For the last couple of years I had been wanting a CNC router to use in making the frames and other parts for the canoe kits, but couldn’t justify the cost at that time. Now that the kits have become more popular, I found it would be helpful to have this. As I looked I around on the web there was a lot of information about building your CNC router. I bought a book also, that was some what helpful but mainly by looking at all the options and what was available on Ebay I came up with a similar plan. My initial goal was to just build something and get it to work so I could learn all the aspects of running one, since I knew nothing about it.
In fact, it always seemed daunting to me. Thought many times it is to much to learn, and it is, but it is defenitely do able for most any one that applies themselves. Like so many computer related projects, such as this website, one has to pull their hair out for a while but persistence prevails. there is a lot of help out there on the web, forums, websites, you tube and more. So this page will be dedicated to photos, material lists and updates on progress and what I have learned.
Also click on the free 72″ video sign up form and watch the whole video which is normally only included in the 72″ kit or DVD and learn about building your own canoe or kayak model.
So what I wrote above was more than a year ago. I have come a long way since then. Purchasing the 1.5 kw water cooled spindle was the best move. It works so much better than the Bosch Colt that i had in the beginning. The 1.5 spindle and inverter are very easy to set up and works great, quiet and very powerful. it does weigh 8 lbs but the Colt weighed 3.5, so there is no comparison.
I would recommend to anyone building a CNC, to go with the water cooled spindle. Also purchasing the license for Mach 3 made a big difference too, since the trial version only allows 500 lines of code. Mach 3 is good value. Here is some pictures of the all the parts and pieces being cut. it has been great and a lot of fun, now that i have become proficent at using it. I can safely say that i can take most drawings and get the router to cut them.