Hello guys,
I have RedSail CNC router RS-4060. Its work area is 385x585mm.
I would like to make it larger around 1200x1200mm. Has anyone enlarged the area of their routers? I’m trying to work on a shoe-string budget and want to buy as little amount of parts as possible. All i need is the work table larger everything else stays the same.
Thanks!
You will have to change ( ie. buy ) everything except motors/electronics/spindle, so, doesn’t really make much sense. Also a bigger machine will mean the need for stronger/stiffer linear rails, structure, and potentially motors.
I was thinking about keeping the motors, spindle etc. and but only the parts for the table and the ball bearing shaft… Or you think it won’t a be a good idea?
You will need to change the linear rails, the ballscrews, do a whole new structure out of aluminium …
Linear rails and ballscrews need to be new ones because they have to be longer.
IMHO It seems to make more sense to sell this one and buy or build a larger one.
Hmm. I see your point. I do not want to sell this one I have, for now. It works pretty well for small parts and has o.o2mm accuracy.
I was thinking about building one but I don’t have any blueprints for making one with dimensions around 4x4 feet.
@Max_Kalin Joe knows CNC
http://joescnc.com/
@Max_Kalin Just google diy cnc and choose “images”. Or go to most any open source site. The one you have now will benefit you greatly in building a bigger n better one. Personally I like http://openbuilds.com . They have their own designs which are available for download into sketchup. Plus many user builds. They also have their own community here on G+. @Mark_Carew_OpenBuild is a great guy to deal with, and you can ask him questions directly…
Oh great! Thank you for the info 
Second the JoeCNC, got a 4x4 R&P model in my basement. Having no info on your particular model I google imaged and from my findings if you wanted to increase the length, it’d be (kind of) easy. Increase it 3x on both X and Y? Doable, but you are talking about essentially building a new machine…
Here are few pictures:
I don’t know if Google will let you view them correctly but let me know if there are any problems.
I will try to see how much it might cost me to build a new one. Maybe it will be cheaper to buy on in China and ship it overseas =)
For 4ft or more you may want to use dual lead screws to avoid racking when machining.
Thank you, Miguel. I will keep that in mind.
No may about it I don’t think. You will need 2 steppers for the X axis. It’s also much cheaper to go with openbuilds V slot design than lead screws…
But V-slot uses belt, isn’t it?
@Max_Kalin Oh yea. But in a unique way that doesn’t allow for slippage. Same type that they use for timing belts on nearly all OHC engines, so no stretch either. And even if you decide latter that you want to use lead screws it’s not an issue. You’d just add end plates and the lead screws, and your only loss would be the cost of the belt ($1 a foot) and the $5 pulley. But everyone who’s used it luvs it…
@Max_Kalin keep it in mind you should!
Be careful of @Miguel_Sanchez because with a name like his he could be a member of the Spanish Inquisition. They’ve quite a penchant for the rack too, you know? So mind what he says.
I’m so fearful I have dual dual drives. I’m letting it all hang out on my Z axis though, with only one drive. Caution to the wind!
@Mat_Helm You see, I live in Estonia at the moment and everything is about double (if not triple) of what you say regarding the pricing. If I were back at home in RI, I could get all the parts dirt-cheap =) But yeah, I’ll bear in mind the belt option. At first I thought that it might not be very reliable but I will give it a shot.
@Paul_Frederick Thank you, Sir =) I will note that.
They ship all over the world… And have distributors in Europe as well (Moscow and Romania among them)…
http://openbuildspartstore.com/openbuilds-distributors/