Couplers for Sale... Finally!

Couplers are finally in stock. These bad boys will fasten to your motor shaft and your lead screw nice and tight. The couplers that I sell are made by Lovejoy, as shown in the picture. You can see that the coupler is made of three parts. There are two hubs, one for each end, and a rubber insert. This gives the two shafts a tiny bit of flexibility while minimizing play.

Each hub can have different size bores (inside diameter of the hole). I have four bore sizes from which to choose (1/4", 3/8", 1/2" and 5/8"); therefore, it is possible Read More...

Step 28: The X and Z Motor Wire Connections

Why have one, when you can have two for the price of one. Really, I don't think I could do another wire soldering video, but there is some good instructional material here. Otherwise, I wouldn't waste your time.

Remember the hook method from the previous video? I'm doing it again, but with a little more detail. In addition, I do it with a little more efficiency. First, I connect all the wires at one time, then I solder them, like simple mass production. Then I heat shrink the connections, just like the last one. I will also show an interesting method of stripping the insulation of my sprinkler wire. I meant this website to be very detailed and cater to the layman, but still inform the design/mechanical savvy viewer. I just ask the latter for a little patients. Read More...

The Bill of Materials

Many of you have asked me to provide a list of materials and costs for the CNC Machine. Here, I will provide a list of the materials, costs and where they can be purchased. In the list, I will also include various alternatives for different types of applications. This may include types of cutting tools, types of motors for the axes, etc. I will keep this list alive and updated in the "stuff for sale" in lieu of a better place. Please write me with suggestions, and if you know of better prices and places to get these materials. This list is a work in progress, since I wanted to make it available immediately. Most prices are from memory, until I find my receipts somewhere in one of my packing boxes, so you may see numbers change, but it gives you a general idea. Read More...

Step 27: Y-Axis Motor connection

Now we come to the wire connections. To describe the bigger picture, first mechanically, the motors must turn the screw to provide linear power transmission (movement back and forth). The motor needs power to turn the motor shaft, so the motor connects to the driver board that will accept three motor connections, one for each axis. The driver board is connected to a power supply to provide power to the driver board. The computer is also connected to the driver board to provide step pulses and directions instructions. Read More...

Step 26: Power Supply Part 2 Completion

This video will conclude the power supply circuit build. We left off at the capacitors and now we need to add the next capacitor. Two in all, and the capacitors will be connected in parallel. This will give me a relatively nice direct current (DC) voltage, which is our goal.

In the last video, I actually reversed the white and the green wires from the bridge rectifier to the capacitor. I connected the negative lead on the bridge rectifier to the positive lead to the capacitor. It's times like these you do not want to plug things in prematurely! I caught the error Read More...

Step 25: Power Supply Part 1

Now, we get to the fun part. We get to play with electricity. Well, it's probably not something you want to play with. In fact, be extremely careful. I'm going to provide information that, if not treated with care and respect, is lethal. For those that do not know what lethal means, here is a definition: Letha = Death. In this case, it's not like quick painless death, but the slow-shocking-melting kind. I've touched 110 volts of house current before, and it's a weird but ugly feeling. Your body understands what alternating current (AC) really means.

Ok, let's get to the meat of the topic. First I would like to help you understand a couple of concepts first Read More...

Technique to Minimize Backlash by Gérard C.

Getting rid of backlash seems to be the biggest concern for the CNC hobbyist, especially when milling PCBs since copper traces for surface mount devices are used. Surface mount devices are very small electronic parts that contain leads that are extremely close together, or the leads are found on the bottom of the component and the part usually lays flat on the PCB (Printed Circuit Board).

Gérard C. has an interesting technique in solving this problem using two special nuts, one on either side of the MDF, to minimize the backlash Read More...

Step 24: Stepper Driver Completion

We are finally at the end of the driver assembly. This video also shows the most important part of the stepper driver assembly. In this step, you will solder in the driver chips, the heart of the board. You will also clean, inspect and set the board's configuration. Read More...

New Spotlight: Mick H. Fellow Builder

You will see me add fellow builders on the site and they will then be highlighted in the Creations Gallery. Mosey on overy there periodically to see what's new. Today I'm spotlighting Mr. Mick H. He has been following the build and making great progress. He, just like the other fellow builders have added their own enhancements, which really makes them leaders in building these CNC machines. He noticed that the table, at the sixe of 24" x 48" will deflect a little as the gantry reaches the mid point of the table. He took his reinforcement to another level, shall we say he "spiced it up a bit".

From Mick (mostly verbatim): I decided to follow your plans initially and use your original dimensions, then Read More...

Revision on the Build: "Pimp My CNC Machine"

If the large table size of 24" x 48" was a concern to you, well... that's a well founded concern. I have noticed a deflection of about 1/32" towards the center. The day after, a miracle happened... the nanny stepped on the machine and totally broke the cutting surface. No! It can't hold the weight of a person. I have subsequently reinforced the machine and totally tricked it out as you will see Read more...

Step 23: Driver Part 4

The driver is almost to a completion. We have installed all of the tiny components. Now to the big components. This is the logical process of putting together any circuit kit. The small components are difficult to insert if the larger components are installed already. Believe me, I've tried. Especially if there are jumper wires or resistors needed underneath chips and sockets. Read More...

Spotlight on Fellow Builders

I have the privilege to share with you some of the viewers builds. I will spotlight whoever shows me what they've built. When my fingers were dying from extreme metal ring strangulation from those $1 folding scissors, kind Mr. David K. came to the rescue and sent me a beautiful pair of side clips. Well, he's been hard at work building himself one of these CNC gizmos.

More exciting is that the builders have been creating variations to suit their needs. That was the intention of these videos, since the videos demonstrate a logical approach and Read More...

Step 22: Driver Part 3

We haven't actually put that many components on the board yet, but in this video we will. I'm speeding up the video to get more components into this step. There are a lot of components on this board. With that said, I was actually able Read More...

Mosfets Explanation and Sales Page Correction

Thanks to David K., an explanation of the illusive Mosfet is uncovered. I've added the explanation to the Step 21 text. Check it out here.

Another reader noticed an error in the sales page in the cross dowels section specifying a false quantity. The description has been revised. Thanks for the input and I welcome any questions, comments, suggestions and general criticism.