CNC machines

I have made 4 CNC machines, with the 5th in manufacture.

CNC V1

This was one that was going to be used to machine the whole body for my redesign of my Aeon GT3 kit car - but it was too large. I bought the stepper motors in the late 1990s, and spent ages figuring out how I was going to use them. They are NEMA size 23, with drivers running at 24V.

CNC V2

This is also known as the STL Cutter, and used NEMA size 34 motors, running at 110V AC. I eventually sold it, and it became a CNC plasma cutter.

CNC V3

This was a cheap kit that I bought from Amazon - I used it mostly for PCBs, but I did use it to make some of the parts for the fourth machine.

It had a working area of around 200mm x 160mm, and the spindle's maximum speed was around 1,200 RPM. I added a camera to it, and replaced the driver with a later version of GRBL.

It was able to just about machine perspex (albeit badly) as well, and it did do some aluminium drilling - but not milling.

CNC V4

This was the first one that was able to mill aluminium, and used the stepper motors from the first CNC machine! Although the drivers were replaced with more modern ones.

It has a working area of around 600mm x 240mm (although the bed is larger  than that), and the spindle's maximum speed is around 12,000 RPM (@100V) - 10 times that of the 3rd machine.

The stepper motors are meant to be around 1.6Nm, NEMA size 23.

CNC V5

This is going to be my last ... for a while!

It will have a working area of around 600mm x 240mm, with a bed of 750mm x 240mm. While its working area is similar, this machine is another level compared to the previous one.

The spindle is a 3-phase spindle, with 4 bearings, capable of 24,000 RPM, and I'm using a 2.2KW VFD (the motor will cope with a 3KW VFD, but I've slightly derated it to make it more compatible with the mains).

The stepper motors are meant to be 12Nm, NEMA size 34 - and are closed loop, so I should be able to get some pretty impressive speeds from it!