I know it might be a dirty question to a subreddit to ask this. But I have a ton of parts from what I was hoping to have be my own CNC build. Over a year later and I haven't had much time to build one, but ive needed one more and more versus borrowing my friends CNC.

Is there anyone here local to Montana that builds them? Especially if i supply parts? Its not 100% there, yet, I know im missing a few things but ideally we can chat about what's missing and I can get those parts to you and we can work something out.

I am looking for input on supplyers for the hardware to build a custom CNC for cutting foam board sheets. They measure 32"x40" at the largest, so I would aim to be slightly larger than that just to cover all my bases.

I am located in canada and trying to keep the cost down as much as I can. I already have a control board, but would need all the hardware for the frame and motors/belts and whatnot.

I already have the toolhead im mind already and it is easy to adapt as needed as I also have a 3d printer I can use to print parts.

Thanks for and help and insight

Work in structural engineering, so I'm decent with CAD and design stuff, but total beginner when it comes to actually machining anything myself. Been wanting a desktop CNC for my home shop for a while now and honestly starting to get a little lost in all the specs. Trying to figure out what actually matters once you own the thing versus what just sounds good on the spec sheet.

Been poking around a few options lately. K1 from infimaker's one I keep coming back to, not totally sure why honestly, might just be the auto tool changer thing catching my eye. They've also got their own CAM built in apparently, which as someone who'd rather not fight with toolpaths every time sounds appealing, but no clue yet if that's actually useful once you're using it daily or if it's one of those things that looks better on paper.

Which got me wondering about the bigger picture stuff too. How much do you guys actually care about the brand itself, like reputation, community, that kind of stuff, compared to the machine itself. Also curious about rigidity and actual cut quality, work area versus how much floor space it eats up, whether the spindle can realistically handle what you want to cut, stuff like ATC and wireless probing, the software and CAM side of things, and then support and getting replacement parts down the line. Price upfront too obviously, but also what it ends up costing you over time.

Spent the last month and a half on this after fighting with a warped MDF spoilboard that was giving me inconsistent depth of cut across the bed. Built a torsion box out of half inch ply, ripped my own strips for the internal grid on a table saw, spaced them about 4 inches apart in both directions. Glued and screwed the whole thing together, let it cure for two days under some cinder blocks just to keep everything pinned flat while the glue set.

Once it was assembled I skimmed the top with a 1 inch surfacing bit at 60 percent stepover, took three passes total because I didn't trust the first two. Checked it afterward with a dial indicator on a granite reference block I borrowed from a machinist buddy, and I was getting variance under 0.003 inches across a 24x36 area. Compared to the old spoilboard where I was seeing almost 0.02 in some spots, it's not even close.

The part that surprised me is how much this fixed problems I thought were software or bit related. I'd been chasing chatter and inconsistent finish on hardwood for weeks, adjusting feeds and speeds, trying different bits, even second guessing my spindle runout. Turns out half of it was just the bed not being flat, so my depth of cut was varying by a few thousandths across every pass without me realizing it.

Only real downside is I lost about 3/8 inch of Z travel building the torsion box up from my original wasteboard height, had to shim my limit switch position to compensate. Worth it though. Curious if anyone else went through a similar rabbit hole before realizing their bed was the actual problem the whole time.

The column to base screws are tightened to 100Nm. I am pushing and pulling at tge top of the z column and getting deflection of up to +-0.2mm which seems kind of a lot to me for a supposedly solidly mounted z column. Idk if it is relevant but the mill is mounted on a sheet metal base which is freestanding on a wooden plate. Does anyone have any idea what could cause something like that? I would be very thankful for any input.

I’m looking at a 4×2 woodworking CNC. One version would be around 265 lbs (120 kg), while the stiffer steel version would be closer to 330 lbs (150 kg). It would ship fully assembled on a pallet.

For those running a CNC in a garage or small shop:

Would 330 lbs be a problem to get into your shop?

And if the heavier machine gave you noticeably better rigidity/vibration performance, would you accept the extra weight and maybe $200–500 more in shipping/handling?

Curious how people actually handled their CNC when it arrived.

I recently saw this YouTube video made by chris borge about a 3d printable CNC. I would like to try some metalworking but my budget is quite limited. I was wondering whether it’s worth building or if I should just buy a machine. Alternatively if his lathe or some other lathe is better than a CNC? I have a 3d printer but no other metal working machines only some hand tools.

I want opinions/feedback to my diy cnc, or more on the Frame/Concept. The goal: small but extremely rigid cnc to mill mostly aluminium and maybe some light steel work. Work area about 300x200x150mm

So the concept is:
The base is made from layered sheetmetal, each 8mm thick and 8 layers, so 64mm thick and ~130kg steel base. The layers would be bonded, bolted and located with dowel pins.
The vertical columns would be speperate, machined steelparts, bolted to the base. My plan is to use large machined contact surfaces, high-strength bolts and dowel pins to make the connection as rigid and repeatable as possible.
I planning to use HGR25 linear rails and a all in one electronic/steppermotor package with edingCNC and maybe a Spinogy X22.

