The TRUE COST of Building a DIY CNC | PrintNC

a detailed cost breakdown of my PrintNC build inlcuding a spreadsheet.



Spreadsheet:

The PrintNC is a high performance, DIY CNC router. It's based on a steel frame to ensure rigidity and uses 3D printed parts to make assembly easy.

The PrintNC project is in active development and community participation is highly encouraged! You can live chat on the PrintNC Discord or head to r/printnc and ask there. Answers are fast and the community is quickly growing!

00:00 - Start
00:36 - basic tools you really need
01:04 - Steel
01:43 - Aluminium
01:54 - Kits
02:11 - Linear Rails
02:19 - Ballscrews
02:45 - Cablechains
02:59 - Steppermotors
03:22 - Stepper Drivers
03:37 - Servos
04:11 - Powersupply
04:32 - Endstops
04:55 - Filament
05:12 - Controller
05:33 - Cables
06:01 - Electronics Enclosure
06:18 - Spindle
07:14 - Control PC
07:25 - Endmills
07:34 - Total
08:00 - Tool LengthSensor
08:11 - Dust Collection
08:26 - Table / Cabinet
08:37 - Enclosure
08:49 - Grand Total if you want to support the channel, you can buy me a coffe:
Thank you very much !!!

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[pg]

Building machines is definitely not cheap and it's not for everyone. But learning how to operate and build them from scratch is priceless. You really can't put a price on the satisfaction you get from finishing a machine or robot and learning mechanical, electrical, welding, machining, woodworking, and software. Not to mention producing the ideas in your head that don't exist yet.

[imqqmi]

For my first cnc I went with a cheap aliexpress kit with steppers, controller and frame for 750 euros (ox clone). Got a rattm 1.5 aircooled spindle and vcd for about 250 euros. After a few years I replaced the frame with a diy build with 20mm linear rails and 16mm ballscrews. Added a square tube for torsion stiffness. The upgrade cost about 2500 euros, reusing the steppers, spindle and replaced everything else. The great advantage of steel tubing vs any aluminium extrusion is torsion stiffness.If the printnc was available when I started my cnc journey I'd definitely gone with the printnc!
Some excellent points were given in this video! I want to replace the z stepper with a servo but didn't consider a braking system. Thanks for sharing!

[antiikadad]

Man, that was great work. I have been looking for an estimate like this for over one year. I really appreciate your effort

[BonifiedWingnut]

Never heard of PrintNC until this video. Interesting how Youtube works. A lot of good info in this for anyone planning on building a DIY CNC even if they have no interest in the PrintNC. You put alot of work into your videos to make them entertaining. Usually I dislike that and wish people would stop trying to be movie makers and just share the info. But your journey to get where you are I think is like alot of us. We want to build "X" but don't like the price or design of the tool we need to do it so we decide to build it. Usually the designs for CNC on here are not practical. They are usually barely functional and would be good for making something on an occasion and would require as much time maintaining them as operating. On the other end they are so complicated or expensive a person might as well buy one. Oddly enough this design is similar to the one I came up with. I wish you would have made this video 2 years ago..lol. Thanks for the time you put into this and all of the info.

[xyzspec]

In the end, I think it's worth to invest in a machine like this.
My concrete CNC build is maybe a couple hundred € below that number, it has 3nm closed loop hybrid steppers and 2.2kw spindle, but the work area is half the size.
I like the PRINTNC model, maybe one of the best DIY routers out there at its price point.
BTW, I'm addicted to your channel and I miss VISA Bob lol

[Flako-dd]

This video is sponsored by Stepcraft, Avid-CNC, Shopbot and X-Carve :D
Joking aside i really think this really helps with a make-or-buy decision.
If building the CNC is not part of the fun and you only want to use it to build other stuff, affordable CNCs are really a good option.
Thanks for the detailed breakdown!

[ralmslb]

Thank you for sharing this, not only gives a good idea, but also showing what brands, etc you went for is helpful.

[trowawayacc]

Excelent starting point. Nice delivery to the point.

[relaxingnaturevideos]

Good video. I wouldnt build a machine without closed loop steppers though. Its not that much more, and you can get amazing performance with the new CL57 (8-90VDC) drivers!

[bitpmp]

If you're cutting wood. The cheapest way to go is an MPCNC. They're great and about as budget as it can get. They can do aluminum but really you need a small work area for robustness, if you're doing a lot.

[tuberroot]

Excellent video. Fits perfectly with my experience. The cost is perfectly realistic, I wish I'd had this video available about 8y ago !

[kitawithsomenumbers]

"finding joy in misery"

I'm all set then

[bmz]

Pretty cool to talk about money. Really nice to have a comple list and real prices. Thanks

[PiefacePete]

That is massively useful thank you Christoph. I live in New Zealand, so the currency and amounts will obviously vary, but because of our isolation, the bottom line will only get bigger. 😟
Liked and Subscribed. 👍

[StemmProductions]

Thank you so much for the video! Its great to get a overview of everything needed to build this machine. Love you channel, keep up the great work

[JamesBiggar]

Great video. Building your own machines is really just for the fun and experience. It's the same with cnc as it is with anything else. If you want to build something cheaper than a manufacturer with a fully equipped facility can, then you either need to cut corners, salvage or buy parts at wholesale cost, or delude yourself into thinking your time building it is worth nothing and all you had to pay for was some parts.

[SaitoGray]

Thanks you so much. I have my eyes on the PrintNC for a while now, but without any idea on how to budget it outside the US.
That video helps a lot !

[mildlemon]

Very interesting insight, thanks for making this transparent!

[gosonegr]

It's money but not expensive at all. Great video

[rando]

Thanks for this, I think I'll end up getting a cheap 3018 for wood/plastic and using a CNC converted lathe for horizontal milling. Love the idea of open source though!