Hello everyone, I have been mulling over adding cnc capabilities to my workshop for the last few years and im finally pretty set on it but now i decide whether to build or buy and so much information overload has given me a case of analysis paralysis so im just going to ask the questions i have Being in the UK the ooznest is the most well known option for a kit and will set me back £1400-£1600 at a minimum for between 750x1000mm and 1500x1500m. How much better can something be build for the same cost in a similar style? Or how much cheaper if someone where to acquire the parts themselves *time not considered* could they build something = ooznest (Im not expecting much cheaper at all given i imagine its a lot of Chinese brought parts) Secondly im hoping for a quick and concise list of parts; at least the parts that wont change between build options such as servos/stepper, rails, ball screws, etc and the common size/power/style such as 8mm/10mm/12mm for the screws Thank you very much for any help
If you don't know enough to start designing your own machine- or the research to start information-gathering on how you might go about it- and you have a budget, a timeline, and some expectation of relatively predictable results, I would strongly recommend just buying the kit. I'm all about people designing their own machines, but it's not a quick, simple, or predictable process and often isn't cheap either (scope creep'll get you every time). You need to understand the fundamentals of machines, which is a few weeks of reading and video watching, before even starting. As for parts... As with all things machine-design, it depends on what you're doing. It's the worst answer ever, but unfortunately it's the only accurate one. Gotta learn enough to know what you need to know, if you see what I mean. Most people are gonna use NEMA 23 steppers with either 8mm lead screw or 16mm ball screw, I can tell you that much. Doesn't usually change. Rails vary, though I recommend them. Everything else is up in the air. This, of course, isn't to say that a kit will magically spring together into a functional machine if you don't learn what you're doing either. I've seen a lot of disappointed people because they bought all the parts and still didn't really grasp the basics of machines or machining, so couldn't progress in any meaningful way.
I should add, i am fine when it comes to numbers, engineering, electronics, building the things, etc, but very that way inclined due to autism; not so good with word information overflow so i know what i need etc but struggle to bring it down to a concise enough plan to not be overwhelmed. I have definitely spent a lot more than a few weeks of research and watching videos and understand the fundamentals Luckily i have all the time in the world at the moment and enjoy the making of the things as much as the using of the things in the workshop! The plan is to buy the parts incrementally while i continue to learn to use the software and build it in 3~ months when i have everything so i want a parts list in advance to keep creep at bay, at least at first. I don't have the money to upgrade and change and replace more and more currently anyhow. There are 100's if not 1000's open source online and within there own style of build, most are 90% the same already and i wont be able breaking any moulds if i tried to design my own but i would like do what's out there better than it comes off the shelf. My main question in this to put it more specifically; Could an ooznest workbee clone be build to a higher standard for the same price if i sourced better parts myself instead of covering the premium of a company shipping in all parts from china and selling it as a ready-to-build kit + advertising, etc? Of course its a varied question and not an easy answer, but as a general guideline given the average users circumstances, is it possible? thank you for the parts part, knowing its nema 23 helps a bunch. It has made me wonder why x2 the dia. for ball screws over lead screws.. Locally a 1000mm 16mm dia. ball screw is £240 each, the 8mm ball screw is £90 each. On the other hand i could go as far as getting 4000mm of 25mm dia. lead screws for £200. How come its not 16mm lead or 8mm ball ?
Hard following the logic here as if it is being shipped from China, it already is a clone. Genuine Ooznest WorkBees only come from Ooznest and in your case won't require long distance shipping. So you're asking if you can build better quality than a cut rate clone at the same price? Probably not. Once you break down all the parts and all the separate shipping charges you probably won't find it economical. Also how do you determine if you're getting better parts? You paid more for them so that makes them better? The beauty of buying directly from Ooznest is customer service. If you get some bad parts they will replace them quickly, without hassle and without question. You generally don't get that from many of the China vendors. And even when you do you'll see replacements in 3 to 6 weeks. All that being said, can you build a better machine than the WorkBee at a reasonable price? Yes you can. If you're planning to go 1500x1500 take a look at the OpenBuilds LEAD CNC Machine 1515 (60" x 60") - OpenBuilds Part Store. It solves the issue of the torsional rolling of the X-axis due to the weight of the spindle hanging so far out from the center of the axis. Ooznest can probably pack such a kit together if you ask. But can you do better than that at a reasonable price? Linear rails are really not that much more than the sum total of the wheels in these kits. But then you get into custom plates. If you can design them, you can get them. But at what price? This is where the can of worms begins. Ditto for adding in ball screws.
