I'm thinking of building my own CNC machine to build panels and gauges for my cockpit. I wonder how many fellow SimHQ'ers have their own CNC machines or deal with one at work? I would love to hear about experiences when using CNC, like how easy is it to use? What are the common problems you encounter?

Would like to hear from others with home made CNC machines too. I plan to construct mine out of MDF.

My "toolshed" is filling up pretty quick!

Also wondering if anyone has any interest in CNC'ed MDF panels for cockpit builds? If I'm making this, might as well do some odd jobs to recover my investment costs. UK or EU guys only. And I'm planning to go with 6mm MDF, will probably "expand" into acrylics later on once I know what I'm doing.

I suspect that the CNC machine will quickly become the main project. Building a CNC router is a pretty big investment in both money and time, and most people that have built one seem to say that it would have been cheaper to buy one already made, or a kit.

I built one but by itself I didnt find it enough for panel/cockpit building a laser is a good additional thing for panel building as it can engrave and cut. When it cuts it can also cut inside square corners.

Here is the one I built cutting out a part for a racing pit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWvw8wlmpIs

It is a big investment for my limited budget. However, I am quite OCD and easily get annoyed by the slightest deviation. A CNC would help greatly. Plus have you seen the plans for any ACES II seat replica? No way can you make 4 nice curved pieces for the seat with any bit of accuracy... not unless you do woodwork for a living!

metalnwood, don't make things even more complicated for me by mentioning a laser!! **psst! how much did the laser cost?**
Nice vid, what is your CNC machine size? I am guessing it is a professional machine though? Router or laser?

Correct, it can take some money. I made mine entirely out of aluminium so it is solid and rigid but that much aluminium costs a lot of money and needs the right tools to work with.

The working table size on the one I built was around 1500x1200.

Before the CNC I had to use a few things to make patterns for things that had curves etc. Any part of the pattern that had straight lines was cut accurately on a dropsaw or tablesaw and then the curves were cut on a jigsaw or bandsaw and then finished on an oscillating spindle sander. The sander with different sized spindles allowed you to get perfect curves.

Once the template was done it was use with a router to make copies.

The laser costs more than you want to know It also has a working area of 1500x1200 and I bought that one.

Hehehe... you are right on the money part. The funny thing is I am building a basic F-16 cockpit, no fancy gauges or angled side consoles. Functional, easy to build, cheap materials. Then I am talking about a CNC jig that costs at least £600. Something is wrong with me.

I think I better stop dreaming out getting/making a CNC for now. My pit materials costs close to £100 and that is expensive for me, no way am I spending 6x more just to build a machine that will allow me to build a £100 pit.

It's all good for those who have businesses that can help them recover the cost of building one, unfortunately I don't have one.

Hi ice I work with Cnc punch presses which are ideal when making panels and boxes from steel, the firm I work for manufactures cable management systems, I've made a few projects for myself and friends in the past, it helps that I'm the guy who designs all the stuff we sell lol. If ever I needed panels or boxes for a pit then I'm sorted. We only really use 0.9mm, 1.2mm, 1.5mm and 2mm thick cold rolled per galvansied sheet steel. I've got a picture of in show your pit thread which shows a monitor stand that I knocked up and since then I've made a center mount for my stick.

If you are still interested in building your own CNC, I built mine for about 1200.00. It can cut a 4x8 sheet of plywood etc. Here is my build thread:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cnc_ro...cess_story.html

It was not a long chore (did it over a weekend but I do have a nice shop to work with), and even though the final price after buying Gcode or CAM software (V-Carve Pro and PhotoVcarve) was 1800.00 or so it was much much cheaper than buying a pre-made units. I could have gotten by with a cheaper CAM software but V-Carve Pro is extremely simple to use. The table and software to move the table (Mach3) was 1200.00. You will still need a CAD program (I use DesignCAD 3D...about 20.00 on Amazon.com).

Joes is always a good starting point..

http://www.joescnc.com/kitsplans.php