Before going further, some background is probably necessary. CNC (Computer Numerical Control) is the use of a toolhead (sometimes rotating, sometimes not) under computer control. Although the X-Y-Z control of the toolhead is similar to that of 3d-printing, the 3d-printer extruder is substituted with a tool bit to remove material. This is usually referred to as subtractive technologies, as opposed to addititve for 3d-printing.

As a group, we’ve had a long fascination with CNC projects. There was a group build of the small, inexpensive Mantis CNC  early on, but most had problems doing the match drilling.  This was a step required to make the sliding components absolutely parallel.

Later, one of our members loaned us a Blacktoe CNC which is a 2′ X 4′ bed machine located in the front shop. We’ll be scheduling safety/usage classes as soon as we get more people familiar with it.

Moving ahead, we’ve been working with Jeff of the open-source LoboCNC project. He has plans and parts to put together a relatively-rigid small CNC machine.  Even a decent set of videos for extra help assembling it.

We got the box of parts the other day, and Leon took a few hours to assemble it. Most of the mechanical assembly is done, we just need to find or buy an appropriate router and a power supply. This is just an update about where we’re going with CNC technologies; expect a regular group to continue meeting to learn about it.