cheap bare-bones CNC machine available

[Dwayne Reid]

Good day to all.

John Hansford is building inexpensive CNC machines from MDF.  The
difference between his machines and the other inexpensive machines
that I've looked at is that he uses high quality parts where it
matters: the lead screws, lead-screw nuts, shafts, bushings.  None of
this ready-rod (all-thread) or skate-board bearings riding on
electrical conduit stuff here - its proper Acme thread screws and polished rod.

He's selling off some of his early prototypes for not much more than
the cost of those expensive components.

You get the bare machine (you paint it yourself) but NO motors, NO
electronics.  Everything is MDF except the Z-axis.  That's been made
from a casting resin, then machined to final tolerances.

As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words.  Here's a
bunch of pictures:
<http://www.fireballcnc.com/clearance001/>

What you see there will cost you US $200 plus shipping.

I'd take it, except that I've already purchased one of these and have
another on reserve.

I'm VERY impressed with the machine that I received.  It went
together in about an hour (including mounting my motors) and seems to
be tight and accurate.

Haven't spun it up yet (lack of time) but hopefully tonight.

dwayne


<forwarded message from John follows>

>The one here is still available....
>
>http://www.fireballcnc.com/clearance001/
>
>I'll take it apart tonight and "dress it up"
>for ebay if no ones interested.
>
>If you want to do PCB milling, this is as
>good a machine as any other. The odd pale
>orange Z axis color is from an experiment
>in dying the plastic. It was for an orange
>and silver machine.
>
>I can't make promises of how fine a trace
>could be milled, but It'd certainly make
>highly useful boards with practice and good
>cutting bits...;)
>
>Why would anyone need more than 1 machine?
>Well for me, resetting the Z height and doing
>tool changes is a PITA. It's just easier with
>a second machine....though the electronics,
>motors..etc, are another expense....;)
>
>I just wanted to double check with you all
>before I put it in ebay!
>
>Thanks!
>John

--
Dwayne Reid   <dwayner@...>
Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd    Edmonton, AB, CANADA
[phone] voice          [phone] fax
www.trinity-electronics.com
Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing

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[Alex Harford]

On Dec 13, 2007 10:28 AM, Dwayne Reid <dwayner@...> wrote:
>
> You get the bare machine (you paint it yourself) but NO motors, NO
> electronics.  Everything is MDF except the Z-axis.  That's been made
> from a casting resin, then machined to final tolerances.

Wow, at first glance it looks like it could be combined quite nicely
with the Reprap controllers.  I'll have to research this more.
http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/UniversalControllerBoard_1_2

Now, how can I convince my wife that we need one?  Could this be used
to make scrapbooks or stamps? :D  Actually, it could probably be used
to make custom hole punches.  Hm....

Alex
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[Funny N.]

That looked nice. Could he make a full functioning machine, this will benefit both him (higher price) and the end user (save time). The video is impressive.
 
Funny N.
New Bedford, MA
http://www.AuElectronics.selfip.com 



----- Original Message ----
From: Alex Harford <harford@...>
To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. <piclist@...>
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 2:04:42 PM
Subject: Re: [EE]: cheap bare-bones CNC machine available

On Dec 13, 2007 10:28 AM, Dwayne Reid <dwayner@...> wrote:
>
> You get the bare machine (you paint it yourself) but NO motors, NO
> electronics.  Everything is MDF except the Z-axis.  That's been made
> from a casting resin, then machined to final tolerances.

Wow, at first glance it looks like it could be combined quite nicely
with the Reprap controllers.  I'll have to research this more.
http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/UniversalControllerBoard_1_2

Now, how can I convince my wife that we need one?  Could this be used
to make scrapbooks or stamps? :D  Actually, it could probably be used
to make custom hole punches.  Hm....

Alex
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[James Newtons Massmind]

How does one get ahold of this guy? His web page lists nothing more than
pictures, a video, and a link to a support group...

