Clem‘s numerical control – or how I learned to dig through a pile of parts. Introducing the project.

I‘m Clem , you may know me as one of the hosts of element14 presents.
What you may not know, is that for the longest time a project has been lingering in the background of my videos. It is a CNC mill, built form project leftovers and parts collected over the last few years. I planned to work on it in between projects, but the reality of prototyping and video production dictates that such side projects have to be put off most of the time.
But that is about to change.

{gallery}CNC introduction

My CNC project was always planned to be weird and different, but it slowly evolved into the idea of building a machine specifically for the machining needs of my little prototyping venture.

We are entering a CNC building Series that forces me to finally finish this project and gives me the opportunity to explore more cutting edge tech related to motor controls and power systems as well as

build and operate the tried and tested building blocks of common CNC machines for enthusiasts and home users.

I will blog about this project over the next several months on Element14.com and occasionally do quick clips on my socials (@mayermakes on all major the platforms).
So what are we (yes I need YOUR, input help, advise) going to do exactly?

• Rebuild the CNC project from scratch utilizing parts I already have on hand and decide on additional parts to complete the project.
  

• Explore the latest offerings in Motors, drivers and control systems to get a grasp on how they relate to the use case of a maker/prototyping business/product development.

• Build the most basic versions out of commonly available and low budget parts and Control solutions.
  
  Wrap our findings up in custom built electronics. AKA manufacturing our own Electronics.
  

• Compare the High End and Basic version in theory and practice. To learn where it is beneficial to cut cost or spend more on a better version.

• Conceptualize alternative motion systems, Cooling and machining solutions (I‘m thinking of ECM- electro-chemical machining , the low tech brother of EDM- electric discharge machining).

• Put all our findings together to form a working useful machine that hopefully inspires other people on the element14 community to build their own fabrication machines specifically for their use cases.

We will start our journey in my next post with an analysis of the status quo.
Go over parts that are already part of the project and some of their pros and cons.
Make sure to post your Ideas and Feedback in the comments so I can incorporate them in the project, of course I’m also happy to answer any questions you might have related to CNCs or similar machines as far as my knowledge reaches!

This blog is a part of Clem's CNC Control Project.  Click the Next button to the right to go to the next blog.