My DIY CNC mill eats metal 

Damn, I'm late to the party because I forgot to hit the bell.

OK I'm hooked. To the moon, my friend!

"There might be a few small changes to my approach the next time around. For example, I might spend a little bit more time just buying a machine from an existing manufacturer." LMAO

I am an engineer and I don't think I could pull this off. Awesome project!

Nothing makes you want to buy a CNC more than watching what it takes to assemble your own or actually doing it yourself.

"Let's make some chips!"....Straight out of the TOT playbook 😁 Cheers

Mate, I’m an engineer and I have to say..there’s more capability in 2 videos than what they teach at the cookie-cutter, factory-style engineering degrees they pump out these days Well done. I look forward to more videos

Came here from that other Aussie with the apron.. You're basically the down under version of This Old Tony.. Keep the honest projects coming!

That potato though xD Great build, great humor, can't wait to see more!

Man really went from less than 600 subs to 25k in less than two weeks. Cheers mate, you deserve it.

This is great, your channel is going to blow up if you keep putting content out like this. Any reason you used the oil/sand mix vs. epoxy granite?

Channels like this give people confidence in doing things out of the ordinary & excel them into doing things they never would’ve dreamt of doing, thanks for sharing 🙏

Great project! Just wanted to say there's black sand that is 2x heavier than normal sand. It's the same black sand that consists of hematite/magnetite that gives gold prospectors a headache. Normal sand has a SpGr of 2.26, and black sand >5.20! That stuff is heavy!

I went through the same process in 2018, a smaller scale and without even trying to film it and document it as you did. You, sir have my respects, that's an awesome DIY CNC machine you got there, enjoy it!

Absolutely loved both your videos so far. Excited to see what’s next!

It's rare to see the build skills being at least equalled by the video editing, music and humour - well done! Looking forward to more content.

Brilliant build and great story telling! You asked for opinions on your next step... I'm in the middle of my own build, and when I reach this stage, the plan is to add some bits and bobs to make the machine more productive, like an ATC, and 4th and 5th axis.

The mill looks great. In the machining clips the motion of your machine is dwelling at the end of every segment in the program. This is either a setting or some kind of servo dynamics that may be causing this. On the square and hex it is understandable to slow down on the corners but it was also doing this on the circular milling as well. As a person who has watched many, many hours of different machines running this looked a little disconcerting to me. The motion should be smooth even at high feed rates. This could also have to do with the unusual surface finish. I don't think it is the ball screws that are causing that finish. Backlash shows as a definite line in circles but not on prismatic shapes. Your measured relatively accurate sizes. So I think there is something in the servo setup that causing that and the dwelling in the motion of the machine. Just a observation, otherwise it's really working good. Maybe you could look at the spindles like Stefan Gotteswinter put on his new mill. The one he is using can also change the tool.

the quality of your production is astoundingly accomplished. both the video itself and your cnc!

I am an engineer (retired) with some machine tool experience (1970s). I enjoyed your presentation and your self deprecating delivery. Keep it up!

Thank you for showing you indicating the part to the spindle. Not a lot of people I’ve seen would show that but indicating is such an important part of machining.

Thanks for bringing us all along with this project!

IMPROVEMENTS!!! my favorite part of any project. I am so glad I found your last video

love everything. the squiggly text, pace of the scene cuts, the humor. i cant wait for more :D

I’m just finishing up a similiar build, but its been a year in the making. I had many similar learnings, like upgrading the spindle. I settled on using an AC servo. I too used jacking screws on the base of the column but I like the idea of the epoxy. People always ask me what I’m going to use it for and now I’m going to tell them “to make chips”. I think I’ll use stainless steel screws however to hold the stock 😂.

What a beautiful hunk of a machine! Honestly, I'm amazed you managed to put together something this precise and still make it entertaining as well!

