gemini86
Well-known member
well, you can get the chinese controller on the cheap, and I've heard good things about them, I've heard awful things about them...
the steppers can be had from old dot-matrix printers, or randomly off ebay.
the steppers drivers can be DIY'd or baught for cheap (again, chinese on ebay)
it's the ball screws and the such that can get a little expensive, and of course, it all adds up. I've been wanting to build a small PCB plotter/drill/mill machine to speed up prototyping, but thought it would be nice to be able to to do face plates at the same time. Maybe just for etching/milling numbers and indicators, small holes for led's. Do the big drilling manually.
anyway, great thread, hope to see some cool faceplates spilling out of that thing soon enough.
the steppers can be had from old dot-matrix printers, or randomly off ebay.
the steppers drivers can be DIY'd or baught for cheap (again, chinese on ebay)
it's the ball screws and the such that can get a little expensive, and of course, it all adds up. I've been wanting to build a small PCB plotter/drill/mill machine to speed up prototyping, but thought it would be nice to be able to to do face plates at the same time. Maybe just for etching/milling numbers and indicators, small holes for led's. Do the big drilling manually.
anyway, great thread, hope to see some cool faceplates spilling out of that thing soon enough.