CNC Router - Fixed Gantry: Overview and first cut with aluminum
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- A brief overview of my CNC router with attempts at cutting aluminum. See www.WadeODesign.com for more detailed info including CAD models and full price list of components. Cheers.
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Very smart build, you eliminated stability problems from the start and by doing so the end results is a machine that just works better with less disappointments.
I would build your design. . .
+Danny Oktim Thanks Danny.
Very nice design, build, and website showing the details! Thanks for sharing.
Here's a random tip that sometimes works. When cutting aluminum without coolant make the chips as big as possible. Thing HSM speeds and feeds even if you reduce width and depth of cut. Then, you have larger mass in the chip to absorb the heat and they are sometimes less likely to kindof, melt to and gum up the mill
This is pure gold! Thank you so much for your contribution to the inter-web! =D
Love the design, I would like to build something similar one day
Thanks for sharing. More normal speed footage is appreciated. Listening to the cutting sounds is very helpful.
Thanks for the tip - next video I'll do that.
Thank you so much Wade for sharing this awesome project with intenet community. I think it is really really interesting design, mostly for simplicity and great stiffness obtained with relatively cheap components. I'm still finalizing my first CNC ( much more cheaper, based on Openbuilds C-Beam) but I already have in mind to realize another one in the future. I will take surely some ideas from yours design.
Thanks again and compliments for this awesome machine!
Andrea
+Andrea Di Leonardo Thanks Andrea and good luck with your build.
Love the simplicity!
That's a great design! Looks solid and quit easy to build.
About the WD-40. When I worked for my Gandpaw I didn't grease the tractor for about a month, one Monday morning he was waiting by that tractor with a greace gun in one hand and a ball joint in the other. He asked me how much the ball joint costs, I said probably a hundred bucks, then he asked how much does the greace cost, I said about a dollar a tube, he then asked if I had any questions. I took away from that he was telling me that parts are expensive, and lubrication is cheap, so use the hell out of that WD-40 them end mills are expensive.
Abby Babby Nice storry bro^^
are the linear rails 20mm or 25mm.are they rigid enough
+Yuuki1942 25mm on table and 20mm on gantry. Yes they are definitely rigid enough. Ways dampen better but are a bit sloppier and can't run as fast.
Abby Babby i want to buy some linear rails but the only price i can pay is from china hiwin of a price 378 US Dollars.the 20 mm.i alreasy have some sbr20 rails but they are not rigid enough.
Love the Mozzy star in the beginning of the video👌🏽
thanks! i was looking for the song everywhere
I like the router you made. Great job. I only have one thing to say about your machining pratices. Please don't use air to blow the chips off the part after the process is done. I have been a machinist and tool maker for ove 36 years and the only thing you are doing is blowing teh chips into the workings of teh machine. Please use a vacuum to suck the chips up. I know I will get some greaif over this statement but what the heck. Keep up the good work.
Excelente trabajo, amigo que referencia es el spindle?
I imagine you've done some research on different cutters by now. All that machine, and the flutes still pack up. It is always something.
Ya I've learned a bit.... added a mister and watch my depth of cut on slotting - HSM techniques have worked extremely well. The packed chips was definitely user input and not much to do with the machine performance.
Add a spray mister, you can even switch it on and off in the control...
and there are end mills just for aluminum that clear nicely, selection may save you a bunch of headaches.
+Mark Richardson ... Thanks for the tips.... I'm finishing up a mister this week... Spraying wd40 manually gets old quick.
Beautiful build:)
great work
what is program used for desgin?
I'm building a cnc with a similar weight z axis. What stepper motor did you use to move that weight. (motor inside the box section). Did you use any gear reduction?
I used nema23 and had issues. Had to add springs to help offload mass. I'm now using servo without springs... Better, but I wish I still went larger. So bigger is better - it's a lot of mass
@@wadeodesign2699 ah, in using a 23 with feedback loop in my design. I may upgrade in the future. Although most of my cutting is going to be wood. So fingers crossed it works.
I'm going to be using dual closed loop nema 23 motors to move the gantry.
I'm not aiming for high speeds just yet.
greetings i congratulate you for your excellent work, i wanted to ask you a question what motors do you use in your cnc machine with how many ounces and if they are nema 23 thank you very much
Each cut the flute makes generates the same amount of heat , the trick is to generate chips large enough to absorb it and carry it away from the tool ...slow down the spindle or increase feed rate ...
Hi Wade, I really like this beast 😂 so I am thinking building something similar in future, Just a thought, Did u installed new servo motors directly or u used same setup?If not why?
not sure what endmills you were using, but bright finish works great to keep aluminum from welding to it!
wont chips all over the ballscrew make it missteps?
