Robotics equipment, in this case, Stepper Motor Driver cause I am thinking about ordering it from that site, so please do help me out with this, will that controller do the trick and which software will work with it?
 

rohit you will soon get a mail from fbots have patience till then

We shouldn't attach  the 'National Security' hoopla with just anything we import. CNCs are required for just any basic requirement, mundane as glow sign boards.
You should NOT have any problem importing these machinery , provided you can quote the HS code on being inquired. Go ahead.

Thank You akky and Ujjwaana bhaiya.

Alright I designed the basic shape in AutoCAD, and modified it a little so that I only have to use 2 stepper motors. And I've decided to go with this Stepper motor controller http://www.nex-robotics.com/products/motor-drivers/stepper-motor-drivers/l298-18v-2a-dual-stepper-motor-quad-dc-motor-driver.html

Now the last thing that I want to know is that which CNC software is going to work with this controller. Will this work : http://www.kellyware.com/kcam/index.htm or any similar CNC software. Again I don't have any knowledge with the micro controller and programming thing so it would really help if someone can point out to me what will work and what won't.

Thank You.

yes i have made one for around Rs40000