[bshaker1]

Where can I get Detailed information on not how to build a cnc machine, but I would like to know all of the componets involved and their functions, how to choose the right parts (etc.)

[NC Cams]

Smart a$$ reply: All over this message board.

Serious reply: SPECIFICALLY, what KIND OF CNC machine are you interested in building???? Your inquiry is impossible to answer in the way it is currently pose.

Do you want to make a Mill, Router, Lathe, Engraver, plasma cutter, robot, welder, pick-n-place robot, CNC what????? Big difference.

You need to be more specific as to what you want to do, how much you want to spend, what do you know about mechanicals, electricals, limitations, size, your skill level etc, etc, etc.

There is a lot of expertise and knowledge to be obtained here however you do need to be much more specific in how you go about asking for it...

It also helps to do a bit of studying into your area of interest so that you understand the communication flow and/or the tech terms once you do enter into discussion about your area of interest.

In the mean time, look, read, study, enjoy... Once you figure out what you want to do, check back for help with prime focus in your/the particular area of interest. Again, be more specific in your inquiry when you do.

[bshaker1]

First of all lets say that I'm new to cnc zone and was introduce to the zone by my instructor. The type of machine I'm interested in is a plasma cnc. And you're right I do need to read and study up in this field,THAT was my question were can I get started on getting this information so that I can learn not only the basics but how everything works. I'm very mechanicaly inclined a 15 year electrician, a welder, I've taken and completed cnc lathe and mill and currently taking up mastercam, price no object, I would like to build a nice cnc plasma cutter, which I already own the plasma machine. The only thing I need to know Is WHERE and HOW do I find the information to get started (literature,input,direction)so I could obtain and get the knowleged of building such machine. How to get started thats all I asked.

[NC Cams]

Try this:

Go to search engine on this site.

Type in "plasma cutter".

See where it takes you.

Then try the following:

Try "cnc plasma cutter".

try "DIY cnc plasma cutter".

Try "cnc retrofit plasma cutter".

Do the same on google and/or teoma.

Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is to learn how to look for something.....

The above ideas should yield even more on how to find where you want/need to go. Half the fun of DIY anything is figuring out how to do it and learning how to do research is part of the challenge.

[smilewizard]

There are several great threads on here by fellow builders, spend alot of time at each one, ask questions and then determine how you will build yours. I can tell you the people on here are the best in the industry as far as willingness to share ideas and help you out. My personal favorite forums are by mlaws1172, weldtutor and mine. Think about what you really want to do with your table, then work on the table design, control package, and your software package. To give you a hint I am a Facilities Manager in a manufacturing plant with two kids, I thought I could build a table in a couple of months, but I am going on almost 6 months ( this is a hobby, ok its more of a passion). One other thing to think of, not all plasma cutters are compatable with a plasma table, some units will literally fry your CNC controls. So reseach everything and dont assume anything.

Ok now that the disclaimer is out of the way, ask away I have found that people are glad to share there knowledge and experience including me.

Andrew

[Weldtutor]

The only thing I need to know Is WHERE and HOW do I find the information to get started

Welcome to CNC Zone :wave:

Click on these underlined areas below.

http://www.artofcnc.ca/ This is a site for a popular software.

http://www.geckodrive.com/ These are common drives used.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16634
See post #86 of this thread for a list of electronic components, as well as other information.

The above should get you started, but are just a few of the many sources available.

You will have to decide on type & size of motors to use. Servo or steppers & the voltage depending on the motor selected & speed needed for the range of material thicknesses you will be cutting.

Mechanical drives that others have used include ball screws, rack & pinion, timing belts & pulleys, roller chains etc. These vary greatly in cost as well as positioning accuracy.

[bshaker1]

Finally somebody on the zone thats not a smart a$$ thats willing to help out a fellow member. I thought thats what the zone is all about not google, or some other search engine.

[NC Cams]

Part of the learning process should involve how to ask a question.

You asked, "...Where can I get Detailed information on not how to build a cnc machine..." yet you didn't even mention what kind of machine you were talking about until the 2nd or 3rd post.

Yet, EACH of the references cited in my a prior post could have been found using the google/teoma search methods suggested. Your generic unspecific and undetailed question got a response in-kind - no more, no less.

Besides, I was trying to stimulate replies from other members with specific experise in the varous areas you'll need to have help with.

By the way, I found this website and became a contributing "smart a$$" member thereof by using the EXACT SAME search google/teoma search method I proposed earlier.

Ask better questions and perhaps, maybe, you'll get better and more custom specific and detailed answers.

