I built the old CNC router using parts and designs patterned after the OpenBuilds “OX” machine. In general it was a pretty good machine for cutting wood but turned out to be not so good for cutting metal, particularly aluminum which is the type of metal that I generally want to cut. So I gave it a shot at rebuilding the Z-axis using a C-shaped OpenBuilds extrusion and that helped quite a bit, but ultimately it just wasn’t as solid as I wanted. Even with the wrap-around aspect of the C-beam there was still too much play to do a good job at cutting aluminum. Then my wife gave me a nice spiffy new ready-built Z-axis for Christmas and that was the genesis for the whole new “Bigger & Stronger” CNC router. But still, someone might find what I did to rebuild this one interested.
Click here to see the Build Log with more photos.