No email, no price list, no order form, no contact us, no... how did you buy
yours?

--
James.

-----Original Message-----
From: piclist-bounces@... [mailto:piclist-bounces@...] On Behalf Of
Dwayne Reid
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 10:29
To: pic microcontroller discussion list
Subject: [EE]: cheap bare-bones CNC machine available

Good day to all.

John Hansford is building inexpensive CNC machines from MDF.  The
difference between his machines and the other inexpensive machines
that I've looked at is that he uses high quality parts where it
matters: the lead screws, lead-screw nuts, shafts, bushings.  None of
this ready-rod (all-thread) or skate-board bearings riding on
electrical conduit stuff here - its proper Acme thread screws and polished
rod.

He's selling off some of his early prototypes for not much more than
the cost of those expensive components.

You get the bare machine (you paint it yourself) but NO motors, NO
electronics.  Everything is MDF except the Z-axis.  That's been made
from a casting resin, then machined to final tolerances.

As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words.  Here's a
bunch of pictures:
<http://www.fireballcnc.com/clearance001/>

What you see there will cost you US $200 plus shipping.

I'd take it, except that I've already purchased one of these and have
another on reserve.

I'm VERY impressed with the machine that I received.  It went
together in about an hour (including mounting my motors) and seems to
be tight and accurate.

Haven't spun it up yet (lack of time) but hopefully tonight.

dwayne


<forwarded message from John follows>

>The one here is still available....
>
>http://www.fireballcnc.com/clearance001/
>
>I'll take it apart tonight and "dress it up"
>for ebay if no ones interested.
>
>If you want to do PCB milling, this is as
>good a machine as any other. The odd pale
>orange Z axis color is from an experiment
>in dying the plastic. It was for an orange
>and silver machine.
>
>I can't make promises of how fine a trace
>could be milled, but It'd certainly make
>highly useful boards with practice and good
>cutting bits...;)
>
>Why would anyone need more than 1 machine?
>Well for me, resetting the Z height and doing
>tool changes is a PITA. It's just easier with
>a second machine....though the electronics,
>motors..etc, are another expense....;)
>
>I just wanted to double check with you all
>before I put it in ebay!
>
>Thanks!
>John

--
Dwayne Reid   <dwayner@...>
Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd    Edmonton, AB, CANADA
[phone] voice          [phone] fax
www.trinity-electronics.com
Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing

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[gacrowell]

He has a yahoo group, FireballCNC.

