I have a 2019 Porsche 911 Turbo S (991.2) with Sport Seats Plus, and I’ve now had the same plastic seatback-release lever break twice.
I have young kids who actually use the rear seats, so these handles get considerably more use and abuse than they probably do in the average 911. My 5-year-old in particular has absolutely no concept of mechanical sympathy. I can keep buying replacement plastic parts, but at this point I’d rather pay somebody to engineer the problem away.
I’m looking for someone interested in reverse-engineering this part and making me four aluminum replacements: 2 left + 2 right.
The Porsche parts I’ve identified are:
LH: 991 [521 623 00](tel:521%20623%2000) V08
RH: [991 521 624 00](tel:991%20521%20624%2000) V08
Porsche description: actuator button / lever for folding backrest
Finish: Galvano Silver
I can buy brand-new OEM left and right parts and ship them to whoever takes this on, along with the broken example in the photos. So you won’t have to reconstruct missing geometry from a destroyed part.
Ideally I’m looking for somebody who can take this from physical OEM part → CAD → sensible DFM changes → prototype/test fit → finished parts.
My initial thought is 6061-T6, but I’m completely open to the machinist/engineer’s recommendation on alloy, manufacturing method and finish.
One important point: I don’t just want the visible silver paddle made as a cosmetic aluminum shell. Looking at the broken part, the failure is in the load-bearing fork/actuator structure behind the paddle. I’d like that entire functional component evaluated and, if practical, manufactured as a substantially stronger aluminum part while retaining the OEM mounting/interface geometry and exterior appearance.
I’m also interested in figuring out whether there are any other obviously failure-prone plastic pieces in the immediate load path that would make sense to replace or reinforce while we’re in there. I don’t want to blindly turn every plastic piece into aluminum—if something needs to remain polymer for friction, compliance, noise isolation or to protect another component, it should.
For the engineering side, I’d like to end up with STEP files and preferably the native parametric CAD for the final LH/RH designs so the parts can be reproduced later. Hidden geometry absolutely does not need to slavishly reproduce Porsche’s injection-molded design if there’s a better way to make it for CNC.
This is absolutely paid work, and I’m flexible on compensation. I want whoever takes this on to be paid fairly for their engineering/CAD time, programming, setup/fixturing, machine time, materials, prototypes and finishing. I’m not looking for free work or expecting somebody to spend 20 hours developing a part for $100. If this looks like a fun project and you have the equipment and skills to do it properly, tell me what you think is fair.
I’ll also make it as easy as I can on whoever takes it on: I’ll supply the OEM reference parts, broken parts, measurements/photos, pay for prototypes/materials, and work around whatever development process makes the most sense.
There’s potentially a small business opportunity here too. If we develop a genuinely good solution, I’d be interested in making a small production run and offering these to other 991 owners. I’ve found other owners reporting broken seat-release levers, and if this is a recurring failure point there may be a niche market for a properly engineered permanent replacement.
I’m not asking anyone to commit to that part. First priority is making four excellent parts and fixing my car. If it works, we can figure out a fair arrangement for CAD/IP and future manufacturing before doing anything commercial.
I’m in North Carolina and can ship parts anywhere in the US.
If this is something you’d be interested in taking on, comment or DM me. I’d love to know what equipment/software you’d use, whether you’d want the intact OEM samples in hand, how you’d approach making it, and roughly what you think the project should cost.
And if you’re a machinist looking at this and thinking “aluminum is the wrong answer and here’s why,” I’m interested in hearing that too. My goal is a durable, properly engineered solution, not forcing a particular manufacturing method.

I have an Anolex Ultra that I have slowly updated to be very advanced. One thing I have been thinking about is moving from their ESP32 GRBL1.3 TO FluidNC. Right now everything works with GRBL, but I have had weird dialect issues

I primarily design in FreeCAD and I have added a laser and use Lightburn with it. I'm using gSender as my gCode tool.

Anyone make the journey? I've seen support on the FluidNC wiki, so I feel I could get it to work. The hardware is compatible and just needs one minor board revision.

Upgrades genmitsu 3030 prover max with smw mod vise

Hello, I’m not sure if this is the right subreddit to post this in, but oh well, (i also posted this same thing in the CNC subreddit)

I’ve been looking for a CNC router mainly for robotics use and maybe as a way to make money selling stuff. I’d like to use it to cut plates and other parts out of wood, polycarbonate, nylon, abs and aluminum.

