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CNC Mill for under $100

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In this video I’m going to show how I built a basic CNC mill. Most of the hardware was sourced from spare / leftover parts I had laying around from other projects and ended up costing me under $100. It has a working area of approximately 250mm x 250mm x 70mm and is capable of milling aluminum (though somewhat rough).

The axes are moved with small NEMA17 stepper motors running at 24V, driven by A4988 drivers. The brain of the machine is an Arduino Uno running GRBL firmware, and G-code is sent to it via. USB from a laptop running Universal Gcode Sender – so everything is open source.

I have a little bit of experience operating a CNC mill, but this is the first one i’ve built / owned. The biggest learning experience from this build was that everything needs to be tightened up and made as rigid as possible to get good results. Between leadscrew backlash and rails flexing, the spindle could easily be moved +/- 1mm or more, which causes tons of vibration, chattering, rough cutting, and loss of precision. In a future video I’ll be upgrading the spindle and beefing up the structure to use 16mm rails instead of 8mm for better rigidity.

I don’t recommend trying to build this design yourself, because I created the printed brackets based on parts i had on hand, not what was “optimal”. However, if you really want to, the STL’s can be found here:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5262097

Music Used:

Kevin MacLeod – George Street Shuffle
Serge Pavkin – Atmospheric Ambient
Kevin MacLeod – Groove Groove
Eric Skiff – Underclocked
Serge Pavkin – Fractal

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35 COMMENTS

  1. Проще и надежнее создавать прототип из воска, а в качестве фрезы использовать фрезы от зуботехнической машинки. Меньше литьевых дефектов на форме будет. Потом залить силиконом, потом в получившуюся силиконовую матрицу залить гипс. И уже с гипсовой можно делать дальнейшие шаги по литью из бронзы или латуни.

  2. I mean… A for effort, and it is kinda neat that you built your own, but… getting a pre-made for a couple hundred more seems the better idea, given the inaccuracy problems you have with this unit.

  3. Here with my main account: Is there an upgraded version? I will 100% rebuild this. And if it works i make a video about it and give u an healthy tip! U deserve 10 Million Followers my friend!!

  4. Why don't you directly wire the spindle mosfet up to the arduino? GRBL has PWM spindle control on pin 11. No need for 555 circuit, and you can now control the speed of the spindle through GRBL, improving cut quality.

  5. Hey there my bro.. This is one sik ass video. I'm in the process of buying up the components I need to build my own CNC but for somebody like me who couldn't even set up an email account a week ago bcos I've never been into computers before I moved to a new job it's very daunting.
    I would love it if u could make a full unedited video as a series for guys like me who want to learn. If u have a website u could maybe sell the tutorials for a price? I don't know really? How about 10.99 euros for each hour long video? Make the videos in a 4 part series? I bet u could get a lot of interest. I will defo be one of those people who will be paying for the privilege of gaining ur knowledge into the building of a very good CNC machine..
    I want to build a 1200 x 1000 sixe which will give me a work area of about 1000 x 800? That's what I'm hoping for anyways. I have a nice corner in my woodworking shop for this machine but now I need to build it.
    Is that 2020 u used in the frame or 4040 extruded aluminium? I bought 10 x 1200 lengths of 2020, I have 2 X Longrunner Nema17 stepper motors and 2 X TB6600 drivers to go with them. I got the pulley system with the belt also. I only found out about the Arduino UNO yesterday and saw u used it here as well. They're good enough for my purpose atm too but I will be doing my best to learn everything I can about the CNC software like CAD & CAM to have better options moving down the line but for now what u are using would suit me fine.
    Apologies for the long winded comment but I would be very grateful if u could give me a little advice about what else I need atm to get this CNC up and running. Is the 2020 to weak or could I put 2 together on the length and cross sections to strengthen it all up??
    Thanks for a brilliant video my friend. I hope u can make those videos and get a website up and running so we can get there to buy the video tutorials in a longer format? Just a thought my friend. U haver the knowledge so why not make on it for a living. There are a lotta people out here who are looking to get into CNC and milling machines of all types.

  6. Very cool indeed. ThNks for sharing and documenting. Maybe worth designing 3D printed mounts that can be easily milled in aluminum after the machine is complete. To replace themselves. And add some rigidity

  7. A lot of people complaining about the click bait title are forgetting this maker put in a lot of hrs and tech knowledge to pass this down to the rest of us. How does he get paid for this valuable time? By getting us here and by the sound of it, kicking and screaming. He baited us, google paid him for the time, and he gave us an actual valuable education. Outside of the temper tantrums, I would say win win for all involved. Ultimately, anyone that came here thinking they can build a CNC machine from scratch with $100 must be one of those people who thinks freebies are actually free. You set yourself up for disappointment. Sorry!

  8. I know NOTHING about this or why the video came up as my preference. But it was both intertaining and soothing to watch. I want you on my team if there ever is a zombie apocalypse! 10/10, will watch again!

  9. Now that you have a CNC machine… why not make the parts for a second one for your printed brackets from aluminum instead? That should stiffen up the entire assembly…

  10. i once built a 3D printer for $0.00… i ordered one off Amazon, and after it got here i decided to build it… cost me $0! all built from parts i had lying around… incredible, huh? ☺️

    (i'm not mad like those other people, though, i understand you personally didn't want to shell out more than you already did considering you already had all those parts, and you were willing, and able to make it… i just wanted to make a joke…)

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