Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of building my first 3-axis CNC router. It's a fairly small setup with a (X)60cm x (Y)60cm x (Z)21cm work area.

Some specs:
2.2 kW water cooled spindle
NEMA 34 1232oz. steppers
2005 (X axis) and 1605 (Y and Z axis) ballscrews
25mm linear rails for the X axis
20mm linear rails for Y and Z axis

I'm building most of the machine with heavy duty steel tubing and used 20mm aluminum plate for the Z axis.

I'm almost done with the fabrication work on the machine and will be tackling the electronics and fine tuning starting this week.

Here are couple of pics of what I've done...
The gantry with the Z axis and spindle. This is before I added the side plates to the uprights that the stepper mounts to. So far, even with everything added to the gantry, it's pretty solid and takes some effort to tip it.


And here's an early pic of the base with the X-axis rails. I left that center section open in case I want to add a 4th axis and need a little extra room for the material. It's a 'what if' scenario and I may never need it, but I figured it's easier to leave it open than have to cut it off later.

Initially I was going to just bolt it all together, but it was a Saturday night (around 3am), I ran out of screws and wasn't about to wait until Tuesday (that Monday was a holiday) to get more, so I broke out the MIG and welded it together.

Is the machine overbuilt? Yea, I think so... but it's kinda what I do. I'd rather overbuild it and have room to play than under-build it and have to upgrade or rebuild later.

More to follow soon.

Cheers!