Newbie looking to build first CNC - WI, USA

[jpietrowiak]

Hi All,
I'm a Veteran in repairing and troubleshooting industrial size CNC's as I own my own service company CNC Teknowlegee and also run the Website CNC Machine Tool Help.com (http://www.machinetoolhelp.com). However I have never really got into actually building any CNC's from scratch. I've tweaked a few servos and such and mostly deal with Fanuc and Mitsubishi controls.

So my questions when it comes to building your own CNC, what is the main difference when it comes to the OS/control being used? I see most home built CNC's are windows based with very few if any diagnostics, not that you need them if everythings running ok. I tried troubleshooting a few of these windows based CNC's in some woodworking shops but there just isn't much information on the control side of things.

So if someone can tell me what the controls or Software options are when it comes to beginning design (preferably free or low cost) that would be a great start. I am looking into building a Small CNC Router nothing huge or special just a project to get my feet wet.

Thanks

[sailfl]

Petro,

Most of the people on this site are using Mach3 to drive the CNC machine.

To learn more go to:

http://www.machsupport.com/

The software does cost about $140 but it is easy to use and seems to be the standard for most user built machines.

I think that will help you.

Good luck building your own CNC machine.

[Gerald D]

Hi Petro. You can download and install the full version of Mach3 and then play with it to see what it gives you. Buying a licence only gives you the ability to run g-code files of over 1000 lines - otherwise the free install is fully capable.

[jpietrowiak]

Thanks for the info guys. I was kind of wondering if it was mostly Mach3. Since I seem to find more posts on that CNC control software more then anything.

[Gerald D]

There are a couple of alternatives to Mach3 - some are mentioned in CNC motion control software (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=21). But Mach3 seems by far to be the most popular.