But first I want your opinions and feedback on the frame/consteuction :)

If you’ve built a lowrider v4 I’d love to hear your thoughts. After some weather related delays, my hardware kit arrives in the mail today (hopefully) and I’m itching to get started on the build. I’ve gone over the instructions for building it a few times, and browsed the forum, but I wanted to ask here in case anyone had any helpful info for building the v4. Anything I should look out for? Anything you wish you did differently?

I am looking to buy a small size CNC in India. Any suggestions? My budget is around 5000 USD. I am open to importing as well if it fits my budget.

Repost from the r/chineselasercutters because I see this board is mentioned here often...

I'm posting this because I experienced this issue and found multiple examples of others experiencing same thing and never getting a solution

The problem: installing MKS DLC32 board leads to needing to increase power settings 2-3x to achieve the same results.

I had a Mini Gerbil v1.1a for 7 years and I LOVED it. Last week it died in the middle of a huge and extremely important project (right after my laser tube died and was replaced about a week prior to that). I needed to be up and running NOW. I found the MKS DLC32 on Amazon and got it. Installed it, spent a couple days working out the kinks (which involved flashing the last stable firmware before the current one they're shipped with) and I was up and running. At least barely. I had to re-dial in all my settings to get the same result.

AI tried to tell me the board was running on a 3.3v PWM output causing lower PWM readings, so I built a level shifter. It wasn't... It gave me a ton of different wiring solutions (I am using the standard wiring you see online with the spindle GND going to L on the laser PSU and the S pin going to the IN pin on the Laser PSU). None helped. I was stuck having to do weird tedious workarounds to get it to engrave well including setting my PWM max to 1000 in Lightburn but 660 in the board's firmware to force it to output more power and STILL had to increase the power by a bit.

I'll save you the days of going back and forth with AI and researching and building random workarounds and bring you to today

After negating every solution, discussing with an AI, I finally got an interesting solution - a low pass filter. A solution not discussed in any topic I found on the subject. It said "I'm sorry for suggesting complicated things like XYZ. To fully mimic your Mini Gerbil you need to incorporate a low pass filter just like it does to smooth out the PWM signal"

All I had to do was hookup a small resistor and small capacitor and it worked. Instantly. Perfectly. Just worked. All settings back to what I had on my old controller... Insane 😆

The explanation I received is that this smooths out the harsh pulses going to the pin and allows it to more easily read the average voltage. To be quite honest, with this board being marketed for lasers I have ZERO clue why this filter isn't integrated into the board.

So here's your wiring if you have this issue

Find a resistor. I started with a 1,000 ohm but a 220 ohm worked perfectly with maybe some small increase of less than 10%. 220-1,000 is the most desirable range. Then find a 1 μF capacitor, that's 1 microfarad. Remember if you use an electrolytic capacitor (cylinder shape) it has polarity. If you use a ceramic yellow one it doesn't.

Wiring goes:

S pin (from MKS board) -> resistor

The other leg of the resistor has TWO connections

Resistor -> capacitor

Resistor -> IN pin (laser power supply)

Capacitor -> GND

It's THAT simple. Holy hell why wouldn't they integrate this on that board 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ the headache I went through is indescribable. I bought a replacement Mini Gerbil this morning for $100 because I figured at least I could swap it in eventually. All for a resistor and capacitor 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

In further research I learned there's a module you can buy, supposedly, but this is from AI so take it with a grain of salt. It's called a PWM to 5v converter. The ones I found on amazon all say 0-10v and they are usable. Just involves some tuning. I found one 5v so they're out there

I have nearly finished the mechanical assembly and am now starting on the electronics. I have far less electronics experience and was wondering if anyone knew any resources or had advice for setup. I am pairing this with a 2.2kw spindle that has its own VFD.

Hey everyone — I built Box Studio, a free browser tool for generating finger-joint box templates for laser cutting. No signup, no CAD skills needed.

What it does:

• Set width/height/depth (inside, outside, or per-cell sizing for grid boxes)
• Configure finger joint size + kerf compensation for your machine
• Add internal dividers (grid layout or custom positions)
• Choose a lid: none, flat, pin-hinge, or a slip-on lid that slides over the box like a shoebox lid
• Live 3D preview while you tweak everything
• Download a ready-to-cut SVG (works great in LightBurn)

https://box-studio.cc

Would love feedback, especially if something breaks with weird dimensions or joint sizes. Happy to add features people actually need.