# My CNC journey has begun - Build log to follow



## bonesbr549

Well I'm finally pulling the plug on CNC. I've been interested forever. Hard to believe that I've been a member of cnc-zone since 2007 and just now jumping.

At first it was just a passing fancy, but in the past couple years, the wine cabinets I make have taken off. Now that several wineries have expressed interest in selling some of my units, I wanted to leverage CNC routers to make some of the internal components.

I will be retiring in 3 years (god willin) and working with a builder for my final house at Smith Mountain Lake in VA, I will be making the cabinets.

So I will need a larger system. I will be paying with house funds, but still don't want to spend more than I need.

I've read just about all I can, and was torn between commercial and DIY. I really liked CAMaster & Laguna, and I looked at building it all from scratch to kits to everything else in between.

I quickly eliminated the chinese ones ebay as just too small, and hoped to find a good used unit, but that has not worked out.

Unfortunately, my workshop is in my basement, and I have to go down 4 steps from the outside to go through a 6'-0" door. The commercial units are all rigid steel frame and I just can't figure a way to logistically make it work for an 8' system.

So, after all the research and working Cory at cncrouterparts.com, I am ordering my system next week. I can't wait to learn and grow.

I will be getting the cnc-pro system and will be putting in a rotary axis as well to do table legs and other things. Cory was great to work with and listened well to all my stupid questions and help put in the things I needed.

I'm starting with an PC892 router i've got laying around that I don't use anymore and V-carve Pro. I do think that will be a good start, but probably will upgrade to a spindle and aspire in the future, but I think this is a good starting point.

I plan on doing a project build V-log so hoping anybody here has advice or the "don't do that" or " I learned this".

Really excited!


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## JAAune

Congratulations.

My advice is to nix the Porter Cable 892 if you plan to use the router for awhile. That's what I have but I will switch to the Bosch 1617 because Precise Bits no longer supports the 892 for their precision collet sets. Unfortunately I didn't find that out until after I'd bought a new router, voided the warranty and installed it.

If you are using a router, a SuperPID is highly recommended.

Make sure your base table is solid. My machine was pretty strong but the table allowed too much vibration. At the moment I've put a band-aid on that by gluing and screwing three layers of MDF together. The plan is to move to a 3" thick honeycomb-core table to achieve as much stiffness as I can for the top.


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## Sigung

Congrats on this, I can't wait to see some of your work, BTW, you only have two projects posted, I'd like to see some more of your work, one of those wine cabinets perhaps.


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## Ger21

If you have a variable speed router, I would not get a Super PID. Save the money you'd spend on a Super-PID and put it towards a spindle upgrade in the future.
A variable speed router at it's lower settings will work fine for quite some time.

Fwiw, I have been running a pre-production version of the Super PID for many years now. They're great, but since you already have a VS router, you can get by without it. I actually pulled an 892 out of my CNC and replaced it with a 690 and the Super PID.


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## bonesbr549

> Congrats on this, I can t wait to see some of your work, BTW, you only have two projects posted, I d like to see some more of your work, one of those wine cabinets perhaps.
> 
> - Jerry


Thought I'd posted more, but I keep my stuff on flickr, so heres a couple. The wife does the stained glass so I can't take credit for that.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjvaxHi6
https://flic.kr/s/aHsjzi3SCp

and

https://www.flickr.com/gp/[email protected]/M2ZD6W


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## bonesbr549

> Congratulations.
> 
> My advice is to nix the Porter Cable 892 if you plan to use the router for awhile. That s what I have but I will switch to the Bosch 1617 because Precise Bits no longer supports the 892 for their precision collet sets. Unfortunately I didn t find that out until after I d bought a new router, voided the warranty and installed it.
> 
> If you are using a router, a SuperPID is highly recommended.
> 
> Make sure your base table is solid. My machine was pretty strong but the table allowed too much vibration. At the moment I ve put a band-aid on that by gluing and screwing three layers of MDF together. The plan is to move to a 3" thick honeycomb-core table to achieve as much stiffness as I can for the top.
> 
> - JAAune


do you have some pic's of your setup that would help, as I've not planned for the top yet.


