Recommendations for a UK based CNC building company

[chessfoss]

Hi,

I would really appreciate recommendations for a company ideally North of England that build CNC machines. Needs to be fairly sturdy as it will get a lot of use so probably a hobby machine will not be adequate.

Thanks in advance

 

[corauten]

I don't own one, but there's seems to be a lot of excellent reviews about them Ooznest | 3D Printers & CNC Machines | Parts, Kits & More

 

[chessfoss]

I don't own one, but there's seems to be a lot of excellent reviews about them Ooznest | 3D Printers & CNC Machines | Parts, Kits & More

thanks

 

[shed9]

Ooznest CNC's are very much hobby territory. Depending on the work envelope you are looking at rack and pinion for large format (i.e. 4x8) and ball-screws for medium to smaller working footprint.

What are you going to be cutting and to what size?

 

[Torx]

Mark at Exel CNC in Burnley.

 

[Nelly111s]

Graham Chapelhow may be worth a ring. He does CNC in a big way. Click Here

 

[chessfoss]

Mark at Exel CNC in Burnley.

Thanks for the advice. may be a little out of my7 budget but I hadn't heard of them so I can see if they do any cheaper, Maybe even second hand.

 

[chessfoss]

Graham Chapelhow may be worth a ring. He does CNC in a big way. Click Here

Thanks very much. I'll have a look at the site

 

[shed9]

Thanks for the advice. may be a little out of my budget

As above, what are you expecting to machine and to what size? This impacts available options and some idea of budget allowance would help to assist you.

 

[chessfoss]

I don't own one, but there's seems to be a lot of excellent reviews about them Ooznest | 3D Printers & CNC Machines | Parts, Kits & More

thanks for the suggestion

 

[sploo]

Size and intended materials will be critical. Hobby machines with beds up to 1m x 1m are (now) not terribly expensive, and will happily cut wood and plastic.

Servos can be better than steppers, but tend to cost more. Good quality ballscrews and THK rails are a positive, but again expensive. Larger machines tend to use rack and pinion drives due to whip in long ball screws.

At that larger scale, the MechMate (MechMate CNC Router - Build your own with our detailed plans) is a DIY clone of a US Shopbot machine; so may be an option if you need full sheet capacity + have DIY skills + don't want to spent ShopBot money.

Obviously if you're after cutting metal then this will be an entirely different kettle of fish!

 

[Ollie78]

Go on mycncuk and ask on there.

A few points.

Do not bother with any machine that uses wheels running on aluminium extrusions if you actually want a useful machine. They are fine on a 3d printer but they are not subject to sawdust or more importantly lateral load.
You need Hiwin profiled linear guide rails if possible or at the very least supported round linear rails.

Also don`t bother with belt driven methods or brass nut leadscrews just get proper ballscrews straight away.

Get a proper spindle ( water or air cooled ) not a router, they are made for much higher precision are quieter and designed for running all day.

The stronger the frame and gantry the better, my machine has 90mm by 45mm aluminium extrusion for its frame and two of these sections together (in an L shape so 135mm thick by 90mm wide) for the gantry with 20mm solid aluminium end plates.

A lot of people get X carves, shapeokos and workbees only to spend a lot of time fiddling with them and then they buy or build a proper machine after coming up against the limitations.

Ollie

 

[Chunkytfg]

Ooznest CNC's are very much hobby territory. Depending on the work envelope you are looking at rack and pinion for large format (i.e. 4x8) and ball-screws for medium to smaller working footprint.

What are you going to be cutting and to what size?

Would the addition of this upgrade kit be worthwhile?

Does away with the V wheel runners and replaces it with Linear Rails.

https://bulkman3d.com/product/queenbee-pro-cnc-machine-mechanical-kit-upgrade-kit/

 

[Dlyxover]

@chuckytfg where did you get upto with the CNC quest?

Looking at getting one of the Bulkman QueenBee PRO kits