Spindles like that (22kRPM 2-pole, I presume) are usually designed for woodworking, or smaller diameter tooling. If you start using larger bits (>6mm) to gain rigidity/accuracy, you may want a slower speed, 4-pole spindle. You can run high-speed spindles at lower speed via VFD settings but you will lose torque.

Nice one! I could give you some little hints: make an external plexiglass housing will reduce the noise and keep yourself alive, then you can make dual spindle mill, one slow for steel and another for aluminium, try single flute bit on aluminium and always choose 7075 as aluminium, you'll never regret, bye bro

I work at a shop that builds these... a different style but many of the same parts, bearings, rails, ball screw etc.... super impressed w your work! Great vids

Absolutely mad! My utmost respect for your work and effort!

Excellent video! The quality of these are really good; the editing, the sound quality, the humor, and especially the build itself. It's hard to believe that these were your first videos. I'm looking forward to more videos, and seeing how you go about upgrading the mill. Definitely look into liquid cooling for when you start going at the harder steels too, hopefully that'll keep you from breaking too many end mills.

Love it you have a good sense of humor and nice attention to detail.

Great couple of videos, the machine looks amazing! Can't wait for what's coming next.

Rad! So stoked that this series continues! I feel like an enclosure would be a massive quality of life improvement for ya. Also really curious as to what your goals are for the cnc, are you wanting to do production runs of products? One off projects? Big/small things? Useful or goofy stuff? Anywho love where you are going with this and can't wait to see where you go with it!

You are inspiring me to pick up my conversion project again....At least I located the once forgotten pieces. Awesome machine! 👍😁

This is incredible! I wish you spent more time on the build. Also the motors and programming.

Ive built my own cnc mill.. Its concrete and steel with a 1.5kw spindle gear reduced to 8000 rpm . While I learned a lot and its super rigid , Ive never gotten the accuracy of an out the box tormach or mr1 cnc. Well done on your project.

This is a massive inspiration for me. I am an engineer, and I find machining absolutely fascinating. Maybe I’ll try to pull this off one day….

LOVE your dry presentation - honestly refreshing

This is an excellent video, you should feel proud of your accomplishment. I look forward to future projects.

I love this, brand new channel with promising ideas with a "I will post several high quality, interesting videos for a couple of months, disappear for about two years without any notices whatsoever, then post a video without any explanation of what happened" type of vibe, I am excited to see what is coming!

Brilliant project! I look forward to your upgrades!

Mate, your channel is bound to blow up. Excellent quality and personality.

That's awesome! Between when I was training to be a welder and when I decided to learn game development, I wanted to get into Mechatronics, so this is right up my alley!

Really glad to see taking time making table and axis both parallel and co-planar. Lot of DIY videos skip the co-planar step at least on camera they do.

always here for some self depreciating aussie content. amazing work, with an eye for esthetics as well.

Brilliant! Love the build. Looking forward to more content.

Now all you need is power and accuracy. Lovely build. Always jealous.

Doing this in a rental is madness, I love it

Love your video style and editing. Great job!

Mate the thought of having a project to just get stuck into for 6 months straight, and loving it as well, is a fken dream

I love it when a plan comes together.

Nice work. Great build. Thanks for sharing.

YOU'RE GREAT MATE! Great music, machine, production, chat, etc. Keen for your next video from another Melburnian

Good job, couple tips from a machinist here, I recommend checking the runout on that spindle, also the tram of the head relative to the table as well, and for carbide tools even in aluminum, it’s better to use air not cool mist if you don’t have full flood coolant it will heat shock the endmill , the first 2 tips are the most important for finish, and tool life.i subbed.

Your humour is top tier - also good to see a fellow aussie working on this type of project

I wasn't sure after the first video. This one sold me. You need more content. Subscribed.

Yet again, most terminlogy flew so far above my head i can barely see them as small blimps in the sky. That said, your previous video did allow my subconcious to unlock some knowledge during sleep and mundane tasks. Thus i now have a 0.5% idea of what the fudge's going on here, compared to last time. God knows how powerful i'll be when i've watched this and slept for a week or two. 10/10 worth my sub.

