SolidCarve CNC Machine
This project was funded from Hack Club Blueprint. This is the entire journal process from building it. Although I never got to actually build the project, and i doubt i ever will. this project taught me a lot about CAD, CNC, and machining.
10/10/2025 - Idea-fication for CNC
For the past few days I have been searching to see if making a good router under 400 dollars is even possible. It should cut wood very well, and should be able to get decent results with aluminum plates. I only need 18in by 18in cutting space.
I first started looking online and on YouTube for videos of people who made a CNC router just to see how difficult it would be. Honestly, the assembly did not look too bad, since they were using aluminum extrusion. So, I made a generic sketch of what I wanted the machine to look like and what materials I would need:
1. FRAME
This is one of the most important variable to making a capable machine (according to ChatGPT) so I started looking online for aluminum extrusions, just like I saw in the videos. Turns out aluminum in a specific shape is EXPENSIVE. Now, I had no idea how the budget would be split, so I thought it would all work out. But after I estimated the costs for everything else, I realized the frame could not be made out of aluminum extrusion.
There are two other options that could work for me: Wood Steel tubes
Both have their pros and cons, but wood is probably way too flimsy for aluminum cutting, which I really need. The problem with Steel tubes is not the price (they are pretty cheap) but the tools required to actually assemble everything. You would either need a welder (no way) or a bunch of brackets and bolts. But to attach bolt onto steel, you need a capable drill or drill-press, and a good tap to make threads. Also a saw to cut the tubes. Luckily, if you buy all the tools on Facebook marketplace, the final price is STILL half the price of aluminum extrusions, and I get a bunch of free tools as well.
Besides the frame material, I have not yet designed anything, which is the next step.
2. ROUTER/SPINDLE
This is what most people think of when they learn about the cnc router. But, surprisingly the router is not nearly as important as the frame rigidity. This is why I decided to go with the popular Makita router which I can get on ebay for 50 - 75 dollars. This should save me from all the extra stuff in buying a plain motor (spindle).
3. LINEAR GUIDE
Forget the frame, THIS is the most important thing for the whole project. Linear guides can make or break a cnc router. I had 5 main choices:
Genuine Linear rails (too expensive: budget is blown just on these) Ali Express Linear rails (It is hard to get consistent products) Linear rod (too flimsy) V wheels and aluminum extrusion (I am already using flat steel tubes and it is still too flimsy) SUPPORTED linear rails (perfect balance of price and rigidity)
I decided to go with supported linear rails. They are popular in DIY builds and should not take more than 100 - 150 dollars of the budget I hope.
4. ELECTRONICS/MOTOR
This is pretty straightforward. I will go with NEMA 17 or NEMA 23 stepper motors. I will probably start the brain with an Arduino with shield or an old laptop with stepper drivers. The electronics are the most upgradable part of the build I think, so I am not too worried about this.
5. MISC
This includes the spoil board, bits for cutting, and all the nuts, bolts, etc. This should not cost more than $50.
Budget:
Frame: $50 - $75 including tools Router: $50 - $75 (Makita) Linear guides: $100 - $150 Electronics: $100 Misc: $50
The total is $350 - $450 which is pretty good. I can pay the difference if the cnc ends up a few over.
farewell
I spent 14hrs over 1 week just researching this project (I am highly inefficient) and I think I have enough of a foundation to design the build in Fusion360. I have attached picture of metal tube because there is not much else to show.
Very helpful (Unfinished though): cncroutersource
10/15/2025 - Made a rough design of the CNC
So for the past 5 days, I have been struggling to design this robot. But before we get into that here are af ew changes to the design:
Alluminum extrusion instead of steel tube: Steel takes so much equipment and Maintainance which I underestimated. Alluminum extrusions have more of an upfront cost, but for my first machine, the ease of assembly and maintenance will outweigh the rigidity of the steel. Besides, my machine Is not too large.
