I came across the Makerslide product recently – see my post on my PCB CNC Machine Blog for the full skinny on this product.
Suffice to say, I thought I would have a go at modelling something using this product.
The current idea is a 4×2 machine:
This machine makes use of belts (not currently shown) with a “V” formation going to the drive gear on the stepper motor.
The idler gears and all of the “V” bearings are made of Delrin and use 2 x 625Z (5x16x5) bearings separated by a 1mm washer:
The extrusion itself sells for $0.01 per millimeter.
The 4×2 model above uses 2 x 1500mm lengths, a single 938mm length and a single 210mm length (in total this would cost $41.48)
It also uses 2 x 1000mm and 1 x 938mm length of 20×40 profile extrusion (£8.13 per metre) (total about $36.60)
4 x 150mm lengths of 20×20 profile (£2.90 per metre) (total about $2.61)
3 x Motor drive plates ($9.00 each) and 4 x carriage plates ($8.00 each) (total cost $59.00)
8 x eccentric spacers ($2.00 each), 8 x short spacers ($0.20 each), 12 x long spacers ($0.35 each) (total cost $21.80)
16 x V bearings ($2.85 each), 6 idlers (4.75 each), 3 gears ($5.50 each) (total $90.60)
About 14 feet of MXL belt ($2.40 per foot) (total $33.60)
OK, there are a load of items still missing from this shopping list, bolts, steppers, etc, but the sum of the items listed is $285.69 or about £190.50, that is a seriously cheap machine!
This also does not include shipping costs, the only one I really need to worry about is that for the Makerslide itself, the rest would fit in a suitable sized packet or shipping box.