Gary

> -----Original Message-----
> From: piclist-bounces@...
> [mailto:piclist-bounces@...] On Behalf Of James Newton
> Sent: Friday, December 14, 2007 8:51 PM
> To: 'Microcontroller discussion list - Public.'
> Subject: RE: [EE]: cheap bare-bones CNC machine available
>
> How does one get ahold of this guy? His web page lists
> nothing more than
> pictures, a video, and a link to a support group...
>
> No email, no price list, no order form, no contact us, no...
> how did you buy
> yours?
>
> --
> James.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: piclist-bounces@...
> [mailto:piclist-bounces@...] On Behalf Of
> Dwayne Reid
> Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 10:29
> To: pic microcontroller discussion list
> Subject: [EE]: cheap bare-bones CNC machine available
>
> Good day to all.
>
> John Hansford is building inexpensive CNC machines from MDF.  The
> difference between his machines and the other inexpensive machines
> that I've looked at is that he uses high quality parts where it
> matters: the lead screws, lead-screw nuts, shafts, bushings.  None of
> this ready-rod (all-thread) or skate-board bearings riding on
> electrical conduit stuff here - its proper Acme thread screws
> and polished
> rod.
>
> He's selling off some of his early prototypes for not much more than
> the cost of those expensive components.
>
> You get the bare machine (you paint it yourself) but NO motors, NO
> electronics.  Everything is MDF except the Z-axis.  That's been made
> from a casting resin, then machined to final tolerances.
>
> As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words.  Here's a
> bunch of pictures:
> <http://www.fireballcnc.com/clearance001/>
>
> What you see there will cost you US $200 plus shipping.
>
> I'd take it, except that I've already purchased one of these and have
> another on reserve.
>
> I'm VERY impressed with the machine that I received.  It went
> together in about an hour (including mounting my motors) and seems to
> be tight and accurate.
>
> Haven't spun it up yet (lack of time) but hopefully tonight.
>
> dwayne
>
>
> <forwarded message from John follows>
>
>
> >The one here is still available....
> >
> >http://www.fireballcnc.com/clearance001/
> >
> >I'll take it apart tonight and "dress it up"
> >for ebay if no ones interested.
> >
> >If you want to do PCB milling, this is as
> >good a machine as any other. The odd pale
> >orange Z axis color is from an experiment
> >in dying the plastic. It was for an orange
> >and silver machine.
> >
> >I can't make promises of how fine a trace
> >could be milled, but It'd certainly make
> >highly useful boards with practice and good
> >cutting bits...;)
> >
> >Why would anyone need more than 1 machine?
> >Well for me, resetting the Z height and doing
> >tool changes is a PITA. It's just easier with
> >a second machine....though the electronics,
> >motors..etc, are another expense....;)
> >
> >I just wanted to double check with you all
> >before I put it in ebay!
> >
> >Thanks!
> >John
>
>
> --
> Dwayne Reid   <dwayner@...>
> Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd    Edmonton, AB, CANADA
> [phone] voice          [phone] fax
> www.trinity-electronics.com
> Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing
>
> --
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> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
>
> --
> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
>

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[ivanirons]

Cool.  You can see the difference in the parts.  Acme Screws and Polished Drill Rod.  Nice.  Just what you need for CNC Movement.

Ivan Irons
CNC Information and Videos

Dwayne Reid wrote:

Good day to all.

John Hansford is building inexpensive CNC machines from MDF.  The
difference between his machines and the other inexpensive machines
that I've looked at is that he uses high quality parts where it
matters: the lead screws, lead-screw nuts, shafts, bushings.  None of
this ready-rod (all-thread) or skate-board bearings riding on
electrical conduit stuff here - its proper Acme thread screws and polished rod.

He's selling off some of his early prototypes for not much more than
the cost of those expensive components.

You get the bare machine (you paint it yourself) but NO motors, NO
electronics.  Everything is MDF except the Z-axis.  That's been made
from a casting resin, then machined to final tolerances.

As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words.  Here's a
bunch of pictures:
<http://www.fireballcnc.com/clearance001/>

What you see there will cost you US $200 plus shipping.

I'd take it, except that I've already purchased one of these and have
another on reserve.

I'm VERY impressed with the machine that I received.  It went
together in about an hour (including mounting my motors) and seems to
be tight and accurate.

Haven't spun it up yet (lack of time) but hopefully tonight.

dwayne


<forwarded message from John follows>


>The one here is still available....
>
>http://www.fireballcnc.com/clearance001/
>
>I'll take it apart tonight and "dress it up"
>for ebay if no ones interested.
>
>If you want to do PCB milling, this is as
>good a machine as any other. The odd pale
>orange Z axis color is from an experiment
>in dying the plastic. It was for an orange
>and silver machine.
>
>I can't make promises of how fine a trace
>could be milled, but It'd certainly make
>highly useful boards with practice and good
>cutting bits...;)
>
>Why would anyone need more than 1 machine?
>Well for me, resetting the Z height and doing
>tool changes is a PITA. It's just easier with
>a second machine....though the electronics,
>motors..etc, are another expense....;)
>
>I just wanted to double check with you all
>before I put it in ebay!
>
>Thanks!
>John


--
Dwayne Reid   <[e-mail]>
Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd    Edmonton, AB, CANADA
[phone] voice          [phone] fax
www.trinity-electronics.com
Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing

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