Fixed gantry: I have no idea if I went over this last time, but I am going to be using a fixed gantry design instead of a moving gantry. I just find fixed gantries much more straightforward and rigid to build even though they take up more space.
linear rails: I decided that even though linear rails cost a LOT, if I plan my budget properly, I should be able to use them. I am not too sure about this right now, but my rough draft does use linear rails currently.
OK, so now back to what I have been doing for the last 5 days. I first started just going straight into modeling something (I dont really have too much cad experience), but it ended up like this.
Now It might not look too bad, and honestly I dont really remember why I restarted, but I did. V2 looked like this:
not the most beautiful or thought out design. I think the problem was I just started modeling the final copy without even knowing my design yet.
After some time, I realized that this design was not going to work, so I decided I would restart it AGAIN but this time with the z axis assembly, because that felt like its own little thing seperate from the rest
Geuss how long this took. 2 hours. Honestly I dont know how the time flew by, but I am guessing it was because every time I added something, I first looked at the price of it on Ali express, then I found a good cad model on grabbed, then I put it into the design without even having a plan for how everything was going to work together. I realized this wouldn't work. and I decided I should design everything on paper first.
Here's the thing, I suck at drawing. I have no sense of dimension. So I decided I would make my rough copy on fusion. This way it was easier to see how everything would work together, before added screws and complex shapes. So, in about 1 hour, I whipped up this very very rough draft.
Honestly, even on a design standpoint, this looks probably worse than the others, but the point is I have some idea of how this will look. tomorrow I can refine the rough draft, and then work piece by piece to bring it into a final product. So I am pretty proud of it :)
Ok bye.
10/16/2025 - Beefed up the rough draft
Today I beefed up the cnc router rough draft with some brackets, feet, extra beams, plates, etc. I also switched back to steel because aluminum is way too expensive. I will probably switch back and forth a few times while I am designing though. So far the plan should be to finish the draft tomorrow and finish the final cad over the long weekend my school has.
10/20/2025 - modeled the base frame.
I turned the rough draft of the base from last journal and turned into something that COULD be built. It's not perfect, and probably more of a rough draft than a final product, but I am pretty happy about how it turned out. I do want to change the piece that connects the ball screw to the plate, but that can wait. Also I didn't put in the ball screw brackets because they top not need any extra pieces and can just be screwed on to the steel tube.
10/21/2025 - modeled the z axis
Topday I modeled the z axis. Honestly, I think I like it more than the base frame since the pieces look less awkward and it came together pretty well. I made it a little too long because the tool doesn't reach all the way down when I raise it up but it is honestly fine. I am moving to the y axis which I hope will be easier
10/22/2025 - finished V1 of the router
Today I built the Y axis and finished the V1 of the CNC router. It is looking pretty good but there are a few things I want to improve on. First, I forgot to add the motor on the axis, I can probably reuse the one on the z axis. Also the router does not reach all the way to the wasteboard, I will fix by moving the router down on the mount or just shortening the Y axis.I also have not even started on the electronics, and I have no idea what I will do.
Here are the pictures:
Here is the plan for this week (I want to get the repo and design done)
Thu: add screws and details to all the components, run FEM to find weak points (first time) Fri: go over the design, think about electronics, post to edit, cnczone, and cncroutersource for feedback Sat: revise design and start the repo. Estimate the cost and make changes if there are issues. Sun: if all goes well, finish the repo and submit for review.
10/23/2025 - Refined the design
I made the router reach lower by shortening the y axis. I also added a motor to the y axis but its still pretty rough the bracket. I spent most of the time trying to do FEA (finite element analysis with fusion, but my parts are really messy and complex and it would take too long to do FEA especially as a beginner.
10/27/2025 - a few changes...
So there are a few changes to the project.
