DIY CNC Building – Part Sourcing

Building your own CNC is a great and popular hobby. Several like-minded builders are all over the internet, fabricating away. Many just starting out, though, are asking the same questions, where do I find (insert CNC part here)? Well, this how-to is a list to help get you started. The following covers common parts needed or requested on various internet forums, and some common sources for those parts. Many sites posted here were used to source parts for the 4x4 router build posted on the forum.

Structural Materials
A common first step in parts purchasing is the basic materials for your build. Whether it be made of wood, steel, or aluminum extrusion. Sourcing wood or steel might best be done through your local stores, so this list will only discuss online vendors for those who may not have those local options available.



Aluminum Extrusion - 8020 Inc. has been in business for a while and has great service, and some of the best pricing on aluminum extrusion. This material can be used in the construction of a single axis, gantry, or your entire CNC machine. Construction example here.


Aluminum, Steel
Online Metals has a huge selection of metals and even plastics that they ship internationally, with no minimum order.



Linear Bearings


VXB is one of the more reasonably priced sources for linear bearings, and great quality at that. Rails from here were purchased to outfit the 4x4 router build posted here. Fast shipping, great packaging, great pricing.


IMService, while their name and website have something to be desired, offer quality products, great pricing, and fast shipping. The v-bearings used on the 4x4 router build posted here were purchased from this website.


Other linear bearing sites include Fine Line Automation, Pacific Bearing, Nook Industries, QBC Bearings, Bearings Direct


ACME Threaded Rod/Ballscrews


McMaster, although not always the least expensive option, has a pretty good selection. You can also get linear rails, metal stock, plastic, and more here.


Rack & Pinion

Standard Steel Specialty Co is a great company to get your racks from. The only oddity is that they only accept checks, no credit cards. So expect to wait an extra couple of days for them to get your check and process it.



Stock Drive Products/Sterling Instrument has a crazy selection of components. You can get your pinions and the gears, belts, chains, etc to change the gear ratio for your setup. Great company, fast shipping.


Electronics


Probotix is the first and best option for your steppers and driver boards. They have great products, vast knowledge on the topic, and excellent service. The electronics for the 4x4 router build on the forum were purchased from this outstanding company.


Keling Technology, Inc. offers a good selection of products from steppers to servos. What is great is that they offer kits that are put together that takes the guesswork out of piecing together components. Good pricing too.


Control Software
Being that there is a limited number of software developers for the DIY-CNC community, you do not have much to choose from here.



Mach 3 is a nice, fairly inexpensive windows based program that runs up to a 6-axis CNC. It is supported by an active forum, and speaking from experience, it is pretty easy to configure and use.



EMC2 (Enhanced Machine Controller) is a free, open source, Linux based application with support for up to 9 axes. This software is very powerful, but – speaking from experience – much more difficult to setup and configure, especially if you are unfamiliar with Linux environments.


Misc Parts

Little Machine Shop has everything from project plans and tooling to complete CNC machines, definitely worth checking out.


Dumpster CNC offers a great selection of anti-backlash ACME nuts and other parts, this guy has been around for a while, and offers a great product line.


Small Parts.com offers another source for bearings, couplers, tooling, raw materials, and more!

Many more sources are out there! This list is to help get you started! If you know of any other links, please submit them!