By the way! If you want to build a cnc router I recommend the Printnc. I had a lot of fun building mine in the last couple weeks.
Its not that much harder to build than another diy and it boasts steel milling capabilities.
Just throwing that out there 
But there’s no sides on this enclosure…?
he’s not making the enclosure he’s making the mold. this is boss level shit right here, I’m takin notes. 3 part mold? GTFO! 
@glyphiks @nomad you seen this yet?
we need to step up our game 
Oh ok, I swear I read everything though 
Haha thanks man 
This is some seriously cool DIY! I appreciate all the details and am looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.
Lol im waiting til the end, i’m confused as fuxk
I haven’t heard of this one, all I hear about is mpcnc.
Usually people build the mpcnc and when they get tired of 3h+ long jobs they look for something else lol. I know I did 
Without exaggerating the Printnc is at least 10x faster.
awesome info…
all up cost what do you think the Printnc cost you?
Hmmm let’s see…
-Steel beams: 100 euro
-Decent amb spindle: 250 euro
-All the motors, mach3, breakout board, linear rails, ballscrews, couplings: 450 euro. It’s a premade package from AliExpress.
Some 3d printed parts.
Three small aluminum plates that can be done by hand or bought for 50 euro I think.
That’s about it. I chose to use a duet 2 wifi as a controller instead of a PC and the breakout board 
so in roundish numbers a 1000 euros?
BTW @b264 thanks for the oldskool avatar revival… it suits you!!!
non-gender specific imaginary hugs
Yes
gracias Jarn!!!
Interesting machine, with steel tubes, rigidity must not be an issue 
Do you get the steel tubes milled flat on the face you mount the linear rails to?
What is the work area?
And is it just me or the spindle mounting plate isn’t square? Not that it matters as long as you drilled it correctly.
It’s not milled flat, but the steel tubes are suprisingly flat on the short side of the square!
I squared it so it should be fine. Maybe it looks weird.
950x600x110mm working area
So I removed the mould. But I had some problems… And I’m on to some solutions.
Problem #1
My release agent hade taken water and did not work properly…
Problem #2
I think the wood might have swelled a bit.
These things together made it a bitch to remove. I seem to always have a problem or two with each mould and I have done several. It always means a lot of extra work 
I did no cleaning so it looks a bit worse than it is but I’m not happy!
I’m fed up with mould making like that for small batches. I think I have a good idea how to make a sacrificial mould instead 
I’ll start working on that and see instead of rushing the project!
I’m working on a new way (for me) to make molds. A good-sized vacuum forming machine. I have made some corner brackets in the router and received aluminum extrusions
It will be able to make molds up to 1000x500x300mm of size.
I have high hopes 
Here is what it looks like so far
Looks awesome!