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## bonesbr549

> Congratulations.
> 
> My advice is to nix the Porter Cable 892 if you plan to use the router for awhile. That s what I have but I will switch to the Bosch 1617 because Precise Bits no longer supports the 892 for their precision collet sets. Unfortunately I didn t find that out until after I d bought a new router, voided the warranty and installed it.
> 
> If you are using a router, a SuperPID is highly recommended.
> 
> Make sure your base table is solid. My machine was pretty strong but the table allowed too much vibration. At the moment I ve put a band-aid on that by gluing and screwing three layers of MDF together. The plan is to move to a 3" thick honeycomb-core table to achieve as much stiffness as I can for the top.
> 
> - JAAune


do you have some pic's of your setup that would help, as I've not planned for the top yet.
- About the router comment-
This is very interesting. Warantee is not an issue as the router while new use wise, is 10 years old. I don't understand what you mean the bosche is supported but the 892 is not? Can you elaborate a bit?


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## Sigung

> Congrats on this, I can t wait to see some of your work, BTW, you only have two projects posted, I d like to see some more of your work, one of those wine cabinets perhaps.
> 
> - Jerry
> 
> Thought I d posted more, but I keep my stuff on flickr, so heres a couple. The wife does the stained glass so I can t take credit for that.
> 
> https://flic.kr/s/aHsjvaxHi6
> https://flic.kr/s/aHsjzi3SCp
> 
> and
> 
> https://www.flickr.com/gp/[email protected]/M2ZD6W
> 
> WOW! AMAZING!!! You really do incredible work, and your wife's stained glass work is gorgeous as well. Very impressed.
> 
> - bonesbr549


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## JAAune

I'm referring to Precise Bits collet upgrade sets. They won't sell them for Porter Cable 892 routers. They replace the original collet with precision ones that come in all sorts of sizes from 1/8" diameter to 1/2".

Collet Upgrades=!!







!







!







!!

Very useful if you're looking to squeeze more performance and versatility out of a router.










This is an older picture from last year so that triple layer table isn't glued together (just clamped) but I glued it a few months ago. The middle layer is a vacuum plenum so I can draw a vacuum through the entire table if desired or just screw into the replaceable spoilboard on top. That's also a pre-cyclone photo so the dust hose runs off to the side. The central dust collection system went online in September.

The Machine Tool Camp CNC design has some good features and is a pretty strong but inexpensive machine. Total cost was under $10,000 including software and a week-long class tuition to help build it.

The gantry design that goes under the table allows for easy loading and unloading but at the cost of table rigidity. The only metal supporting all that MDF are three 120" long pieces of 80/20. Heavy cuts with an upcut bit cause a lot of vibration which taxes the router and hurts the quality of cut. So this CNC design relies entirely upon the stiffness of the table for it's strength. It's also impossible to add legs in the middle to support the machine which means sagging is an issue. The triple layer of MDF eliminated much of the vibration and prevents the table from warping with every moisture change. It doesn't help much with the sagging though and I still want more stiffness. That's why I will build a torsion box with honeycomb aluminum faced by some undetermined material on the top and bottom.

All things considered, I'd never build a bottom-mounted gantry design again. Now that I know how everything works, I'd opt for a gantry that rides on rails level with the top surface of the router. The bottom mount requires a taller gantry to make room for the thick table surface needed for rigidity. It also makes plumbing for a vacuum system a pain since everything has to happen inside the table. Mounting anything below would get in the way of the gantry.


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## Dabcan

Funny you should post, this, I've wanted a CNC for about ten years now, and after much flip flopping about buying/building I bought a used machine this week. It won't arrive till next week at the earliest so I've got lots of reading on what software to get figured out before it shows up.

Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out.


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## bonesbr549

> Funny you should post, this, I ve wanted a CNC for about ten years now, and after much flip flopping about buying/building I bought a used machine this week. It won t arrive till next week at the earliest so I ve got lots of reading on what software to get figured out before it shows up.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out.
> 
> - Dabcan


I've been looking for several years and the opportunity never showed up. All that did pop up was west coast or in the midwest.

It will be a daunting journey.


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## bonesbr549

Well placed my order today! Can't wait!


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## bonesbr549

Well almost there. All I need is 220v for the spindel


__
https://flic.kr/p/G9kEd7


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## bonesbr549

Finally my first Item done! I'm really impressed with the quality of the CRP machines. Support is fantastic and every question I had I'd send an email and they'd call me back. Even them being on the west coast was nice so I could talk to them in the evening for me being east coast.


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