[flatheadyoungin]

Greetings,

I teach high school wood shop and we are in the process of fundraising to put a CNC router in to place. With limited budgets, I'm going to have to be resourceful and creative in order to do this. I'm DIY by nature but sitting on the fence of building a machine or trying to wait on a used one. It's like anything else, I assume, once you delve in and are immersed in it, deals/opportunities will present themselves.

In the mean time, I plan on reading till my eyes are sore and asking a lot of questions!

Thanks!

[alan_3301]

Wow, I wish we had something like that in shop class, I cant actually remember using any machines in wood shop, I think we made a birdhouse. Pretty lame.

Anyways.. what is the goal of having a router in the class? To teach the fundamentals of cnc, or to actually use it for large pieces?
If it were my class, I would just have a simple machine, around 24x24" working area.
I would build the frame out of wood, using tools available in the class. Yes, the frame will deflect in use, and change size with temperature / humidity, but this is for learning, not production use.

My parts list would include:
gecko g540
4x suitable stepper motors (280 oz-in)
1/2-10 5 start acme screws.
dumpstercnc anti backlash nuts
a bunch of wood and hardware
old computer with either linuxcnc or mach3.

hope that helps.

[alan_3301]

I forgot linear rails
sbr16 I think is something that would come up on searches.
I have purchased them from vxb.com look up linear motion systems.

If you don't want to design the frame yourself, look up joes2006 or solsylva (sp?)
or just google image search hobby cnc router for ideas.

[flatheadyoungin]

Alan,

Thanks, that's the type of stuff I really need to know. The more I'm getting in to this, the more confusing it gets. It seems to be just like most other hobbies. The more $$ you have the more things you can do. I'm with you, for what we need, I really think I can get the precision/repeatability/etc. we are looking for building it out of wood. If nothing else, we'll learn A LOT and, like many others, know what we do want when we upgrade.

Here's some of my thoughts, and any input you, or others want to share would be great!!!

-Primary focus is just general messing around with a CNC, build very simple projects, etc (until I learn what we can do with it and my learning curve)
-Secondary I see huge fundraising capabilities for our program. You name it, I bet we could sell it. (and use the $$ to upgrade in the future)
-I have strong support for just about anything we do (except money). The tech guys are my buddies and would be more than willing to help with any
PC's etc. As a matter-of-fact, I'm sure they are already deciding on what they'll want to use it for.
-I really don't want to go smaller than 2x4. This goes back to the fundraising. There are a lot of "yard art", nativity, plywood cutouts, etc, that would really sell well, and, ideally, a 4x8 for sheet goods. But, from all of my newbie learning, it really takes some $$ to produce a 4x8 machine that's got some decent tolerances. Maybe two machines in the future? One for cutting out 2D, less accurate things? One smaller one for precision?
-Eventually, it would be good to have something with enough precision to use PhotoVcarve.

What do you think of the Sidewinder free plans? What do you think of the maker slide?

Should I move this discussion to a different thread? Would it get more attention and discussion? ANY help is MUCH appreciated from everyone. If it were my money, I'd just go for it. When it's money hard earned money by the students (and myself), we have to choose VERY wisely and make good decisions. We can't "blow our wad" on a machine that doesn't do what we need it to do. That would put us years behind in fundraising. And, in my world, we may not have years. When I started teaching shop 13 years ago, there were 11 total high school shops in the county. Now there are 11!

[ger21]

What is your budget?

[flatheadyoungin]

Don't laugh me out of the place! We have about $1500-$2000 set aside right now. We have equipment to sell on Craigslist which will put us up a little over $3k$4k. I'm really trying to think outside the box, here: more fundraising on our part, crowd funding, grants, donations, etc. We aren't afraid of hard work to make things happen.

I've love to find a quality used machine, that might have been replaced or some major components trashed and we could rebuild it with components that are more accessible. There was a 4x8 Shopbot with a vac system that just went for $5k.

We just recently put in place a new Sawstop table saw, I paid for it out of my own pocket or I would add some of my personal $$ to it. But, I can't right now, that Sawstop set me back for a while.

