CNC mill for blade carving, Aluminum forge for misc parts.

[cr8zy1van]

I have been wanting a CNC mill for the longest time to carve wind blades, but haven't found one in my price range (or size). After seeing some people make very accurate machines out of random parts I decided to craft my own. My machine will have 9 foot (X) x 2.5 foot (Y) x 1 foot (Z) travel so should be able to carve most any blade for home grown machines. I also plan on adding a rotary table or (A) axis so I should be able to carve it in one sweep.

Before anyone tells me my machine isn't structurally rigid enough, I am going to start cutting foam and testing the electronics, then casting the foam pieces in aluminum and adding them for strength. I don't plan on milling metal with it so it should suffice. I attached a picture of the mockup, as well as my aluminum forge. My crucible should hold about 200 cubic inches.


I am just finishing my forge built from a 15 gallon drum and refractory.

[fabricator]

Put me down for three 102" blades. : )

[cr8zy1van]

Sure thing

I do plan on making blades for people on consignment. I think it could be fun trying new curved designs. I have always wanted to try making a blade set with dimples like a golf ball, but manually that would be impossible.

I stiffened up the gantry with some aluminum last night and re-calculated the stepper sizes. I think I should end up with a pretty fast machine as long as I use 10 tpi screws. I have some worries about my z axis since I will be casting it from solid aluminum, but want to keep it as light as possible without sacrificing rigidity. Now if only all the parts would show up in the mail I'd be up and running!

[fabricator]

Looks like a cool project, I'm itching to see the thing running.

[brokengun]

That looks really cool! Is there software available to run it or do you have to write it yourself?