Correct... I started designing a remedy for that as soon as I started cutting. Just finished up installing some parts and the solution will be my next video post... Stay tuned.
In General I like the design. Z rail should be supported by plate at the top as they will flex at top position. Cover for ballscrew would be good. Filling profile with granite improves damping vibrations and sound.
the machne is a beast ! im guessing some of the pieces of steel and the aluminum Y plate were most expensive
The machine base was most cost (although bought used). Next the clear path servos (upgrade) then the moving table. The steel gantry relatively cheap. Full price bom is listed on my website.
i really like it very simple great job keep up the great work
Hi! What CAM software did you use?
I love your design. Really good and looks really stiff.
I have been thinking about designing a similar machine. There is a different approach to mounting the moving bottom plate that might increase stiffness even further. Right now, you have probably 4 slider blocks on the bottom of the plate, and rails on the table. The distance of the blocks from the cutter will typically be large, so there is a stiffness issue. If you mount the rails to the plate and the blocks to the table, the blocks will typically be closer to the cutter, increasing stiffness. Do you think this would help?
Your basically right. Flipping them around will insure the cutter is always positioned "inside" the 4 blocks and give more consistent stiffness of the moving table (similar to a milling machine table axis). As I have it, the moving table, at it's extreme motion, actually places the cutting force outside the nice stiff "zone" inside the blocks. BUT you sacrifice a lot of usable table cutting area for this arrangement.... Also even when cutter is at extreme "overhang" locations the stiffness of the blocks are well withing acceptable limits wrt the cutting forces. Cheers - Wadeo
Can it cut a sliding fit into a piece of steel?
awesome build
You got a link for the spindel? How many kw? Seems to run good in aluminium
Got mine at www.damencnc.com in Netherlands. At the time no US suppliers.
Should've swapped the rails and carriages around on the z-axis, this way you could also mill higher parts or use a machine vice. Also, don't let chips get in the ball screws and linear guides, but you already wrote you'll fix that. Will there be t-slots on the table or threaded hole pattern?
+Klaufmann Ya, I quickly learned I needed guarding for the ball screws and rails ... I have another video showing how I implemented a window shade to protect them.
I ended up tapping a 3/8-16 hole pattern into the table. Works out well with edge clamps -see my site for further detail on that design.
I was going to mention chips and screw shafts don't get along then saw this. Nice setup. I think I want to build this design compared to a few I have seen. glad I saw this video.
+dieselrotor Ya, it was immediately apparent I forgot to think about a major issue with the ball screw exposed in the moving table design... Was just so concentrated on the nuts and bolts of motion. It took me weeks to come up with the window shade design and it's performed outstanding at low cost.
Still very good work. Glad You found a solution. Ingenious solution with the draw shade. Bellows would not have worked horizontal. I really like this machine.
awesome build, appreciate the nice fit and finish. did you have a machine shop machine/grind the flat faces on the gantry? would have been cool to see the step by step build of this machine!
+Corry Daus I did the flat faces of the gantry myself on my hobby class mill... It was challenging to say the least. You can see some pictures of in process build, including some shots of the gantry on the mill at my website www.wadeodesign.com
Where did the get the gantry piece machined? I can't find anyone the state who seems to want to do it.
The tube? Did that myself on mill.
@@wadeodesign2699
Yeah the cross piece. Oh cool.
Hello i am failing to download the CAD files for the router
is there a reason you didn't have the carriages stationary and the rails moving on the bed axis? because that way the support would always be directly under the endmill...
nice build in any case... makes me tempted to go with a fixed gantry on my next router.
+sn0wchyld ... The rail sizing for the bed axis are considerably longer than the bed itself so by switching the rails to the bed, they would extend beyond the table and the extend well into the operator zone on max travel. I was a bit concerned that the blocks move outside the mill cutting area but the 4 blocks have very good load ratings even when the load is coming from a location outside the perimeter. You can see a good example of this by seeing an Onsroud fixed gantry machine video.
Wade'o Design my thought is that because the blocks are always aligned with the endmill then they can be far closer together (within reason), so the overhang would be relatively minimal (like 150-200mm each side of the endmill, extending the bed by 100-150mm each side would take care of it? i dont know how it'd go with vibrations however with over half the table haning in space at the extremes of travel...
Hi, and the surface of the table for mounting rail milled or not ?
+swfatality ... The Brute machine table is Blanchard ground precision top as purchased so no need to mill (would make less flat)
nice machine.
available from the project?
buy the gallon cans of WD-40 and pour it into spray bottles. Ive always thought WD-40 was useless, but it's fantastic for cutting aluminum.
yeah, that's why NONE of the pros use it. Idiot.
what a great peace of work!!! what you have done that you would do different? I thought the ballscrews should be at least 10mm for pitch.... then would not be slow...
