There are many ways to build a CNC router.  As with any engineering decisions, there are trade-offs such as cost, strength, speed and precision.

My requirements were a minimum work envelope of 24”x24”x4”, strong enough to handle a 1hp or larger spindle and sufficient rigidity and precision for milling metals and other hard materials.  That narrowed the field down to designs with metal rails, a dual-drive y axis and ball screw drive.

Out of all the worthy designs, the one that impressed me the most was the Pilot Pro CNC from PDJ.  The 3^rd generation Pilot Pro design utilizes 15 Series 80/20 aluminum extrusions, with additional parts cut and milled from common aluminum bar stock.  It has an extra robust gantry with a dual-drive Y-axis, precision linear rails and ball screws on all three axis.

PDJ can supply the Pilot Pro as a detailed set of plans, a fully assembled machine or anything in between.  Since my shop currently has only limited metalworking capabilities, I purchased the disc of plans and a kit of parts.  The kit includes all the mechanical parts to build to build a set of rails with a 26”x 26” x 4.5” work envelope.  All the metal parts are cut, drilled and critical surfaces are CNC-milled for a precise fit.

Next 3D Thursday, we will tackle the Y-axis rail assembly.

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