Escalating To CNC Through Proxxon’s Tool Line

Proxxon is a mostly German maker of above average micro tools. They do sell a tiny milling machine in various flavors, from manual to full CNC. [Goran Mahovlić] did not buy that. He did, however, combine their rotary tool accessory catalog into a CNC mill.

Owning tools is dangerous. Once you start, there’s really no way to stop. This is clearly seen with Goran’s CNC machine. At first happiness for him was a small high speed rotary tool. He used it to drill holes in PCBs.

In a predictable turn of events, he discovered drilling tiny holes in PCBs by hand is tedious and ultimately boring. So he purchased the drill press accessory for his rotary tool.

Life was good for a while. He had all the tools he needed, but… wouldn’t it be better if he could position the holes more quickly. He presumably leafed through a now battered and earmarked Proxxon catalog and ordered the XY table.

A realization struck. Pulling a lever and turning knobs! Why! This is work for a robot, not a man! So he pestered his colleague for help and they soon had the contraption under CNC control.

We’d like to say that was the end of it, and that [Goran] was finally happy, but he recently converted his frankenmill to a 3D printer. We’ve seen this before. It won’t be long before he’s cleaning out his garage to begin the restoration and ultimate CNC conversion of an old knee mill. Videos after the break.

16 thoughts on “Escalating To CNC Through Proxxon’s Tool Line

      1. Then don’t throw away the NEMA24’s. I thread driven 3D printer is never going to be fast “BUT” you can mill some solid pieces to build a belt driven 3D printer and use the NEMA24’s for that.

        Most of the inaccuracy that comes from 3D printers is often from the lack of rigidity in axis stacking or gantry axis components because they are often plastic on cheap printers.

        You can rout these from sheet / box aluminium (aluminum) and have excellent rigidity and accuracy even with belt driven axes (small pinions and 0.9 degrees / full step).

  1. The Proxxon MF70 mill is great for CNC conversion too. It uses the same XY table, so it’s tiny but quite capable. I’d thoroughly recommend as a good place to start with CNC if size is not an issue.

    1. Being not a craftsman at all I started this year by getting a MF70 and doing the CNC conversion by myself. It worked out great and does what it’s supposed to – learned a lot of things from this project. A tip for anyone who wants to do the conversion by themself: While you’re at it, replace the motor with a brushless RC outrunner – best decision ever made :)

      1. I am building a router from scratch and I would love to know which model of DC motors you used so I can find out the steps per revolution and torque. I video or some fresh pictures would be well appreciated too, if you have time. Also what drivers are you using?

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