@ steve, I would love prefab parts; however at this point that would be cheating 
@ ian, Nice suggestion: Problem solved!
I just realized something profound about the Mini CNC. So far the Mini CNC has been built only with tools that I use/own for the mechanics. It has been built with with an electronics package not normally used for CNC. The software that drives the machine was programmed for the machine; no MACH3 here.
@ steve, Actually there is something; if you can make it it would could add value to your company.
I want to make a mill from a stepper motor by connecting a hex key less chuck to a large stepper motor (or any stepper, see images).
What is needed is a 1/4 hex to 1/4 round coupler
A lot of newbies come up with this idea, but it does not work very well…
I’m not trying to burst your bubble, just save you some time and wasted money spent.
I might also point out that making a CNC machine frame from plastic does not work too well. The guys at CNC Shark tried and then found out that, guess what, plastic expands a LOT when it gets warmer. They had problems with the frames of the machines twisting. On the new machine they use an extruded aluminum bed to try to keep it from getting out of square.
I would suggest using aircraft grade plywood (birch) for the machine frame. It is very stable and can easily be formed into sturdy structures with hand tools.
Support Forums are awesome!
Sort of - you’ve designed the CNC to get it where you need it to be. Now you’re beefing up the mill to get it to be usable (i.e. accurate). The fact that it didn’t cut the part itself is no different than you designing and cutting the wooden parts by hand, just more accurate. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll etch a FEZ into the side of the parts 
Wait, I didn’t realize you weren’t using Mach3, you wrote the GCode interpreter too?!
That’s awesome!
I was going to use Mach3 to run my 2D laser cutter, contemplating going this route instead, as long as the control software can read one of the GCode formats that VCarve Pro can kick out.
@ stevepresley - What laser cutter did you get?
I ordered the 5W module from KaleCNC, which was around $570 shipped/insured.
http://www.kalecnc.com/index.php/front/productDetails/28/18
I saw a video of a guy on the ZenBot forum who converted his CNC router to a CNC laser cutter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZvTZXP4Uho
The unit I bought will cut up to 5mm of wood or plastic (maxes out at 5mm due to the kerf of the laser beam cut)
I have my eye on their 45W laser that can also do up to .4mm/.015in/28 gauge stainless steel (although not aluminum, much more wattage required for that). This unit is around $1800 shipped/insured, so want to make sure I’ll be doing enough stainless work.
Keep in mind, that’s just for the laser head, not the stepper motors, rails, pulleys, etc. I plan on building a 4’x6’ or 4’8’ cuttable area CNC using MakerSlide as the X and Y axis components. Doing the same setup for another CNC router so that I can buy larger sheet stock to keep the price down slightly.
Don’t want to hijack your thread any further @ Kurtnell, think I’ll start a new one in either Off-Topic or the appropriate forum if I end up switching to a FEZ controller instead of the g540 controller I’m going to use from my ZenBot setup.
Looks like that is a great solution for now! Seriously though, when you tear it apart, if you want to document the pieces you need, we can at least get them into a CAD format so that you can either open source the designs (if you want) or we can cut up a few kits to sell to help fund your build(s). I’d love to have another benchtop machine like my 12x16 for specific / prototyping tasks while my bigger floor mounted models are going to be churning out production parts.
I’d also like to modify your system to make a CNC 3D plastic injector now that I have a small scale, drill-press mounted injector to learn the ropes.
I think we may need to have an off-topic thread (or few) started to get some more of these ideas going to help all of us make prototype parts much easier!
Hmm… is there a reason you want to use a stepper motor instead of a high speed non-stepper motor? Not sure why you would need the precision of a stepper’s shaft positioning when you would just be running the stepper at a fixed speed (although variable I assume) like a regular motor. Just seems like the price for the components would be higher.
Not a bad idea, just trying to figure out if it would be practical.
Also, I imagine this would need to be made out of heavy steel, so although I could prototype it up, I don’t have a mill/lathe that can do that (at least for now… mwuhahaha), so would need to talk to a few people I know to get real working units produced.
@ steve, Actually I have some CAD drawings for it just not the latest revision of the Y axis; which was ironically the only thing that I “designed” by hand and did not turn out well. If you really want to do a kit; we can do that as well. I’m pretty sure not everyone will want a Giant 9 foot by 4.5 foot CNC mill in their house/garage. (And I suppose this is how the Personal CNC is born).
Further, the thing that couples the threaded rod to the axis has a catch! It’s made of moulded friendly plastic. It is designed such that if the axis encounters excessive resistance (such as a hand stuck in the axis) the coupling nut will pull out of the part.
Yeah, I agree! I think the size I have 12x16 or a 16x24 is probably the sweet spot for most prototyping with a proper router. an 8x12 or 12x16 is probably what most people would want using a spindle like a dremel or bosch colt.
I found that for the smaller CNCs (and even the larger ones I am building) that belt drive is just as effective if you aren’t trying to do anything harder than acrylic, HDPE or lower hardness grades of aluminum like 2024. That could be something to improve on and keep the cost down.
Let’s chat offline, get our ducks in a row and start a new thread for people’s input once we have a plan together.
Good times my friend!
@ steve, Do you have skype?
I got the [url]https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9670?[/url] motor controller today. Now I can vary the spindle speed for various materials.
This means I can run the machine without worry that I will burn out the motor or the end mills unnecessarily.
What spindle are you using? I would be surprised if it drew 2A or less, unless it’s a simple Dremel.
@ godefroi, [url]http://www.dremel.com/en-us/tools/Pages/ToolDetail.aspx?pid=7700-1%2F15[/url] I reused the drill on this item.
You should be fine, then, I would guess.
Currently I’m ripping up the electronics of the Mini CNC and soldering everything down. I keep getting phantom problems that are too hard to diagonose. I should be finished with the rework soon.
So I added the new motor controller, and completely rewired everything. No more jumper wires, almost everything is soldered down. Trying to find a phantom error, with the limit switches that’s been bugging me for a while.
I also implement a Rate command that changes the speed of the cut by slowing down the program (horribly inefficient but effective). I’ve tried cutting PCB but that stuff just doesn’t cut easily.
Nice work. Like the updates.
What’s the Mini plugged into?
I’m not sure what mini you’re talking about - that’s a Rhino and Wiz811 module that I can see