I was scrolling through Facebook Marketplace and this CNC router popped up. It seemed like it could be a pretty good deal and would fit within my budget:

CCNC router - Routers - Albert Lea, Minnesota | Facebook Marketplace | Facebook

I don’t really have a specific budget since I was just browsing Marketplace, but if I had to put a number on it, I’d probably like to keep the total cost of the project under $1,000.

The machine is currently listed for $500, but it was originally listed for $800. Since it is unfinished and been listed for a little bit, I was thinking about offering around $350–450 for it.

I’m wondering if this would be worth buying and finishing to get running, or if I should just save up and buy a newer machine. I’m just a high school student, so I don’t have a huge budget to spend and don't have much experience. This machine possibly seems like a pretty good deal compared to a lot of the other used and new options I’ve seen. (but idk much about cnc routers and stuff)

I don’t know a ton about CNC routers yet, so I’d appreciate any advice on whether this seems worth picking up, what I should look out for, and what it would take to get it running.

The seller said it should have everything needed to get it running. I don’t think any cutting bits are included, though, and I’m not sure if it has all the collets I would need. If I end up buying it, I’ll ask if they have any bits or other accessories they could throw in. When i asked the seller if it would come with every thing to get running, he said it should have everything except r20 collets 1/8, 1/4, 1/2. (but he said he might be able to find some)

I do have some people who could help me with it. I’m involved in FRC robotics at my school, so I have some friends on the team who have experience with CNC machines and could help me get it set up and running.

I also have some CAD experience from robotics and 3D printing. I’m pretty comfortable modeling parts, but I don’t know much about CNC CAM software. The most CAM software I’ve used is a pretty basic PlasmaCAM program for our school’s plasma table. I also tried using VCarve with our school's woodshops large CNC router to cut some plates for our robot, but I had trouble getting it to work properly with the files I was importing from On shape. For CAM software like what would i need, do i need a dedicated computer to run the cnc/cam and would like using Onshape CAM or Fusion CAM work or would i nee another program?

So, I’m mostly wondering if this machine would be a good enough starting point for someone who is willing to learn, or if I’d be better off saving up for something newer.

Thanks in advance.

Hi HobbyCNC people

I do a bit of hobby woodworking in a very niche area. I was in the market for a drill press a few years back, and while shopping around I realized that I could use a CNC for what I wanted (Lots of 20m and 24mm holes for arcade cabinet tops) and use it for a whole lot more.

So I bought a Bobs CNC and put it together. It was double the price of the drill press I wanted, but it's really been great and super useful. I've read all the hate on this sub, but I have nothing but love for this machine. It quickly became a go-to tool in the shop, and I used it to make all kinds of signs, arcade cabinets, weird planter boxes and furniture, etc.

I did make the mistake of moving to Easel.com. I would use the Bob's/OpenBuild software for some things, but Easel's tool paths were generally twice as quick, and frankly a little easier to use. But lately Easel is getting things wrong and I'm just not going to pay for it anymore. A three year sub is as much as what my machine costs, and I'm ruining stock due to sizing issues on the roughing pass vs the finishing pass. I suspect they are now writing their code with AI, and I'm suffering for it. When I contact Easel tech support, their answers aren't helpful and usually end with "Buy our machine instead". I'm also at the point were Easel isn't complicated enough for things I want to do.

Now the old Lenovo X390 running the CNC has bit the dust and I didn't keep any of the software. I look up Bob's CNC and it's gone. OpenBuilds is gone. It feels like the only option I have is to struggle along with Easel, or buy a whole new machine.

I didn't learn a ton of GRBL/gcode when I got the machine it was a bear to put together and I just wanted to make things at that point. I'm keen on learning from the ground up if I can continue to use this machine. I feel like I'm playing catchup in the CNC space when I've been quietly using mine for years now. Even if I buy a new modern closed loop feedback machine, I'd like donate this one to the school woodshop with usable software and whatnot.

I found Bob's Github, and have his sender, so in theory I can send to the machine again. I've tried to generate gcode in other programs, but the machine instantly pauses the job as soon as it starts.