In the mean time, you may find the following to be of help (by the way, most of which were found using the searh function found/contained on THIS website):

Daisychaining ATX power supplies:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...015#post142015
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=108208

Linear P/S design/construction
http://www.campbelldesigns.com/files...ply-part-1.pdf


Bearing literature:
http://www.bardenbearings.com/literatr.htm

http://www.timken.com/products/bearings/catalogs/

http://www.jp.nsk.com/app01/en/catal...gi?ec=bearings

Get the NSK E1102 catalog for starters

Motor torque info/defininition
http://www.merkle-korff.com/formulas.asp#con

What gage wire to use:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17350
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...480#post136480

Servo vs Stepper:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17419

Simply stepper info:
http://www.parkermotion.com/catalog/catalogA/A12.pdf

Stepper reverse engineering:
http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~ih/doc/stepper/others/

Stepper sizing:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17707

Small stepper P/S
http://www.campbelldesigns.com/files...ply-part-1.pdf

[ger21]

Although it may not seem like it, I believe that NC Cams is sincerely trying to be helpful.

And asking more specific questions will usually get you a lot more replies than a very general question.

[NC Cams]

I was also trying to explain without being TOO snotty nor TOO condescending that one needs to formulate a question properly. By doing soe, one will more often than not get a focused, non-rambling, specific answer. Apparenlly I fell short of the remark or too close to the target - dunno which.

Frankly, next time I'll use terminology that is more readily understood like:

You question can't be answered becasuse it is simply too vague and ill constructed.

BUT that would be surely be perceived as being too smart a$$ed as well.

Hmmmm. What is a person to do???

If I am a smart a$$ who KNOWS the answer, and can usually provide it in inordinate and boring detail, what do you call an individual who doesn't know how to ask a question who also DOESN'T know the answer???

Seemed to me that the person who made the inquiry needed help in more ways than the simple (?) answers he was looking for. Hence, I figured a brief lesson in how to do research on the internet might be of help. Clearly, a lesson that was NOT recognized nor appreciated for its intent.

If you don't want to learn how to do things (including how to research a topic), visiting a DIY message board is perhaps the wrong place and way to try to learn how to design, enginer and buid a plasmac cutter (or a cnc anything).

In this case, the person might be better off buying a prebuilt/pre-engineered kit from somebody and bolting it together. Chances are he'll be be much happier because DIY CNC involves thought and figuing and some study/reasearch on the builders part.

Some answers have to be figured out and not merely posed and answered by somebody on a message board who has already taken the time to learn how to do it....

Sorry, Mr. Moderator. that's as nice as I can be under the circumsances.

[Geof]

Where can I get Detailed information on not how to build a cnc machine, but I would like to know all of the componets involved and their functions, how to choose the right parts (etc.)

I think a lot of people who answer posts should learn to read correctly. Notice above the query is " Where can I get Detailed information on not how to build.....". (My bolding.) It hardly seems fair and it is not helpful to dump all over someone for failing to describe the type of machine that is in mind when from the initial query it is clear that at the time of composing the query no specific machine was in mind.

[ger21]

but I would like to know all of the componets involved and their functions, how to choose the right parts (etc.)

First, a very general question like that will get very few replies, because it's a difficult question to answer. But here's a littlle info for you.

First, you need a PC running machine control software. The most popular hobby option is probably Mach3, from www.artofcnc.ca

To make the machine move, most people either use stepper motors or servo motors. These are powered by stepper drives, or servo drives. Mach3 sends step and direction signals to the drives, which then "make the motors turn". You'll need a power supply, usually between 24V and 80V to power the steppers or servos.


The motors are then connected to leadscrews, or sometimes a pinion gear running on a gear rack. The leadscrews or rack and pinion create motion.

The moving parts of the machine run on linear bearings. There are several different types. Precision ground round shafts with Thomson ball bearing bushings. THK type rails and bearing blocks. Search Ebay for linear shafts, and linear rails, linear guides... for plenty of examples. There are also homemade linear bearings, consisting of simple ball bearings riding on steel shafts. Another type is the BishopWisecarver DualV system, which you can see at www.bwc.com

Basically, add your torch to the machine, and let the the control software run your machine.

I'm sure you have more questions, so fire away.

[bshaker1]

First of all thanks for the information and links that you guys supplied so far its really been helpful I don't think that I can get enough. I've been reading non stop, and think I got theory of how a cnc operates and functions. once again thanx

[lemonyx]

Maybe parts of this thread can be put into a "Newbie" forum and all beginner - future CNC'ers can read and be directed there. There is a L O T of information here on this site, but it's spread out and for me when I first found this site, it was tedious to go thru each and every post looking for information. BTW, I'm still a newbie but I know what I want in terms of hardware and which design to build.

I agree, questions should be asked in greater detail, so they can be answered correctly.

