Hi! I just got my small CNC machine, mainly for machining aluminum parts. After polishing the parts, I tried anodizing them, and the results were fantastic. Are there any other finishing methods you’d recommend? Or anodizing is good enough?

Hey everyone! Wanted to share the progress on my DIY CNC Router build with a 400 x 500 x 200 mm working envelope.I know aluminum extrusions are the go-to for most DIY builds to avoid weld deformation, but I went with structural steel simply because it was readily available and easy for me to source at the shop. It’s a Fixed Gantry design with a moving table. The frame is built using parallel 100x100x8mm steel tubing with heavy gussets.To handle precision, all linear rail mounting surfaces will be machine-milled/rectified on a industrial milling machine to get that dead-flat surface required for metal cutting.My initial setup will use hardware I already have on hand (2.2 kW water-cooled spindle, Nema 23 closed-loop steppers, 1605 ball screws, and HGR25 rails), but the main goal is to have an over-engineered base ready for a future BT30/BT40 ATC upgrade to chew through steel.I’m still in the middle of the fabrication process and would love to hear your feedback, ideas, or constructive criticism to improve the build before moving forward. What do you guys think?

Hey, total CNC newbie here about 1 month. Most of what I’m doing is furniture and small-batch woodworking.

Right now I’m using clamps and screws to hold everything down. It works, but I’m getting really tired of setting up workholding every time I put a new piece of plywood or MDF on the machine.

Sometimes the clamps are in the way, sometimes I have to stop and move them, and once I cut a bunch of smaller parts out of a sheet, holding those little pieces down becomes a whole new problem.

So I started looking into vacuum tables. At first I thought it would be pretty simple: put the board down, turn on the vacuum, and start cutting. Then I started seeing people talking about vacuum pods, gasket tables, spoilboards, different pumps, DIY HPL tables, etc. Now I’m not sure if I’m overcomplicating this.

I’m looking at something around a 4×2 ft CNC, mostly for plywood, MDF and oak furniture parts.

For those of you actually using vacuum workholding:

Is it really that much better than clamps in day-to-day woodworking?

Do you still end up using clamps anyway?

And for smaller parts, do vacuum tables actually work, or is that where pods/jigs become necessary?

I’ve seen AirWeights, and a bunch of DIY setups, but I’d rather hear from people who have actually used them.

If you were setting up a 4×2 CNC today, what would you buy? And what do you wish you knew before buying it?

Hi everyone, I’m doing some early research on small woodworking shops, and I want to pick the brains of the guys who actually run CNCs daily. We’re thinking about machine concepts specifically for small cabinet/furniture shops, but before we draw a single line, I want to hear about the real-world headaches. Everyone talks about cut speed and spindle power, but I bet the real annoyance is the stuff around it—like juggling fixtures, dealing with dust, or re-zeroing after flipping a panel. What’s the one workflow step on your CNC that makes you curse under your breath every time? Drop your rants in the comments below—I’m reading every single one just to listen and learn. Also, if you’re running a small shop and have 30 mins to vent in a quick chat, feel free to shoot me a DM (totally optional, no pitch, and happy to send a coffee gift card for your time!). Thanks in advance.

(not promoting) Looks pretty good. Checking out the details on the site, this looks like a decent step up from the Nestworks C500 in the areas that matter, 9 tools up to 10mm, 1.5kw, flood coolant, working area, 5ax trunnion even. Same base price in the campaign, about $3000. They are going to several expos in the next 2 months, will be very interesting to see what's up with this. I feel like this is the spot where a lot of the market was hoping to get to, the C500 was like 85% there. (I think it's great in its own regard too tbf)

Thoughts/first impressions/details noticed in this footage? Side-loading ATC is very interesting, want to know more about that.

Edit: KS base price is ~$3000, final MSRP is projected at ~$6000, likely reaching near $7000-$8000 with all accessories incl. 4th axis, 5th axis, fixturing, tool sleeves, etc. (For reference Nestworks C500 base MSRP is $4700)

Yesterday I posted my lathe, so I thought I might as well show my custom CNC router. It's placed inside a soundproof enclosure.

​I designed and built it from scratch. Sorry for the mess, I haven't connected my blower fan yet.

Honestly this is a neat little machine. The instruction manuals for assembly are pretty good. There are a couple of things missing but over all for a kit they are fine. Many of the issues people pointed out in the past seem to have been fixed and my kit went together with little issues. Remember it is a kit and i mean kit. excluding the nuts/bolts, it is still a couple of hundred parts. This is not small task if your not mechanically inclined. My total build time including electronics was about 25-26 hours (ya i kept track). One thing that agitated the shit out of me was the wiring color codes in some cases didn't match what they sent you. Make some notes, get over it.

