instructables

How to Make Mini CNC Machine

by shubhamsuresh

Hello all hope you are doing good. I'm here with Writers of the Computer and the Arduino UNO. by
another very cool project which you can build using using this CNC machine you can draw logo and can
some scrap/ used parts of the computer. In this write text also. For better understanding, you can
Instructables I'm going to show you how you can refer this v ide o .
make a mini CNC Machine at home from the old DVD

https://youtu.be/qE8ejwhVGmA

Step 1:

Components Used 5- L293D IC 2X _______________________ USA / INDIA

1- Old/ Used DVD Writers 2X ___________ (you can get 6- A piece of Aluminium ________________ From local
these from any computer repairing/servicing shop) store

2- Arduino UNO 1X ___________________ USA / INDIA 7- M5x25mm Nuts & Bolts ______________ From local
store
3- Servo Motor 1X ____________________ USA / INDIA
8- axible Wires_______________________ From local
4- CNC Shield V1 (PCB)________________ PCBWay.com store

How to Make Mini CNC Machine: Page 1

Step 2:

let's start. the Disk. remove the disk driving motor since we don't
need this motor. we are going to play with the stepper
Open both DVD Writer and remove the lens driving motor in this project. solder wires to the 4 points of
assembly as shown in the pictures. this assembly has the stepper motor. solder wires to both motors.
two motors one is bipolar stepper motor to drive
read/write head and another is a BLDC motor to spin

How to Make Mini CNC Machine: Page 2

How to Make Mini CNC Machine: Page 3
Step 3:

Now take a 120mm long piece of L shape aluminum, mark on it for drilling holes as shown in pictures. after drilling
bolt both the lens assemblies with each other by using L shape aluminum. for reference see the pictures and
assemble the body as shown. in this assembly, verticle tted stepper motor will be Y-Axis and Horizontal stepper
motor will be X-Axis

How to Make Mini CNC Machine: Page 4

Step 4:

after making body it's time to make a bed ( at surface) for placing paper on the machine. to make it I using cover of
DVD writer which is made up of about 0.6mm thick sheet metal. mark a square of 70 x70 mm on it. and cut it using
Angle Grinder. now put some hot glue on center part (moving part) of lens and stick the cut piece of sheet metal on
it in such a way so that it can move freely. see pictures.

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Step 5: Making a Pen Holder

make the pen holder as shown in pictures. to make it I cut a sliding part from another old DVD writer same as used
for making X & Y axis. there is nothing more to explain about the pen holder. it's basically a z-axis of our CNC. here
we are using a servo motor for up and down the pen.

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Step 6:

Fix this pen assembly on the vertical axis (y-axis) of the machine. I used a piece of wood to maintain a suitable space
between the y-axis and the pen holder.

How to Make Mini CNC Machine: Page 7

Step 7:

t Arduino on the aluminum with the help of nuts & on the X-axis output of the shield and y-axis stepper
bolts as shown in pictures. and insert CNC shield on motor on the Y-output of the shield. connect servo
the Arduino. the CNC shield used in this project is motor on the servo connector of the shield.
designed by me. you can buy PCB for this shield from
PCBw a y. co m . now connect x-axis stepper motor

How to Make Mini CNC Machine: Page 8

How to Make Mini CNC Machine: Page 9
Step 8: Programming and Operation

Download the source code and all other required code Sender EXE select correct COM port after
software from the given link . connect Arduino with selecting COM port all options in the application will
the computer open the Arduino code from the open. now click load G-code button to select your le
downloaded le. select the correct COM port and which you want to draw.
board type from the tool menu and hit upload. after
successfully uploading of the program open the G

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Step 9: Fixing Problems Like Mirror Image Output

this is very common problem while making these types of machines. if you get mirror image on output, check on
which axis it has mirror e ect. see pictures.

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Step 10: How to Make G-code ?

to draw something using this CNC machine we need after installing all things, software is ready to make G-
the G-code. so if I want to make a drawing of a car I code
need to convert that car image (JPG or PNG) into G-
code. to convert or make G-code of something we open Inkscape goto le/document property it will
need Inkscape software. I provide Inks ca pe pop-ups a new window set all units in mm here, and
s o f t w a re in the M icro CNC Da t a z ip . install set width = 40 and height=40 in size and close the
Inkscape after installing Inkscape you need to install window. Now drag the target image and scale down it
extension for saving G-code. to do this open the folder so it will t in the output area. now select the image
Inks ca pe - unico rn- m a s t e r from M icro CNC goto the pa t h t a b click on t ra ce bit m a p. new
Da t a z ip . Copy All the contents of `src/` folder and window will open, select e dg e de t e ct io n click
pest them to your Inkscape `extensions/` folder. upda t e click o k. it will create a duplicate shape of
original image. delete the original image. Now place
Typical locations include: this new image on the top right corner in such a way
that the top right corner of output area will be the
* Windows - `C:\Program center of target image. select new image goto pa t h
Files\Inkscape\share\extensions` t a b click o bje ct t o pa t h again goto pa t h tab click
D y na m ic O s e t . now goto le / s a v e As , type
* OS X - le na m e select s a v e a s t y pe = M a ke rB o t
`/Applications/Inkscape.app/Contents/Resources/exte Unico rn G- co de and click save, new window will
nsions` open check all the parameters and if not same set
them as shown in the picture. click ok and your G-
* Linux - `/usr/share/Inkscape/extensions` code is ready to load in G-code sender.

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Step 11: Output

Hope you nd this useful. if yes, like it, share it, comment your doubt. For more such projects, follow me! Support
my Work and Subscribe to My Channel on Yo uTube .

Thank you!

How to Make Mini CNC Machine: Page 13

Great, man! I was looking for a simple cnc project made using recycled components and you have
done a great job. Thank you for sharing it!
thanks man.

Nice work! What kind of software do you use?

I made it some time ago, using A4988 drivers: http://svenhb.bplaced.net/?
CNC___Mini_CNC_Plotter
I control it with grbl on Arduino and GRBL-Plotter on Win-PC: https://github.com/svenhb/GRBL-
Plotter

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