Thanks to all you guy's that take the time to answer questions (and some of mine too)

[NC Cams]

It took me quite a while to figure it out. That is, the reason why term papers and class projects were assigned in engineering school was to teach students how to do research - the profs already know/knew the answers - they were teaching you how to FIND them which is what you'll be doing later on in your career when the answers may not be already known.

This learned skill has paid off a lot in life and my career development. How? Most of the stuff I got invovled with involved trade secrets. Thus no competitor will 'splain how to do something, let alone do so on a message board.

Take cam design. You have to search out the basics, study the seminal works/publications and then study profiles way you can - usually by reverse engineering them. With luck, perseverence and dogged determination you can find and learn the technology (cams), learn associated systems/technology (springs and linkage interaction) and design successful cams. DIY CNC is not at all different.

Thus, you need to conduct research (be it CNC or cams or tiddly winks) in the proper way. In my college days, we had to go to libraries - no computers, Dewey decimal system, rows and rows of books. Took hours of research to find something. Message boards didn't exist - maybe that was a better time. Anyway, you really had to WORK for the knowledge and skill... If you worked at it and got lucky, you might find a mentor. In the mean time you read books and learned and experimented and got into an apprenticeship some how (yes, even degreed engineers go thru "apprenticeships" - grunt testing and research).

Now we have internet search engines. We have dedicated sites WITH search engines. By typing in "cnc retrofit" into Google, you can get THOUSANDS of links that are instructive beyond belief into the art and science of CNC - the search will even lead you here eventually.

For example, if you do a "CNC power supply" search on google, you come up with over 3million hits - 2 of the first three involve constructing same for DIY cnc equipment.

Yet, even with the search engine on this site, we still find cases where the "how do I build a power supply?" question gets asked, over and over. I guess it's easier to type in the question here than 3 words in google. Even when the search is done for you by computer, there's "too much to go thru" to get the answer. I guess even instant gratification isn't instant enough anymore.

I guess it is just easier to ask how, than to research and figure out how to find something and how to build it. Since part of the whole DIY thing is to learn what to do and how to do it, I don't/can't see why an equivalent interest exists in researching the answers, especially when it is SO easy anymore. I guess human nature is human nature.

Some people simply seek answers - others seek and obtain knowledge. Big difference.

Bob Campbell's site is a great one for newbies (hit 2 or 3 on the google search). There are others but the point is, he shows HOW to build one and shows how the calculations are done. Be it router, or CNC mill, the principles are the same - only the voltage and current capability and solutions to the math differ in magnitude from application to application - the equations DON'T change.

Let's continue help our newbie friends solve their problems. Let's also POINT them to where the answers can be found instead of doing their math homework for them. Everyone will be better off for it.

Flame away guys. Looking forward to varying opinions.

[tinman13]

Well said, and a refreshing way to explain how good we have it! Steve.

[GAWnCA]

OK, with out being a smart A$$, spelling counts in your replies to such a general or vague question. But what would like to know is where to find high speed spindle motor information and/or suppliers?

[FPV_GTp]

Where can I get Detailed information on not how to build a cnc machine, but I would like to know all of the componets involved and their functions, how to choose the right parts (etc.)

May i say welcome to this site bshaker1

There is heaps of well document threads in here all all the different types of cnc machines

Great people in here also to help with advise

And get ready to do a lot of reading and researching for yourself to decide which avenue you tackle on making your own machine

What is your trade background ?, hope your good at machining and electronics

i place i can recommend is MACH2/3 software from artsoft and there are great links to the hardware required to make the connection between PC and mechanical side of things to your project.

Link http://www.machsupport.com/artsoft/index/index.htm There are a few links in artsofts site , people selling plasma cutting plans / electronics and hardware.

This crowd has a nice complete cnc plasma control system

http://www.rutex.com/home/index

You will have a lot of fun in this forum as people have different views and opinions , so you will experience a wide range of ideas thrown at you.

But on thing for sure is , get ready to do a lot of reading

You be the judge

have fun

I went through the same processes as what you are starting now

cheers

[FPV_GTp]

LOL " Some people simply seek answers - others seek and obtain knowledge. Big difference. "


I have a bone to pick with you NC Cams
Master Machinist how come i didnt get this information

LOL

cheers

PS : just kidding

[shashank ayyar]

thank you nccams,
i think the problem most noobs like me face initially,is that they dont even know enough to ask well thought out questions to merit good answers.plus at least im not satisfied with the cnczone site search.again a noob would not have enough info to search for the right stuff in the first place.
what is required is for someone to point us out in the right direction in the first place.so we can understand the working,design and components of a cnc along with the different types and their applications.only after this can one decide what they reguire,what size design etc.and then progress to understanding the components of that type,the physics and working of the parts etc.i would like to plead that the pro's be compassionate and not lose their patience answering questions they have been subjected to a million times.or at least point out threads where they or others have done this before.thanks again.