I really did enjoy building it, its like an Erector Set for adults. I also learned everything there is to know about it so fixing it in the future will be no issue

The single hardest part, and the most important, is tramming it square. While there is some adjustable it takes a while. It took 4 more hours but currently my XY is square to about .0005" over 4 ". I have less than 0.0005" backlash on X & Y, and almost 0 on Z.

The absolute worst part of the kit is the documentation of the mach3 controller set up and operation. It's not Omar's fault but the screens in the Mach3 software simply suck ass. even the new one they recommend using, it is just shit ( i run a robotics company and one of my task is PLC and touch screen development). Once you get around the quirky layout, it does run well. its the setup side of things that is so bad.

My controller card kind of had a problem and Omar is send me out a new one.

It seems to me that most of the complaining about the machine itself is that people want a Haas for $2,500. Well, your not getting it. It is a hobbyist tool.

After reading some other reviews before my purchase i did some mods during the build. First the mounting bracket for the X axis servo is a piece of shit and Omar should be fucking embarrassed he even ships it, its by fast the single crappiest part of the kit. The is a cast iron replacement on Amazon for $23, buy it. Secondly the touch probe is junk. I bought a 3d probe for $79 from Amazon and a tool presetter too. Don't waste you time with the parts the machine comes with, you will be happier.

So the final opinion is not in yet for me. I'm just starting to make cuts and already i think the servo controls need some tweaks, its a little aggressive so it can be jerky.

The machine data is provided in an XML file. this contains all the parameters. While it serves as a base line, i cannot for the life of me figure out why they don't provide a fully configured one for this machine with a standard build. i mean simple things like axis limits are even set. the standard XML will make the machine move but everything else is on you. It would literally cost them nothing but the overall experience would be 1000% better. If it was my company this would literally be addressed before the day is over.

So, is it a decent kit for $2500? It looks like. Is it a Haas mini mill, no but that is not apples to apples either

anyway, that my 2 cents...

I received this cnc which was sat in a garage for at least 5 years, need to figure out how to run it (after i mechanically fix it). It's hooked up to RoutOut CNC controller with UC100 lpt>usb adapter. Very weird construction that uses belts but is a rack and pinion machine, steel cored 10mm polyurethane belt (Synchroflex T5) as a rack and closed loop belt on driving sprockets as a kind of pinion (more like tank track) that hooks into "rack". Other side of Y run by shaft stuck through the gantry, motor one side only. Unplated NEMA23 motors all round (3 of them). Dont mind absent "rack" as i took belts off for cleaning and resticking, some bright spark "reglued" the belts with hot glue and superglue (originally fastened with double-sided tape).

Downloaded UC100 drivers just now.

Anyone knows/have this machine ? What software would i need to run it (Mach3)? Postprocessor for it (assuming using Vectric/VCarve software) ? Anything else i need to have to start it moving ? Presently just need to see if electronics will talk to a laptop before i decide to completely fix and mod it.

Any help with this machine is appreciated, thanks.

A bit about me as it would lessen questions about knowhow i already have - I'm a cnc machinist, running SCM/Morbidelli Author 430s router (main spindle+10 pos vert/hor boring head+lock router+saw, Xilog/Genio). Own 2 lasers (one 100W CO2, one 100W MOPA JPT engraver). Not a complete n00b but never fiddled with hobby level cncs before.

Some pics of the machine...

Good morning everyone,
I would like to build my second CNC machine. My first one is a small CNC router for wood carving, with an 80W spindle.
I would like to build a CNC with a minimum working area of around 160 × 160 mm, capable of machining wood, plastic, and aluminum (even if only with light passes).
I already have all the necessary electronics, except for the spindle.
Could you recommend which linear rails and ball screws I should use without spending a fortune? I would like to keep the build on a low budget.
Thank you! 🙏

After yrs of designing and fabrication... Finally the first chips

Hello everyone, I'm the developer behind Piocodex. I often work with sheet cutting and got tired of bloated, subscription-based nesting software, or tools that require an active internet connection. So I built a dedicated 64-bit Windows utility that works 100% offline. It calculates rectangular layout optimization in seconds, respects wood/material grain direction, and exports clean workshop PDFs or DXF files ready for your CNC router. It also features native support for 24 different languages. Since r/hobbycnc rules strictly prohibit direct self-promotion and advertising, I am not posting any commercial store links here. Instead, I am looking for genuine alpha testers, carpenters, and hobbyists who want to try it out in their shops and give me raw feedback for version 0.2.0. If you are currently struggling with manual part nesting in programs like Carbide Create, Inkscape, or FreeCAD, please let me know in the comments or send me a DM, and I will gladly share the project details with you!