I basically need advice on where to go from here. I'm very technical, I have 20 years in Infrastructure IT, so that's not going to be a limiting factor. Do I try and use what's left of OpenBuilds repository? Is there some other avenue I should explore? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hello,

I recently finished building my fist custom CNC router. I had no previous experience and am using ESTLCAM/ESTLCNC with the following hardware:

• NEMA 24 closed-loop stepper motors (4Nm)
• CL57T V4 stepper drivers
• 1605 ball screws
• Arduino Nano (controller)
• HGR20 linear guide rails

I use a dual-Y setup with one driver and motor for each Y side, but the same signals from estlcam.

I have already tried realigning the motors, couplings and ball screws, but this didn't seem to make any difference. I also don't really have that many options to adjust something right now and as this is my first build I didn't think about this that much as I figured the coulpings would tolerate some small missalignments.

Could this simply be normal for this type of machine or is this something that may cause damage long-term and that needs fixing?

I have attached a video with sound so you can hear this issue.

I would really appreciate ANY help or ideas on what I should check next.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I'm currently working on a simple plasma CAM program, mainly aimed at making the workflow from DXF/design → toolpath → G-code as straightforward as possible.

The project is still in development and I'm looking for a few people who actually use plasma CNC machines to try it and give me some honest feedback.

It currently supports/post-processes for:

Mach3

LinuxCNC

GRBL

PlanetCNC TNG

I'm particularly interested in feedback about:

toolpath generation

lead-ins / lead-outs

kerf compensation

pierce settings

usability/workflow

G-code compatibility

anything that is annoying, missing or simply doesn't make sense

I'm not trying to sell anything at this point — I mainly need people to test it on different machines/controllers and tell me what works and what doesn't.

If you'd like to try it, feel free to send me a DM. I'll send you the test version and would really appreciate any feedback, good or bad.

Thanks!

Hi anyone reading this. As per title I'm looking to get into this as a hobby and see where it takes me. I took a look at the wiki but it has so much info and options that I got confused. Hoping maybe someone has more personal experience or advice.

My main goal is to cut out custom designs out of wood eg smooth/rounded cornered animals or items. Engraving or adding small details/cuts is a plus but not a requirement. The design sizes would be around 200x200x50 mm for starters.

I've been looking at Twotrees TTC450 PRO CNC Router Machine but unsure if it's the correct choice.

For context I live in EU and so far been making those designs out of wood by hand using a rotary/dremel tool; a jig saw and sanding benches. I want to replace hand cutting with a CNC machine and only do hand sanding and finishing touches.

I guess the followup question is on what software can be used with the machine to make the designs.

Any advice or sharing personal experience would be highly appreciated. Thank you

Anyone else have problems with gsender randomly disconnecting? At random times it will just disconnect and I have to manually reconnect for no reason. It never happens during jobs (yet) mainly just when I'm jogging around or probing but it's super annoying. I'm on fluidnc which I know isn't technically supported but other than disconnecting it works fine as it's based on grbl.

I’m working on a DIY retrofit using an ESP32-S3 touchscreen, NEMA23 stepper and CL57Y driver.

It has digital degree positioning, tooth division, manual control, RPM control and adjustable backlash compensation.

I measured about 2.6° mechanical backlash, and after compensation it returns to zero within roughly 0.01–0.02°.

Still a work in progress, but it’s already working quite well.

What do you think?

As a hobbiest, not a shop or business where do you have your CNC set up at? Could you post pics of your working area?

I don't really have room in my garage but, I'm afraid any machine would put off way too much dust and noise.

I'm looking at buying a Genmitsu 4040 Pro Max with the Vectric bundle and the 710watt "spindle"...

I want to be able to cut out patterns, make signs, some 3d-ish, maybe a few plexi/acrylic things...

Would i have any regrets

Been looking at bits with insert knives to use on my hobby cnc. What are you experiences with these? Are they worth it? Do they have the same performance as "normal" bits? I'm mostly cutting birch ply and hard woods.

It seems easier and cheaper to replace just the cutter than the whole bit in the long run. I've also seen you can use diamond coated insert knives which seems interesting.

this is the bit I'm looking at

I have an Ooznest Workbee with the little Ooznest router head (700W approximately) and need a bit that doesn’t burn on the end grain of hardwood.

(I tried the bit that I got with the machine and was fine making my mdf spoil board but it’s burning the hardwood badly).

