I started assembling my Lumenlab Micro desktop CNC gantry robot and “personal manufacturing workstation”.

All your base are belong to Lumenlab

I was originally going to save a few dollars by making a base for the machine out of MDF, an idea that I never really liked that much. So I started looking for suitable aluminum plate to make my own version of the sweet aluminum base that Lumenlab sells, rather than stoop to the level of MDF. I quickly realized that strong FLAT aluminum isn’t cheap at all, and when you add in the cost of hardware, the machining, etc. making my own was a bit of a false economy, and not that fun, so I decided to just order the micro base from Lumenlab. I’m glad I did. The base is a nice piece. It’s cast, then decked flat and the Lumenlab folks were kind enough to machine a grid of tapped holes into the bed. The included hardware kit includes a bunch of studs that you can insert into the holes wherever you need a hold-down for your work piece. Very Handy.

Machine Assembly

This first phase went together really quickly, the ways were straight, the lead screws were nice, the hardware was all there, the plastic blocks were all drilled, tapped and ready, it was a snap.

Next up: Wiring up the electrtronics, setting up the computer and trying out some MOTION!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 9:43 pm and is filed under Electronics, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.