Desktop CNC solutions - any advice?

[nobrot]

OK, so having shelled out a small fortune for CNC cuts at the local favricators, I am seriously thinking about purchasing a desktop CNC rig for my panels.

 

I really like the look of the mydiycnc, link below. I would appreciate any advice on this or other kits, or sub $1000 dolar solutions....

 

http://www.mydiycnc.com/complete_kit

 

Thanks..

[metalnwood]

I already responded in your other thread but I would ask GliderUK to give you a price for doing the panels. He is using a laser and that will deliver you much better quality than the cnc engraving.

 

There is the cost of the cnc and then you have to pay for the materials etc and you will spend a lot of time to get the technique right. The cnc router is not the best for engraving on panels either.

 

Then there is the issue of that machine being so bloody small!

[Warhog]

Its not so much the price of the machine as it's all of the other things you haven't considered. You need to buy software to draw up the panels and you have to learn how to use it. Then you have to buy software to create your G-coding for the CNC machine to act on and of course then you have to learn how to use it. Then there's the tooling. My first good machine cost me $2000.00. Then I spent $6000.00 just on tooling. You won't need as much as I did as I also do a lot of metal work but good end mills and engraving cutters aren't cheap. And of course you will break a lot at the beginning as you don't know what your doing. And finally (not really:P) you need the material to make the panels.

 

I'm not trying to discourage you but rather give you some insight into all the other odds and ends to make this idea work. I spent a year bringing myself up to speed on doing CNC work and I already had 20 years using AutoCAD so I wasn't a complete newbie. A laser engraver might have a much shorter learning curve. Although I have no experience with using them I look at them being much the same as a laser printer in that you don't need as complicated a setup to print your image so to speak. You might want to spend some time on CNCZone. Its a forum for CNC (obviously) and they can provide assistance if you choose to go this route.

BTW, the quality you can get with a CNC machine is perfectly fine. Yes a laser is better for different reasons and you probably couldn't tell the difference from 18" away as you can see from my panels.

 

Best of luck with your endeavour.

[nobrot]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I have emailed Glider to get an idea of what the costs would be to just purchase a full set. The jury is still out, but I am leaning towards just buying the lot and being done with it...

 

@WarHog, nice looking panel, and I can see the engraving quality is very good, the material looks like one of the laminates? How well does it do with the back-lighting?

[Warhog]

The backlighting started out as not so good but it's fine now. I had to remove a bit of material on the backside of each panel where ever there was lettering on the front side. It was too thick for the LED's to shine through so I just did a mirror image of each panel and used that to create pockets of removal and I think all I did was remove .025" worth of material and "voila" excellent backlighting.

 

I use three LED strips inside each panel box and that was enough light to have everything shine through without it being too bright when the room lights are off.

 

I must say it is really cool to do a night mission with the room black and only the monitor and the panel lights on. The sense of emersion is fabulous.

 

As I didn't have enough room to build a full size cockpit (I wish:() I had to resort to a more flexible type of operation so this is what I ended up with:

 

 

 

They're a little more portable so I can change my setup easily. I'm also planning another panel for my radios and ILS and TACAN. I find it a real pain to make quick changes to frequencies etc. on the fly (pun:music_whistling:) in the middle of combat or some other issue that requires your full attention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BTW, the cost of material for both of these boxes was surprising.

 

50 odd switches $150

70 LEDs $100

LED strip lights $50

4 interface boards $450

11 potentiometers $25

10 push buttons $20

two rotary switches $25

Two panel boxes $180

Misc hardware $???

 

That's $1,000. My time own time for design, fabrication, wiring, testing...more testing etc. and if I had to purchase each panel as well... the cost would be prohibitively expensive. Good thing I REALLY like my A10.:lol:

 

As I said before... don't get scared off but rather plan for what you really need and then it will be money well spent.

[nobrot]

WarHog, excellent use of the space you have, and I bet that the night missions are totally immersive, ingenious pit, m8, very inspirational, thanks for your advice.

 

I am quickly realizing that I am unlikely to be flying the pit at Christmas (which was my original goal, in fact I am wondering if it will ever be finnished!! But the journy will be fun, more high-level cruise than low and fast :)