MechMate Plans
 

Hi All,

We would love to build a MechMate CNC router for our workshop. I was told by a number of people that these plans are free, but when i went to download them it says that they cost 100 USD. Whats the story?

Yes, there is a new sheriff in town. Mike AKA metalhead took over the reigns some time ago and to maintain this site he is asking that new members pay a small stifen to get a very detailed set of plans. Gerald, the original 'inventer', "retired" along with the free plan offer.:(

Yes the plans are now for sale as part of the funds to help keep the forum going. But I think they are well worth the investment. You get over 130 detailed drawings of the design.

The plans enabled me to put togethe a table - and I have no skills. The plans, along with the build histories on the forum, provide a wealth of information. Sufficient even for me to assemble a machine out of a pile of steel, wire some circuit boards and a few motors.

Hello everyone,

I have the old plans (2008). Can somebody tell me if these are the same as the current ones? I am back on this forum after a long time away from activity, and I find that there are new rules. Paying US100 sounds good since you end up with a robust machine. I don't know if there have been any changes lately concerning important details in design that are not in the plans I downloaded quite some time ago, so I would greatly appreciate if you can let me know. Thank you in advance!

If you have the plans with the 6 hole spider then you are good to go, no major updates or changes since then.

I think there might be an issue with the y car sideplates and some other small issues, best invest some money in the drawings !?

The entire project will cost close to $6,000, depending on the electronics that you chose and some of the bells and whistles. Spending $100 to get the latest plans is the best investment that you can make. That $100 is only about 1.6% of the cost of the project.

Thank you for the comments. I just asked the question because I don't want to download exactly the same plans I already have. I agree with you, it is worh the US100, and even more if these ones would be more detailed than the ones I have.

I think a bolt together machine will better fits my needs because of the space limitations I have. For that reason I got the plans for a Joe's Evolution, although a Mechmate seems to me a sturdiest and reliable machine. So I'm unsure what way to go now.

Note: I have a small sign shop, a small mdf cnc router, and need to make more agressive cuts in acrylic, alucubond, etc.

Any suggestions?

There are plenty of bolt together Mechmates here.
Does Joe still require a plan purchase to access the forum?
Nothing against him or his machine, I think if you own it, you can make the rules as you see fit, and I'm sure both are worth the cost... however....
that actually pushed me away from a Joes and towards a MM...hours spent learning from the guys on this forum, before I had to buy.
Great decision for me, your requirements may be different.
At a minimum, a forum search on bolt together will probably yield tons of great info.

Bolt together MM's will work just fine. If you ever actually do take it apart to relocate it, however, make certain to through drill each bolted connection with at least a pair of holes for hardened dowel pins. A typical bolt/hole combination over that many connections will introduce a lot of slop when the beast is reassembled. Tight fitting dowel pins will almost, but not completely, eliminate this problem.

I'm posting in this thread as it's about the plans.. Any one heard from Mike lately? Went to his CV supply web site and purchased the plans and have been waiting for the PDF's to be emailed as per the instructions. No joy last 2 days. I even donated to keep the site going. Can't PM him as his mail box is full and no answer to his email at CV supply.

My guess is Mike may be on vacation (aka Holiday for some of our friends ;-) ). I am sure he will be back before to much longer.

Yep wuz out of town. Will get them sent shortly.

Thx for the heads up on the PM box !!! Gotter cleaned up and ready for more !!!

I've paid and have the PDFs now, but how to I get the DXFs? Many of the pages say "supply .dxf version of this drawing to the laser cutting contractor..."

A search of this forum using the search tool, to find references to these DXFs returned zero results. Is this what will be emailed separately? The way it was all written, that seemed to be just a different way of getting the same files.

Thanks.

Edit: I found where a thread says they're no longer available. Surely the drawings couldn't be changed to remove those obsolete references?

The DXF files are the laser cut and bent part sets. I have those kits ready to ship, just PM me.

I have the plans prior to Mike purchasing MechMate.

There was a zip called ProfilesBends30June08 that included bend information in PDF and dxf formats.

I don't know what Mike makes available at this point.