Build Your Own CNC Machine (PDF)

Do you like to build things? Are you ever frustrated at having to compromise your designs to fit whatever parts happen to be available? Would you like to fabricate your own parts? Build Your Own CNC Machine is the book to get you started. CNC expert Patrick Hood-Daniel and best-selling author James Kelly team up to show you how to construct your very own CNC machine. Then they go on to show you how to use it, how to document your designs in computer-aided design (CAD) programs, and how to output your designs as specifications and tool paths that feed into the CNC machine, controlling it as it builds whatever parts your imagination can dream up.

Don't be intimidated by abbreviations like CNC and terms like computer-aided design. Patrick and James have chosen a CNC-machine design that is simple to fabricate. You need only basic woodworking skills and a budget of perhaps $500 to $1,000 to spend on the wood, a router, and various other parts that you'll need. With some patience and some follow-through, you'll soon be up and running with a really fun machine that'll unleash your creativity and turn your imagination into physical reality.

• The authors go on to show you how to test your machine, including configuring the software.


• Provides links for learning how to design and mill whatever you can dream up


• The perfect parent/child project that is also suitable for scouting groups, clubs, school shop classes, and other organizations that benefit from projects that foster skills development and teamwork


• No unusual tools needed beyond a circular saw and what you likely already have in your home toolbox


• Teaches you to design and mill your very own wooden and aluminum parts, toys, gadgets-whatever you can dream up