Sorry, to clarify on that- I was assuming that ooznest get most if not all of there parts from china and the costs the end user would incur due to the shipping from warehouses in China to warehouses in England, testing/checking of parts, the making up of the kits, etc. I did just look and they make a few bits here (extrusions, wires, plastic parts and controller) by them or others local. Cost isn't the only factor, but it is a good one. We can safely assume a better quality from a British/american made part coming from a engineering supplier than similar from an auction site at 25%-50% the price in terms of metal composition, finish, tolerances, etc. Especially things like bearings its not much more cost to get the best you can find over the cheapest than can be gotten away with; Again its an assumption that kits come with "the cheapest they can get away with" but its a fair bet I would like to get better for the motors, screws, rails and controller so i don't have to upgrade or replace them for a good while. Totally agree when it comes to the china vendors though, i considered a quenbe pro for all of 10 seconds before i saw all the flaws in going that route. Not least the fact that the final cost after shipping makes it only very marginally cheaper for a loss of that customer support, quick replacement and community and once i paid customs it would probably have been about the same price. I got totally overwhelmed looking at openbuilds, to many options to really go though and figure out which to go for but ill check the link after i sleep to try and get an idea of the price of a aliexpress cost and a local cost side by side
Yes agree, most of it is coming from China but OpenBuilds and Ooznest have trusted vendors they can set specifications with. OpenBuilds' bearings are custom made for OpenBuilds. Same with the wheels, same with the screws. The lead screw nuts are not the same as the ones commonly found in the China markets. They are machined rather than injection molded.
Replacing the fake parts with genuines later on when the machine fails to work / dies prematurely should also factor into your cost planning. The search bar up top has enough real world examples of those particular vendors and their horror stories, feel free to use the Search above
Just a small point - Ooznest pride themselves on sourcing most of their parts in the UK, and the rest as an official reseller, directly from OpenBuilds in the US. Otherwise I'd agree with the advice above - you won't get better support from any suppliers than you will from Ooznest (or OpenBuilds of course). If you do opt for Ooznest I would recommend the ethernet version of the Duet controller they favour, or you can get an OpenBuilds BlackBox (see https://docs.openbuilds.com/blackbox ) from them - the choice would be influenced by your favoured cad/cam software. Alex.
Yeah, I get that. Information overload can be tough. You'd want to work backwards- what do you want to do with the machine, and then figure out what styles of machine are best for that type of work. Extrusion? Maybe. Plates? No. This kind of effort is best off when you already have a machine to make parts on and just want to expand your capacity. Peter's point about replacing parts is not flippant- we see that a LOT. You'd have to have your own way of making accurate plates. If you're good, that could be a jigsaw and a drill press. Some of my plates are still made that way even though I have a machine to make them on. You're not typically going to get better parts out of China than an existing company who can leverage purchasing contracts to maintain quality levels. You'll end up buying more and doing the QC yourself, which doesn't really save anything. It depends what you want to do, I guess. If you just want to learn, designing your own small belt-driven machine with inexpensive components is relatively easy. That's what I did, still works well. If you actually want a machine to make parts on, I'd get a LEAD with high-Z mod and figure out what I do and don't like about it before starting on mods/upgrades/using it to build a new machine.
Thanks for all the advice and information everyone. What i want to do should be fairly easy on even a rather flimsy cnc machine- custom designs on pieces for home improvement- cupboard doors, skirting, etc and likely smaller parts for thing a make in the workshop and i don't except to need more of it as i can cut sheet/soft metals on the bandsaw. The replacing of failed parts is really why i'd like to build my own with better quality parts out of the gate, especially for electronics. I went out this morning and had a look around the local industrial estates and while i can get british made, high quality parts over the counter i can't find 750mm ball screws; buying all 1000mm and cutting to 750 where needed would cost £600+ alone. The plates i will likely buy depending on the build, i have a bunch of 1/2" steel plate laying around but its a huge job for an angle grinder and a surface plate/sand paper So it looks like i will likely just buy a kit, if possible without so i can source/or ill replace bearings and motors right away