**edit: Let me reword this for accuracy. We put in a request for a Sawstop last school year. We sent it to all the higher-ups, etc. We built our case, said we had part of the monies raised towards the purchase and let them know that there was absolutely nothing wrong with our current table saw. However, in a school setting, a Sawstop is a game changer. The technology isn't a luxury item. Heck, we even sent them a video of the hot dog test. They never even replied, all we could hear were crickets. So, we fundraised a little more and when we were about 3/4 of the way there, I kicked in the difference so it could be put in place sooner rather than later. I picked it up at a retagit store that deals in Amazon returns. It was brand new, even had the warranty papers with it. However, it was missing the rails, fence and side table. I put out a request on Craigslist and some fellow woodworkers came together and donated a brand new, in the box fence system for it. The guy had it laying in the corner of his garage and didn't need it. I clarified all of this, not to brag or let everyone know what I did (we didn't ask for a hand out on the net, just a request to purchase a used one), I expounded on it to highlight what is possible by being a bit resourceful and what can happen when people get together. Grandpa is an ole' trader and has taught some of those skills to me. He always said, "Whatever you're looking for, someone, somewhere has it setting in the corner of their garage. They don't want it anymore and would just as soon give it to you as fool with it. It's just a matter of finding that person." We've never shied away from a good challenge, as a matter of fact, that's part of the thrill!

We are quite resourceful and I've been putting out a lot of "feelers" with a couple of people I've met over the years that may know where something like this may be sitting in a corner collecting dust.

We can be patient for the right thing, even though I'm a little anxious. I just keep thinking of the possibilities: fundraising, a leg up for my students, turning the light bulb on for careers, collaborating with the physics department, etc.! The ideas just keep coming to me.

[Commando]

From your user name I wonder, are you in the Flathead Valley?

Be sure to check out Educational Development and Stimulus Fund - Home for a possible source of funding for your equipment. We have a program of grants to help purchase (in this first round) Tormach equipment.

[ger21]

Take a look at a CNC Routerparts kit.
You should be able to get into a 4x4 for right around $4000 complete.
CRP4848 4' x 4' CNC Router Kit | CNCRouterParts

[Donny M. Carter]

Also check out raptor

[hoffmannm]

Just wanted to add, I appreciate what you are doing for the kids, you sound like an awesome teacher. I wish they would give you more support vs the bull sh-- economics or history classes.

[flatheadyoungin]

Commando,

Somehow I missed your post last night.

No, I use that username on a lot of forums. I like to mess around with ole' Flathead Ford engines. And, when I first started, I was a "yougin'" by comparison of the fellas I was hanging out with.

I'll follow that link out and spend some time reading it. Those are the type of things you don't even know that are out there. Thanks for sharing!

[mactec54]

flatheadyoungin

One of these machines is worth a look at, you have to put them together yourself, Plus wiring Etc,more the kind of machine you should be looking at,Ideal for a school & more, he has options as well with different machines
XZero CNC Routers

[victorofga]

for this purpose I think you can involve the students.. not only from your class but generally from the whole school..

with a router you can make various projects, involving students.. like creating new plates for all classroom, offices..
new numbers for lockers..
you can cut example French curve sets

if students see a good purpose they will the find way to get together the money..
and you can invest into a 4x4 or a 4x8 machine..

larger is better, so for you I think not the high end automatic toolchanger the important, but the machine bed size..

it is very much possible to get a 4x8 somewhere 5-8K
a 4x4 possible you can establish of 4K

also I think many parents could help you at least with advices.. its already not a unique thing to operating cnc, or using cad-cam.

[Rocketspool]

I have nothing of value to add about routers. I was just bored at work as we are slow and stumbled across this thread.

Just wanted to say that this is awesome! I would have loved to have something going on like this when I was at school!

I was never very good in school. Something like this probably would have made me never want to leave! I feel there is a lost connection with these kinds of things these days.

If you build one you should post the project as it progresses!