+Ricardo Fabar I've replaced the steppers with clearpath servos. Other things I'd change... 1) create a full box enclosure to protect the gantry hardware and fully contain flying chips (although the table rail protection "rolling shade" works great). 2) make the limit switches >5v - noise has been a big enough issue that I needed to disconnect them. 3) counterbalance the z axis (.spring design is not great)... Or better yet, spec a big servo motor on z axis. 4) add an automatic way to zero axis on startup. 5) spindle with tool changer capability.
Clearpath CPM-SDSK-2331S-ELN replaced the steppers on the X and Y axis - speed increase and silent - was a direct replacement as they are Nema23s. I haven't converted the z axis yet... this will take a bit more work as I think I'll move to a Nema34 with more power which will require some redesign of the z axis mounting. The existing Nema23 stepper on the z axis is simply too small to handle the mass of the z-axis - tried to solve this with offloading weight with springs but it's a poor setup/design. I can't justify replacing the spindle at this time for tool changer... it's just a nice to have in the future but will eventually be a project I undertake.... but likely +1yr away.
Hi! Your cnc looks very nice and solid. The engine is TEKNOMOTOR you? I really like. 👍
+phucnguyen CNC
The spindle motor has been great. Purchased at Damencnc in Netherlands. It's a good solid alternative between the cheap imports and the very high cost industrial models.
Hi there! Nice quality build. How did you heat up the ballscrews soft enough for machining? It is very hard for me to machine it even with carbide bits. Thanks in advance.
Abreham... I used an acetylene torch to anneal the ends. I found info on the web that 650 - 750 deg C was required but I simply heated until cheery red and it worked like a charm - machined very well. I used a heat blocker gel (found in welding supply stores) to protect the transition areas. I found this cool youtube video showing a professional shop perform this task and they use a coil to heat ends which may be useful -> ua-cam.com/video/dzIsR4Mg158/v-deo.html
+Wade'o Design , Thanks for the info! I'll let you know how mine turns out.
@@wadeodesign2699 thanks!
what are the advantage of the mobile table?
The moving table has a disadvantage of needing more floor space as it hangs over the table at end of stroke. But then big advantages are obtained in the gantry design as it's not moving it can be made extremely rigid very easily. It's also simpler to drive the table with a single ballscrew centrally located under the table then the gantry with two ballscrew and motors on each side of the gantry.
Regarding your Z axis design, with fixed rail instead of fixed slider you will have very limited Z clearance, maybe you rectified it before your first cut?
I made some minor adjustments to the z-axis so that the z clearance is not dictated by the y-axis rails and gantry beam. If doing over again I think I'd lift the gantry at least 1" so that I can have more room when using a small 4" kurt vise. I was focused on stiffness at the spindle cutter and think I can sacrifice some of that for extra clearance.
Can you please help me with the CAD files please
Background music feels like in red light district 😂
LOL...
share the link where you bought the spindle
Here u go. www.damencnc.com/products/milling-motors/teknomotor/_404_w_6__GB_1
Hello! First of all.. Great machine and great work !! Do you think it can handle (or have you tried) mill/cut some A36/1020 steel in this machine? I plan to make one of those to flat or do holes in mid-steel after i cut it in my plasma
Steel... The biggest issue would be the spindle speed which is rated for 18000-24000 rpm.... Steel wants MUCH slower. If targeting steel u could swap the spindle but I'm not sure if it's not better than simply getting a small mill at that point.
+Wade'o Design I see.. The point is to build a machine. But the structure can hold steel.. ok thankz!! And thankz
I think the structure will be sufficient with steel for light cuts no problem but heavier cuts would probably be an issue.. Although you can see the Onsrud professional routers cutting stainless on UA-cam and that's the original inspiration for this design... It would be interesting to compare the stiffness characteristics of this gantry style to a typical hobby milling machine like my pm932 mill. The machining area is definitely a pro on the router style.
What kind of tool do you use for machining?
Exclusively carbide end Mills on this router... Usually 2 flute
@@wadeodesign2699 Test ours tools. Visit www.aisoriano.com
Get a cover for your ball-srews!!!
dunichtich100 dont go runing balls out man
I fixed that for table ballscrew - see video on guarding. Gantry ball screw and rails still get some chips - any ideas welcome on this.
I suggest to put a round flexible bellow for the ballscrew and try to get compatible bellow or seals for the rails.