1: the cnc machine I have access to doesn't cut steel. SO I will have to use alluminum which will deffinetly be a bottleneck for the steel tubes 2: This one kind of solves #1, but there are a lot of local welders on Facebook marketplace who look like they would do a decent job for a decent price. I can use the weak alluminum to hold the frame in place and then weld everything together 3: I started working on the repo. In hindsight I should have done this earlier, but it's prob fine. 4: BOLTS ARE SOOO EXPENSIVE. Turns out buying 100 70mm M10 bolts takes up half the budget on its own. I only allocated around 40 dollars for bolts but since I am welding the frame and brackets anyways, I was thinking I can use 10 bolts to slowly bolt different parts of the frame together, weld it, and then take the bolts off and boil in another bracket. I don't know if any welders would do such a custom project for less than 50, but I don't care too mu8ch about the quality of the welds, I just need someone who can weld. 5: almost finished the BOM. I just need to get quotes on the steel parts and plates. Right now I am looking at two industrial places near me who sell stuff and one random person on Facebook marketplace who is selling what I need. 6: literally in the middle of writing this, I realized you can not weld alluminum and steel together. duh. So that means that my brackets will only be used for aligning the tubes, then I will remove them. I feel that impedes the strength though, because the brackets protected against like bending back and forth forces on the gantry. but there is a solution... Since I only really care about the 4 big gantry plates, and maybe 4 frame plates. That's not a lot of metal. And since the metal is reletively thin, an angle grinder aught to do the job for some rough shapes. I can finish off with a printed template and a drill press to make a less accurate, but still good bracket. I will have to se if there is extra space in my budget though...
here are renders of the cnc (first time rendering)
10/29/2025 - My last journal before submitting.
Hello this is my last journal before submitting. I polished up the repo and everything. But the main reason for this journal is my plan for the next 2 - 3 weeks which I hope to finish the cnc.
week 1: get nuts and bolts from scrap yard, order everything, cut holes in tubes. week 2: start receiving stuff, bolt together frame, assemble the z axis week 3: get everything and assemble together.
Let's see how it goes. This is definitely going to be a build-heavy project...
Here is schematic of electronics (using Tb6600)
11/1/2025 - fixed BOM
I know I said last time it was the last journal before submitting, but I realized as soon as I went to the actual checkout page in Ali express, it jumped the price up around 50 bucks. I also was looking around ebay and saw a killed deal on some motors. so I decided to redo the BOM. Well, I did it. some changes are upgrading to HGR20 (good price on ebay), using nema 23 on all axis, and using ripoff makita router.
11/4/2025 - A little update on STEEL
So if you looked at the box in my last journal, you will notice that it does not include the steel tube and plate necessary for the frame. as well as the bolts, spoil board, and tapping set
well, all of these things I am getting by myself out of the budget. The bolts is for 5 bucks on Facebook marketplace, the spoilbourd is also a few bucks on fb. The real challenge was getting the steel. I think I have found a good place for steel right now, but my quest for steel goes back many, many moons ago.
After I realized I wanted to use steel tubes a few journals ago, I started looking on Home Depot and Lowes for affordable steel. Wayyyyy too expensive.
I went down a manufacturing rabbit hole, finding steel suppliers near me. I found one and I was super excited, I thought the steel would be really really cheap because they were not shipping it. But, the total cost was 150 dollars. :(
I went on reddit, a lot of people were talking about second hand steel from scrap yards or drops (extra pieces when you cut to size) from steel manufacturers. I thought scrapyards was the way to go, I reached out to two near me
One couldn't sell material, they only bought it
One had no idea if they had steel tube and it was too far for me to check
So my next option was place where there could be offcuts, mostly fabrication shops. No one replied
I was running out of options so I started going on Facebook marketplace. Nothing. then I went on craigslist and searched for steel tubing after a lot of scrolling I found a steel tube for 2 dollars per foot but the steel was very rusted and it was 2.25" x 2.25" which wasn't the best.
So I went back to searching through steel suppliers near me, asked a quote from one. The quote came out to 130 dollars, but then I realized, they probably carried a lot of drops from their cut to size feature. I reached out and they said they did, but I would have to come to see the sizes.
It is one hour away
But the good news is there are a few other stores nearby, I think also a metal supermarkets store.
Also I submitted the second time and the feedback was to include firmware. I asked support and they said a requirement.txt was enough since I was using a preexisting cnc firmware: fluidNC. I dont know how I am going to add firmware, so...