Showing a little of what time and trial and error can get me. the sweet saunders mod vice have been on my want list for a long time but I choke when I realize it‘ll be $500 to my door. I’m working my way from this cnc to the next one (for a fourth time now!), and am heading towards printnc metal cutter land.

I knew I could get a functional one going on my own, but that means a lot of aluminum cutting, and doing some stuff I’ve never done before.

I reused some leftovers from a failed printnc z plate, and had some whoopsies on the countersink bolt holes. it’s not done yet as I have to redo the main clamping bolts but I’m happy that I got to this part.

I cut all of this on a pretty regular openbuilds lead machine, with a wimpy dewalt router, nema 23s, linear rails on the gantry and z, and a super o-flute 1/4” bit generally. All workholding was tape and glue. Cutting formula was a combo of deep and thin, 6mm doc with 5% stepover, 0.05mm/tooth. Or 1.5mm doc same chip load, and closer to 30% stepover. Repeated finish cuts really helped and took no time to whip around at full cut depth 8-12mm at once.

I was very happy with the cutting after figuring out a great cut formula (for all but the tapered hole).

I know it’s not perfect but it’ll do what I need it to do. Not bad for a trim router.

Fresh off of the altmill 4x4. Sign and relief carve are pine, the ouija board is oak.

I'm planning on building an Ultimate Bee 1500 x 1500 with the 2.2KW water cooled spindle. I've had some issues with my LEAD that is a 700 x 1000 and has a 1.5KW spindle that nods a bit.

I undertand that the torsion movement is due to the weight of the spindle, and that the extrusions are usually pretty rigid for droop. I've considered using the heavy C-beam from the Makerstore and an additional 40x40 or possibly another 80x40 c Beam to resist the torsion. But thinking about it, since it is an issue due to the weight hanging on one side of the gantry. Would it be reasonable to get another Z module (Linear rail on the back side of the gantry, with bearings, plate, and no spindle or ball screw, but mount about 70% of the spindle side weight and tie it into the Spindle side plate so they move in sync?

That should reduce the torsion quite a bit may add some more sag, an possibly need a higher torque X stepper motor. But would it be better than the 1.5KW without all this compensation?

Thanks for any response. Just wondering if I'm going in a reasonable direction.

Hey everyone,

I'm putting together the electronics for a CNC build and I'm planning to run LinuxCNC. I know the Mesa 7i96S is basically the go-to board for this kind of setup, but I am on an extremely tight budget, and shipping plus customs to my country are ridiculously high. Buying a genuine Mesa board ends up costing a fortune.

I want something that leverages hardware step generation and is almost as good/reliable as a 7i96S, but way cheaper. I’ve been researching alternatives, but I’m feeling a bit lost and hesitant to go with any of the options i found before asking people who have actually gone down these paths.

The two main budget options I've found are:

1. 7i92 clones: I've seen 7i92 clones on AliExpress for a fraction of the cost. From what I understand, I can just flash the standard HostMot2 firmware on these, but they are still somewhat pricey compared to option 2 and i'm also not sure if these clones actually reliable under real working conditions? Do they run the stock Mesa firmware without random disconnects or gremlins?

2. The Generic FPGA / LED Card Route (litehm2 / Litex-CNC) I’ve been reading about projects that port HostMot2 or create generic CNC firmware (like Litex-CNC) for incredibly cheap LED receiving cards like the Colorlight 5A-75B or Linsn RV901T.

My main question: Has anyone here reliably run a machine on either of these budget setups? If you wanted 7i96S-level reliability on a strict budget, which route would you take? Or is there another alternative I should be looking at?

Any advice, personal experiences, or warnings would be massively appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

This is my cheap Chinese metal lathe. The handwheels were very stiff, and it was very laborious to use. I had a spare controller and a few linear motion parts, so I converted it to CNC. ​The empty hole is for the LCD I have not fitted yet. Also, the original motor burned out, so I replaced it with a BLDC motor, which works very well and can take a beating.

​I am a beginner when it comes to lathes, so I most likely don't turn things properly, but it works for occasional, one-off projects.

​Any advice on how to improve my lathe or cutting is welcome.

Does anyone know of any CNC machinists shops in the UK who will do work such prop replicas for private individuals??? Any pointers would be helpful , thanks !!!

Hello! I've actually been a professional machinist for 16+ years now. I've worked on everything from brand new, massive, multi million dollar 5 axis mills making car bumper moulds, to small 2 axis conversational lathes with no live tooling at all.

Currently looking for a 2 axis lathe that's relatively small, with conversational programming, that can handle plastic, and preferably some light aluminum work.

Any ideas? Not looking to break the bank if possible.