Great work. Please , Share the CAD files🙏
CAD files located at www.wadeodesign.com
nice design, but you need to protect those ball screws on the bottom. All those shavings sticking to them won't be good for the bearings.
you have to run a mister with aluminum, end mill may start out okay, but eventually fails
Can you tell please what is a mister?
@@wd9102 a mister has a air line and another line into a coolent bottle or resivor and by adjusting the air pressure you control a coolent mist much less messy than flood coolent I have a rubber tray form ebay my router sits in misters on amazon are not very expensive
@@garylarson6386 Ok. Thanks for that quick answer. You are right on your point about mist when machining aluminum.
Does this fixed gantry style offer extra rigidity?
+Despicably Irascible Rapscallion Yes, as compared to a moving gantry router this design is far superior in stiffness. Also allows a single ballscrew and drive motor directly mounted to the center of the table axis... Many moving gantry designs you'll see dual motors to drive the gantry from the sides. Downside is size required but as long as u keep it under about 30" stroke that doesn't play in too much.
Wade'o Design Yeah, my CNC has a moving gantry, and it's pretty much limited to wood and aluminum. There is a substantial amount of flex, if I push it too hard.
Great. What the name of the steper motor?
Steppers are Schneider Mdrive Nema23 triples. These things are high end commercial steppers and normally run $280 - would not have bought new but got a good deal on eBay used.
+Wade'o Design thank you. And what the of the spindle motor. ? Good idea. You are very pro
The spindle is Italian made Tecknomotor 2kw. It's a step above the cheaper Chinese spindles but not as expensive as the industrial spindles like columbo. My site www.wadeodesign.com has a full bill of material with links and pricing in the routed download section. Cheers.
amigo qual é a potencia do spidle?
Lots of questions, as I'm very interested in building a machine like this. First one: How much backlash do you measure with this machine? Thanks, Paul
+Paul Vogt Paul... Backlash is controlled quite well with the anti-backlash design on the ball screws. They are not purchased as anti-backlash but made so in design. Check out this post on my website... www.wadeodesign.com/special-topics-blog/cnc-router-performance-accuracy-repeatability-backlash ... Further info can be found on the design details page. You can then fill in the contact form with any additional info questions and I'll get back to u via email.
what the music first? The machine is super!
I know I'm 2 years late but it sounds like Mazzy Star - Look On Down From The Bridge
super strong
hello, do you have plan man please
dont reply i didnt see you had a site.
Nice
Olá amigo, meus parabéns pelo belo trabalho 👍
mazzy star? good taste
Beautiful. Nice job.
Can you include the BOM for all the electronics, the Control.. motors...
I don't have any trouble at all with the machine work.
It is the can of worms that kills me.
Thanks!!!!
Mark
+Mark Richardson ... You can find the parts list on my site to download and it has the basic electrical parts listed but the build in this respect is still a bit incomplete and looks like a rats nest with no enclosure yet.... The main change coming up is to swap the speed reduction ratio of 0.66 to an increaser with 1.5 ratio on the x &y axis. I expect to utilize the Nema23 steppers more appropriately with this change.
♥♥♥
4:01 tactical missile launch detected
all those quality linear components will fail if you dont cover them up,, other than that nice rig!!
Ya, I've fixed that with some guarding and recently improved on that.... Maybe I'll post a follow-up video on this
another really nice DIY CNC router filmed with a potato XD
great design, people trying to cut metal with floating rails!!! I am installing an aluminum table an a coolent pan for mist coolent. get serious if you are going to cut aluminum, you go broke wearing out end mills and buying wd40
you need a mister
I heard counting stars lol
OK,OK,OK,OK,OK, MUITO BOM BEM FEITA E BEM FIRME ,OK,OK,O,KO,K
nice machine... my next goal is to get 500 subscribers. lol
Warm Up cycle? Lol, thats cute. Damn that thing is loud, for not cutitng... ATC? ShuddaCouldaWou... Servos are the shinzit mang. So strong and quite. and Fuggin Expensive. Show me me some dimensions ...I'm curious of the accuracy, or I mean...precision. yea 20k rpm in 6061 whoh! Why is everyone buying these spindles? Your not cutting steel and not enough tangent force to use carbide like it likes it...
Don't get me wrong Wade I like it. Thats my critique, and I haven't built shite, but I've learned a bit from your work.
Contact me if your still into this kind of thing, I'd like you to critique my design. casmachinedesign gmail
WD40 is no good cutting agent…
very stout machine
Nice machine, but noooo WD on aluminium. Alcohol is used on aluminium!!!!
Why?
greetings i congratulate you for your excellent work, i wanted to ask you a question what motors do you use in your cnc machine with how many ounces and if they are nema 23 thank you very much
mazzy star? good taste