4x8 CNC Router for speaker projects

[killersoundz]

I haven't been on here in years but used to be a regular. I recently finished a project I've been working on for a very long time, my 4x8 cnc router. I'm looking to network with creative people that may have ideas for projects they want to build and I now have a machine capable of making interesting designs. The machine itself uses ball screws so it's extremely accurate, it blasts through sheets of MDF or plywood. I can design any of your ideas/plans using vectric aspire. Just shoot me a message if there's anything you'd like to work on together.

[baco99]

Would you be willing to share how much that setup cost you?

[killersoundz]

Would you be willing to share how much that setup cost you?

Yes certainly, I don't believe in secrets! ha

Materials for this deal actually much cheaper than you may expect, I probably only have about $1500 total in materials, steel tubing, linear guides, ballscrews, stepper motors and drivers and other odds and ends for it. A lot of this stuff is relatively affordable on eBay nowadays when you order it directly from China. Had a couple issues with some stuff from China but worked it out and got the items replaced and all is good. If you were to buy equivalent 'name brand' linear equipment expect to pay 5x as much for it. The stuff I have with regular maintenance and proper usage is more than solid.

Going from getting all the materials to actually designing and building the machine to using it is a giant leap though. I invested in the most precise digital level I could find to ensure what I was building is as flat and true as I could get it. The machine is clever as it only has 4 points of contact with the ground and while it's braced to be more than extremely rigid from wobbling in any direction, I left a small amount of ability for the frame to twist. This way I can just level it out by using leveling feet. Attempting to build a perfectly true frame this large without some sort of jig would be foolish as steel likes to warp when you weld it so that's why I built in a point of adjustment instead. Of course from there you always have to surface the table, I definitely nailed it as it surfaces itself very consistently except for one slightly lower spot but .03" does it. It's also not particularly straight forward to ensure the machine is cutting perfectly square neither so that's another calibration you have to do.

It may not look like it but overall it weighs at least 800lbs and the gantry at least 200lbs. I would like to rebuild the gantry in the future out of aluminum as I had warped it pretty badly when welding it and that's why I had to end up attaching the linear rails to aluminum angle up there and then screwing that to the gantry with tapped holes for machine screws. That actually turned out to be a good thing anyways as it allows for another point of adjustment which I definitely took advantage of to ensure everything is true and square.

Actually putting it to use is another learning curve as well, I've got a good grasp on it. Vectric certainly makes the most straight forward software to use to make toolpaths for the machine so that helped, but there's a thousand small things you have to know, or rather find out through trial and error

[xmax]

This is amazing! I would love to have you build me one (if practical with pay) Where are you located? I also use Vectric Aspire but I can
only do small (about 16"X22") I recently started doing wave guide with it and the results look promising) Or if you are close we can put
you to work we are buried in orders! PM me.

[badman]

I haven't been on here in years but used to be a regular. I recently finished a project I've been working on for a very long time, my 4x8 cnc router. I'm looking to network with creative people that may have ideas for projects they want to build and I now have a machine capable of making interesting designs. The machine itself uses ball screws so it's extremely accurate, it blasts through sheets of MDF or plywood. I can design any of your ideas/plans using vectric aspire. Just shoot me a message if there's anything you'd like to work on together.

Looks like a solid setup- Fair warning- you're going to want to set some clear guidelines to push the onus of effort onto the collaborator and drive effective communication of specification. Otherwise, you'll wind up spending endless hours trying to figure out what "Rounded from left to top" means, and explaining why the square feet of material needs to be larger than the surface area of the finished speaker.

[Waboo]

Nice work there. I wouldn't know how to use one as I've never even been around one. I do have lots of quality woodworking equipment in my garage centered around a Powermatic 66 and plenty of portable power tools. I've always built my cabinets using the table saw with dadoes and rabbet joints, but this set up looks sweet. The nice part in using CNC would be for cutting driver holes and flush mounting, imo.

[killersoundz]

This is amazing! I would love to have you build me one (if practical with pay) Where are you located? I also use Vectric Aspire but I can
only do small (about 16"X22") I recently started doing wave guide with it and the results look promising) Or if you are close we can put
you to work we are buried in orders! PM me.

Messaged you. I have yet to do anything 3D with it but if it's in aspire I can certainly work with it and the machine is more than capable. Waveguides definitely sound like a great use for the cnc

[killersoundz]

Nice work there. I wouldn't know how to use one as I've never even been around one. I do have lots of quality woodworking equipment in my garage centered around a Powermatic 66 and plenty of portable power tools. I've always built my cabinets using the table saw with dadoes and rabbet joints, but this set up looks sweet. The nice part in using CNC would be for cutting driver holes and flush mounting, imo.

Trust me when I say for basic cabinet construction there's not much to be gained by using a CNC. I was actually disappointed at first because I had not yet learned about chip loading, basically the right RPM to run the spindle (router) vs the feed speed and I had it turned all the way up and that just burned the bit up and the machine would only run at 40ipm without bogging the router down which is painfully slow, I'm like I can have this all knocked out on the table saw quicker than this. Then I turned the RPM down and with a new bit it started being able to blast through MDF at 200ipm, and MDF is pretty abrasive from all the resin compared to plywood which I have yet to run much of but I think it'll be able to run very fast on plywood. The upspiral bit makes a lot of fuzzies on MDF edges when cut, kind of a bummer but they sand off easily

However I will say that after I got all the clearances dialed in right for the dados and everything the end result fit together much better all around than anything I've managed to make on my table saw before. Tolerance of .001" or better will do that I guess. And it's like no matter how well I set up my big table saw somehow boards would end up marginally out of square and stuff. I'm certainly not knocking traditional woodworking methods, I did it for a very long time but I was just over it so I haven't really built any speakers since I started working on the CNC

[r-carpenter]

THere's an extensive DIY CNC thread on MAC/DIY forum. Few guys, including myself build various size routers. Check it out.

[TN Allen]

Roman, Do you have a link for that forum? Thanks

[r-carpenter]

here you go.

http://diy.midwestaudioclub.com/discussion/247/cnc-talk/p1

[donradick]

Hey guys - I'm digging the MAC forums, but it seems that I need an invitation code to register.
Can someone help me? Pm okay I guess

[ani_101]

Hey guys - I'm digging the MAC forums, but it seems that I need an invitation code to register.
Can someone help me? Pm okay I guess

Send a PM with your email id for an invitation link to be sent.

[killersoundz]

designed a recess and tested it for some ND105's I've had sitting around for years. funny enough I made this in sketchup and when I imported it I didn't notice the circle was still the polygon deal that sketchup does for circles instead of an actual circle so it cut it like that ha

[scottvalentin]

That is awesome - I was looking at a Shapeoko the other day but only the smallest one which runs around $1100.