That's the language i undestand by far! Great content with an unique combination of flavours. Congratulations!

Tip for the closed loop stepper drivers: put the pulse filter time on the shortest setting (more abrupt stop of the motors = less run out on your passes) that way you can make much more precise movements om higher feeds.

You are a legend and a scholar, truly inspirational!

The humor is the right amount of sarcasm that belongs woth these types of projects!!! Love your videos, you're about to be the biggest DIY channel i can feel it!

Absolute banger of a video. Looking forward to the next one!

That was really impressive! Awesome build! That is NOT how you use a micrometer though! I was taught to use the small knob at the end to tighten until it clicks.

I look forward to your next video, your content is fantastic

Nice. In regards to the ballscrews, you should be able to remove backlash by having two nuts on them, and then adjust the distance between them to take up the backlash.

Looking forward to upgrades for sure

Besides all the good stuff, nice tunes going on, mate! Classy stuff!

Amazing job, congratulations

Amazing work!! Love the deadpan humour.

Great video, AWESOME machine! If you have accuracy issues at some point, try using the dial indicator with a max 15deg angle. These guys usually give some wrong measurements when they are used with higher angles. thank you for sharing!!

This channel is a riot. Thanks for the videos.

Thank you for your sharing now I found so happy to follow up with you😊

My new favorite machining channel. You give me This Old Tony vibes, love your work and the deadpan buffoonery xD

Epic build and your sanity survived intact, relatively speaking and remember that normal is a cycle on a washing machine...

You don't learn a lot by buying. Great job!

This popped up in my feed and for the record i have made 2 cnc machines now and not made anything on either, just upgrades .... endless upgrades i would love an idea to make things too LOL, subbed you have hooked me in :D

I can't wait to see the new spindle

I can easily see this becoming my new favorite channel.

Love your videos so far! Keep it up!

Phenomenal, mate. Absolutely love them

Congrats! Great work!

This is amazing. Great job

man why your first two videos feels like you've been a youtuber all your life ?

Fantastic another aussie machinist to add to my collection

Funny & interesting, definitely need more...😎

I look forward to more videos from you!

As a retired engineer you did an awesome job.

so good, love it to bits. Had to watch it twice to get all your great jokes. Respect.

That's really good You should be very proud, getting consistent 1/1000th of an inch accuracy is great, take the W bro bro

It's a monster, a very precise one at that.

Your ending was fantastic, love some dry humor.

Excelent job! Keep going!

You've made a great build with your first DIY CNC. The surface finish is decent, especially considering you've yet to tune the acceleration/deceleration and speeds/feeds. That said, I sincerely hope your better half is more understanding than mine. It has taken years for my wife to finally see some value in the "money you've [I've] wasted on tools for your [my] shop." It's only because she realized I could make items that "Jeep people" would purchase at inflated prices. Of course, she does have a valid point. While I purchase computers, machinery, and cutting tools that I use frequently, I also buy some that I *might* use someday. My theory is that it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Well done! You are a lunatic of great accomplishment. I sympathise with your ambitions.

First time watcher. You're an absolute trip. Love your music selection.

This is the “this old Tony” fix I’ve been craving. Thank you.

Nice. I exactly know the feeling of spending my last money which I don't have, on a totally unnecessary project wchich I can live without. And in the end, the better and cheaper solution is already there to buy, and I knew about it in the beginning. Approved.

Looks great! Do a little work on the motor tuning in the control (acceleration ramps) and you'll likely also see an improved surface finish. It looks like it was in exact stop mode, so it was trying to stop at every corner or arc termination, then slowly accelerating up to speed, slowing back down, and stopping again. For good surface finish a consistent feedrate is important, so increasing acceleration and reducing the stopping will give nicer cuts and run jobs much faster.

This channel will blow up to 500k in no time if you keep content like this coming. High bar, though! "Room for Activities" love it