See the video I made on WHY I USED WOOD!
With the Y rails done I can get going on constructing the gantry. In a lot of CNC milling machines the gantry is repaired to optimize rigidness, however that means the bed would need to move instead, in the Y instructions. That suggests the footprint of the device would need to be bigger to have the exact same capacity as a moving gantry maker, and there would need to be direct bearings and a lead screw below the bed. So moving the gantry is a tradeoff where I give up a small amount of rigidity for a more compact bundle and mechanicals that are clear of the cutting (unclean) area.
I utilized Baltic birch plywood and strong hard maple to build the gantry because I know what can be finished with these products – their strengths and weaknesses and how far to press them. My design relies on the total structure for the strength and tightness required for a machine like this, and not just the private parts. The direct bearing rails, for example, are strong, solid hardened steel that include a lot of tightness to the assembly. All of it adds up.
Likewise the style itself decreases unsupported spans that can flex when loaded, the height of the gantry sides for instance, above the Y axis in this style is almost absolutely no. And the X axis span of the gantry will be boosted much more with 1/4" thick aluminum plates attached to the leading and bottom to add tightness.
After I've completed the gantry I'll paint it like the other plywood parts to make it water resistant.
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Watch the video I made on WHY I USED WOOD! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYUHgVQVqBo
With the Y rails done I can get started on building the gantry. In most CNC milling machines the gantry is fixed to maximize rigidity, but that means the bed would have to move instead, in the Y direction. That means the footprint of the machine would have to be bigger to have the same capacity as a moving gantry machine, and there would have to be linear bearings and a lead screw below the bed. So moving the gantry is a tradeoff where I give up a small amount of rigidity for a more compact package and mechanicals that are clear of the cutting (dirty) area.
I used Baltic birch plywood and solid hard maple to build the gantry because I know what can be done with these materials – their strengths and weaknesses and how far to push them. My design relies on the total structure for the strength and stiffness needed for a machine like this, and not just the individual parts. The linear bearing rails, for instance, are strong, solid hardened steel that add a lot of stiffness to the assembly. It all adds up.
Also the design itself minimizes unsupported spans that can flex when loaded, the height of the gantry sides for example, above the Y axis in this design is practically zero. And the X axis span of the gantry will be beefed up even more with 1/4″ thick aluminum plates fastened to the top and bottom to add stiffness.
After I’ve finished the gantry I’ll paint it like the other plywood parts to make it water resistant.
1/2″ Baltic birch is a very stable and strong plywood. It’s much stronger than the typical garbage you find at big box lumber stores. So is solid, straight grained maple.
It’s reflected in that it’s more expensive then solid titanium.
Thanks for the great video.
Square Drive screws.
Ahem. Robertson screws.
@HSkraekelig I stand corrected sir!
pretty wild ^^ love it
the thing is the rails are never straight in the first place, the dust from wood will ruin all guides and rods over time.
Another person who speaks without knowledge, lol.
If the plywood trigger people, what will the bacon π₯ grease taping do! ππ
Makes me kinda hungryβ¦β¦β¦. π
beautiful techniques on display here for spot-on alignment
I agree, wood can be an excellent material for machines when used correctly and stiffened as necessary with metal. Iβm enjoying this build! β Dave
One of the great controversies of the 21st century. It caused a world war. Millions lost everything and went starving eating garbage scraps to survive. Kittens were left stranded. What was it you ask? Using plywood in a CNC and it was all started by one man. Some hate him and others build statues in his honour.
People have been building CNCs from plywood for decades. But making a big and heavy base for one made out of flexible material is just nonsense. You gain nothing but loose a lot.
Hahahaha…if there will be war, certainly exactly because of this build π
For my social-media moral compass, I think the reactions for this super sturdy concrete build are adequate (well, hate, of course, isn’t)
“Meh! Wood could never work!”
Wait…. Are you watching the same videos as I am?
Or are you walking away or falling asleep just in time to miss the old CNC and the big wall mounted CNC ARE SHOWN TO BE WORKING
One thing I didn’t realize about linear rails is that they’re not straight most of the time (unless you buy super expensive brand ones). They usually have a bow in random direction or can even be a spiral. However it doesn’t matter much here because this is not a high precision machine and there’s enough of flex in the structure.
Makes me realize that you understand things better than people, respect!
Never change, John. Bacon grease tapping was not on my bingo card for this morning!
Next week he uses peanut butter instead of Anchorlube.
Nothing wrong with using birch ply for a woodworking CNC router if the design is right.
The best way to further reduce the required gantry height and therefore increase the overall stiffness, however, is to use fixed rails and moving blocks on the Z-axis.
This way the spindle can go well above gantry bottom in Z0 to achieve a good save height without the endmill still sticking in the work area.
On a design with fixed blocks and moving rails the max Z-axis height is the gantry bottom and in order to move the endmill out of the way in Z0 the gantry side plates have to be unnecessarily high
I do enjoy how you do the thing no one expects, and it succeeds.
I “wooden’t” have thought this possible Mr John. Great video as always.
Having watched you make several table saws, band saws, belt sanders, other CNCs etc it always amazes me that people question your choice of materials. It’s almost as if they think you don’t know what you’re doingπ “Oh No! More Wood!!” ππππππππ I absolutely love watching you make all these complex machines, even though I would never do that myself.
Great work John. Too bad it is all for not. As we all know wood is week like paper or straw and this will explode or rocket into space, lol. Just kidding. I have complete faith in this.
Greatest YouTube line ever: βIn case you didnβt know, bacon grease is a very good tapping fluid.β
And it’s finger-licking good π
@JohnHeiszmakes the shop smell nice.
sometime in the late 1930s my grandfather made a log peeling veneer for making plywood almost entirely out of wood including the bearings the only metal he actually used was the blade to peel this how thing we’re done
7:56 BACON GREASE!…… BACON GREASE!
Oh my GOD, this will be the BEST CNC ever!
Creative use of Bacon for the WIN. Bacon makes EVERYTHING better. π π π π π