Plans Home Page

Rack and Pinion or Leadscrew Machine
Rack and Pinion or Leadscrew
24  x  48  Inch Cutting Area
Plans for low cost CNC machines

The tables were designed to be:
  • Inexpensive to build
  • Simple to assemble
  • Accurate for the cost
Table parts  Primarily off-the-shelf from home centers and department stores.
Part descriptions and sources for the other components are provided in the plans.
This site gives a list of software, stepper and drive suppliers.

Manuals There are two plan books.
One manual is for the single table shown above. This manual covers a variety of options including rack and pinion and/or leadscrews for the X and Y axes.
25 x 37 Dual Leadscrew Table
  Dual Leadscrew Table
25 x 37 Inch ( 640 x 950 mm) Cutting Area
The other manual includes plans for the 5 machines shown below.

Both plan sets include hundreds of images and dimensioned CAD drawings, with step by step written instructions.

All machines were designed around the drive, stepper and power supply packages sold by Xylotex and HobbyCNC.
These cost $250 to $600 depending on the desired features.

Belt Drive Table
Belt Drive Table
27.5 x  64  Inch Cutting Area
Tables' cost (Not including the above drive packages)
Fixed gantry table: Less than $100
Smaller blue tables: Less than $250
Belt drive, and rack and pinion tables: Less than $600 and up depending on the components used.
 
Cutting areas
Belt Drive Table  X 64"   Y 27.5"   Z 7"
Rack/Leadscrew Table X 48"   Y 24"   Z 8"
Dual Leadscrew Table X 37.5"  Y 25.5"  Z 6.5"
Small  Blue Tables  X 20"   Y 17.5"   Z 4"
Fixed Gantry Table X 13"   Y 13"   Z 5"
13 x 13 Fixed Gantry Table
Fixed Gantry Table
13 x 13 Inch Cutting Area
Footprint Size
Belt Drive Table 3' x 6'
Rack and Pinion Table 3' x 5'
Dual Leadscrew Table 36" x 49"
Small Blue Tables 31" x 33.5"
Fixed Gantry Table:  18" x 25"

Accuracy  Very good for the cost. Pictures are worth thousands of words.

Stepper Size  200 oz.in. for the 13" x 13" and 17 x 20 inch prototypes.
    . . . 269 to 425 oz.in. for the 25 x 37 inch prototype, the Belt Drive table and the Rack/Leadscrew table.

Speed  35+ inches per minute rapid, 30 ipm cuts on the small tables, and up to 300+ ipm rapids on the rack and belt drive tables.
The machines were all designed to use the stepper and drive systems from Xylotex and HobbyCNC. The recommended software is Mach3 or TurboCNC.
These suppliers work with the Do It Yourself market, and supply documentation and help forums for their products.
Small Dual Leadscrew Table
Small Dual Leadscrew Table
17 x  20 Cutting Area

These are all real machines that have been built and tested in this shop.

All of the machines were designed around standard sizes of lumber and hardware store components. This keeps construction simple and prices low.
Suppliers for the other parts, such as belts and pulleys, are listed in the manuals.
Overhead Leadscrew Table
Small Overhead Leadscrew Table
17 x  20 Cutting Area
Though the machines are similar, each was designed to meet specific goals. The smaller machines use a minimum of components, are inexpensive, and are simple to build.

The large machines were designed to move quickly with a larger cutting area.

The Rack and Pinion/Leadscrew machine is designed to carry a full sized router.
It can use racks or leadscrews on the X and Y axes; the plans address the multiple versions.