Thread: Buying a CNC Router for a Newbie

I'm a bit like you, don't know much about CNCing, what I do know is that you need a drawing program. I hear Fusion 360 bandied around on here, so whether it's good or bad I don't know?
My thoughts would be to get a drawing package first, learn to draw things on it, then look at the CNC Router.
Drawing is the hardest part to learn, without it, you'll only be able to use proprietry drawings, which may or may not be to your liking.
Kryn

Fusion360 is partially cloud-based, so you'll need a decent internet connection to get the best out of it.

I think for carving you'd be better off with something dedicated like VCarve

There is a lot of different parts to learn with CNC routing. As stated above, first is the design side of things, then there is the conversion to toolpaths from your design, then feed speed and spindle speeds for different materials, then all the different milling tools.. but don't let that dissuade you. Just chip away at learning each part.

I use Aspire & VCarve for the design side and Mach3 software to control my CNC. Heaps of tutorials on Youtube for when you are starting out.

As for price, it all depends on what size machine you are looking for. I have a 900 x 600 machine which I got about 10 years ago for just over 3K - that was without control gear or software. It was a China import and needed some tweaking to get everything running as it should but a good machine in the end.

If you are after a 2400 x 1200 that is plug and play, you might be looking at adding a extra 0 to you budget figure.

This may help your research .

My thoughts......
Work out what size machine you want/need. ( cutting area ) I bought a 6040 ( 600 x 400 mm ) and it just about is as big as I'll ever need. Other alternative is 3020, and that may do you.
Get machine with at least 800W spindle ,Ballscrews, linear rails, USB or ethernet interface and maybe start with Mach 4 as that is the future.
Maybe buy one with a 4th axis, but don't worry about using it/learning about it for a year or so.
The learning curve is steep enough without making harder....lol
Maybe buy 'Vetric Cut 2D' and learn how to use that ( it doesn't do 3D. ) Down the track you can upgrade to' Cut3D' or 'Aspire' for reduced cost and start to learn 3D then.

in terms of a turn-key solution, this site will give you an idea of the likely machine spend https://www.canadianwoodworker.com/w...ew&target=3050
the amounts are in Canadian dollars which are about 1:1 with the Aussie dollar, but you'd need to add the Australia tax and GST to get a realistic AUD price.

Then there is the design software and it's learning curve -- but initially you should be able to source "ready to cut" designs, possibly at a price.

Hi - I make kit routers for sale. (Northern NSW) You need to define what size machine you want and what tasks you want it to do. So keep looking and getting clearer on these things. Once you know your size, costs can be nailed down better. I build 1/2 sheet and full sheet machines mainly. see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVJDLj7nnug Plus you need to think about accuracy required. If you are doing printed circuit boards you need high accuracy, if your doing timber cutting boards or signage then low accuracy is OK. Accuracy comes at a cost so need to factor these things in the beginning.

But machines are not proportionally cheaper by size. The software bearings, electronics and various things you need are the nearly same independent of size. You can build a good full sheet machine for <$6000. If your interested in a kit keep talking. Most peoples hardship is learning the CAD program to convert images or whats in their head to a suitable CAD format. The CAM side and operations side seem to be easier to learn. I recommend Mechsoft visualCAM as its CAD is free so once you learn CAD or CAM it comes together in one place. Peter working on anew high rail design at the moment. I also use and recommend UCCNC machine control software (same purpose as Mach4 but easier to use) it uses the UC100 motion controller and it's a very good thing as well. Happy to answer any Q's about cnc systems. You can download UCCNC and play with it, same as freemill or mechsoft CAD/CAM. Peter

router.JPG1800x1200x300Z cutting envelope, model name is BOXI

Update on Boxi. This is Boxi 14. Its tool envelope is 1250mm wide (its bench is 1400mm wide hence the 14), 1350mm deep and 250mm above table and 150mm below table in the apron area. The apron can be used to set up a rotating axis (150mm throw), do edge work, dovetails and dowelling. Boxi 22 is the same but the bench width is 2200mm and uses a full 2400x1200mm board as its base board. Will be building Boxi 22 over the next few weeks.

To answer your original question, buy a cheap chinese engraver mill as a learner experience, get a rotating axis for your figure work (<$1000) then get what you really want / need in say 3-4 months of using it or maybe it will be fine as is. Or spend quite a bit more on a good machine probably bigger with better software. Cheers Peter S243-40 1400 Bench Assm 1.jpg

Thank you all, and it does indeed appear to be challenging getting my head around the various options, hardware and software components.

Perhaps a better way of tackling this is to pen out what I think I would like to do.

1. I would like to be able to take a picture/diagram/cartoon etc and carve it like a relief carving.
2. I would like to make larger carvings for furniture pieces such as table/sideboard/lowboys/coffee table etc. Grapes/oak leaves/flowers comes to mind.

Is this 'easily' achievable, or more complicated than it sounds?

Thanks all.

G'day Cava,
I run Aspire but have a look at the various parts individually from Vectric. Have a look at their website, they also have an online forum to assist you with but the software comes with manuals and heaps of training videos too.
Aspire (I assume the rest of the Vectric range) will draw AND create your G code, you can also import pictures and create relief carvings, design and build your own models. It also has a tool library that is easy to manage as well. For me it was a easy turn key approach that got me going real fast
I found it very simple to work out. All of the advice here is very good.
If you'd like a demo, I'm in Woodend about 1hr north of Melbourne CBD.
Hope this helps.
Cheers Geoff

Originally Posted by cava

Thank you all, and it does indeed appear to be challenging getting my head around the various options, hardware and software components.

Perhaps a better way of tackling this is to pen out what I think I would like to do.

1. I would like to be able to take a picture/diagram/cartoon etc and carve it like a relief carving.
2. I would like to make larger carvings for furniture pieces such as table/sideboard/lowboys/coffee table etc. Grapes/oak leaves/flowers comes to mind.

Is this 'easily' achievable, or more complicated than it sounds?

Thanks all.

These machines will only be limited by your limitations.....you going to have a lot of fun

Buy this sort of thing Cava - will get you thru the learning curve.Petercnc.JPG

Hi

i bought once of these
Link i got the 1500x1000, with electronics cost ~AUD$950 delivered (free shipping for 35KG!), had it running for about a month, using fusion 360, there is a great post processor for GRBL (the gcode streamer most of the hobbie machines run), raspberry pi and wifi adapter to make the machine wifi, cause everything is wifi these days, the image i used on the pi was prebuilt by this guy https://www.v1engineering.com/assembly/software/ it was easy to download and apply to sd card, the raspberry pi use's https://github.com/cncjs/cncjs it works from my phone, so i can use fusion 360 on desktop, post process to gcode, open web interface, drag and drop file to cncjs, walk out to shed, setup work position and use phone to start.

i did buy a Makita trimer(makita rt0700c) for it, which was another 200, shopvac for dust ~$100ish

Shapeoko
Carbide 3D is another option that is very popular

As I have all the electrics and electronics, I’ve need looking at the bare OX machine, but the smaller 1000 x 1000mm unit due to space constraints. The one thing I have some concern about is the the gantries are driven by toothed belts rather than threads.
How are yours driven?