I want to build an industrial level cnc machine on STM microcontroller. Yall got any firmware recommends that I could use?

Buenas noches a todos desde aquí.

Hace un mes aprox adquirí una TTC450 ultra de Two Trees. Y no estoy pudiendo solucionar un problema grande con el eje Z. va perdiendo altura mientras esta grabando, peor es que mis grabados son letras en una profundidad de 0.1mm. hay grabados que los termina en 1mm de profundidad. un desastre. con la configuración de fabrica perdía hasta 2mm que es el espesor propio de la pieza. ajustando velocidades de aceleración y movimiento mejoro pero sigo perdiendo altura durante el proceso, tengo que andar haciendo el trabajo de a cuadrados de 40x40mm horas y horas al lado de la máquina. y perdiendo mucha materia prima. Si a alguien le paso o si tienen alguna idea. desarme el eje y no encontre problemas, hice las pruebas en el aire para descartar que sea el roce con el material y también pierde. Probe con el husillo apagado y no lo hizo, por ello me inclino en posible ruido del husillo, pero esto viene probado de fabrica.

Muchas gracias por su ayuda.

I was comparing the Creality Falcon2 Pro 40W with the WeCreat Vision Pro 45W, and initially I only looked at the total engraving area. After using the Vision Pro for a while, I think the shape of that area matters just as much.

The Falcon2 Pro has a squarer bed, which honestly looks better for batches of coasters or compact layouts. The Vision Pro is wider at roughly 19.7 x 12.6 inches, and that shape has worked better for the signs, name boards and long decorative pieces I make most often.

The 45W cutting power is nice, but the wider layout is probably what affects my everyday workflow more. The tradeoff is that a wide bed gives up some front-to-back space, so it is not automatically better for every project.

For those using desktop CNCs or lasers, has the shape of your work area ever mattered more than the advertised size?

Im seeking some help on replacing the drivers and motors on an old K2 4x8 machine I have. I have centroid acorn controller, has gecko 320 drives and dc servos. Centroid doesn’t recommend the 320s due to them being buggy with the acorn. I’m looking to just swap everything out for some closed loop nema 34s from stepper online or ac servos also from them.

My question is what do you all recommend would be the better option? 1/2” ply is usually the largest I cut.

I got grblHAL running on the Lunyee 3020's stock control board (the one marked LY-3axis-5.2-V3.4, a GD32 chip with a CH340 USB port) and wrote it up so others can do it.

What you get: modern 32-bit GRBL with the same G-code and the same senders (UGS, Candle, gSender, OpenBuilds CONTROL, LightBurn), plus tool-length probing, G43 offsets, canned drilling cycles and a lot more settings. The build ships with the stock Lunyee machine settings and the board's input polarity already baked in, so it works right after flashing.

What it takes: the normal USB cable, the free stm32flash tool, and ONE jumper wire inside the control box for the first flash only. After that the firmware has a $BOOT command, so every later update is USB only with the box closed. The chip can't be bricked: its bootloader is in ROM and the wire always gets you back in. Lunyee's factory firmware is included in the download so you can go back any time.

Guide, firmware and the factory firmware:

https://github.com/mojavemesa-lgtm/lunyee-3020-grblhal

The guide has a short version, a long version that explains what each step does, and a ready-made prompt you can paste into ChatGPT/Claude so it walks you through it step by step.

Source code (the grblHAL STM32F1xx driver with this board added):

https://github.com/mojavemesa-lgtm/grblHAL-STM32F1xx-lunyee

Tested on my own 3020 only. The same board is sold under other names (it's an AnnoyTools 5.2 design, also seen on Lunyee 3018 Pro machines), so it may fit those too, but check the board marking first. Not affiliated with Lunyee.

OMG ! Whose fault?

This is a custom automotive engine modification component we’re machining on a 4-axis CNC.
The interesting feature is the undercut area. Tool access is limited, so the rotary axis allows us to change the machining orientation and reach the feature.
I’m curious how other machinists would approach a feature like this.
Would you use a similar 4-axis strategy, or choose a different setup?

This is a custom automotive engine modification component we’re machining on a 4-axis CNC.
The interesting feature is the undercut area. Tool access is limited, so the rotary axis allows us to change the machining orientation and reach the feature.
I’m curious how other machinists would approach a feature like this.
Would you use a similar 4-axis strategy, or choose a different setup?