Linux controlled CNC!

So the magic box contained a 3 axis CNC! Very very cool.  I have made PCBs for years, and have come to two realizations, chemical etching sucks with unreliable results and professionally made PCBs can take lots of time and money, especially for single prototypes.  I bought this CNC to make PCBs on demand and on the cheap.  I also plan on cutting basic plastic and metal parts, but mostly PCBs.

I purchased the unit from Ebay from the seller “igoodmart2011” for about $900 USD.  Here is a search for CNC 3040.  The one I purchased included the blue control box however does not have the water cooled spindle

Here are some specs for the unit

• “No name” “CNC 3040” from China
• 3 axis (X, Y, Z)
• 300 x 400mm area (275 x 385 x 55mm working area)
• Motors: two-phase 57/1.8A steppers
• Repeat positioning Accuracy：0.05mm
• Manual spindle control: 1000~8000RPM/MIN
• Parallel port interface

The unit was shipped from LA and arrived here in Colorado in about 4 days.  The unit was mostly assembled in the box.  The frame and was assembled, the table the material sits on was attached and all cables and cable trays were run and attached.  The stepper motors were in a separate box and were attached without issue to the 3 axis shafts.  The controller box also connected up quickly as all cables were marked.  Attachment to the PC was done via an included parallel cable.

One thing to note, a DVD was included in the package, and when I tried to read it on a Windows machine it said it was blank.  If you plan on using the provided software on the CD make sure you can contact the seller to get a copy if the DVD doesn’t work.  I personally didn’t care because I am going to  control the machine via LinuxCNC, however a digital manual would have helped.

I’ll do another post explaining how to setup and control the machine.

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1. The start of the Nixie Clock | myBitBox — October 9, 2012 @ 7:28 pm

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