Put in drive screw for Z-axis and mounted a stepper motor for direct drive. I am a bit concerned about whether or not the stepper has sufficient torque for direct drive. I will not know for sure until I finish the controller.
Started work on the dremel/cutting tool housing.
Built linear rails for Z-Axis translating stage, which was by far the most time consuming to design and build of the three. There was considerably less room to work with while integrating it into the Y-axis and must later house the cutting tool assembly.
Built and tested linear rails for the movable bed (Y-Axis.) Acquired stepper motors from 3 used printers and 1 flatbed scanner from Allgen Computers for around $12. Pictures soon.
Initial research about home-made CNC machines. Searched Home-Depot and Lowes for parts I can gerbil into linear rails for each axis. Purchased 4 old CD-ROM drives for a total of $2 over at Allgen. Although I the drives lacked the stepper motors I was seeking, I may eventually use the PIN diode sensor arrays I found for the interferometer.
I have a secret project in the works this year which requires a fairly sophisticated interferometer setup. While I have gotten quite skilled at improvising parts from things I find at Home Depot, it is often a time-consuming and injury-prone process. After much deliberation, I have decided it will take marginally more effort to first build an ad-hoc CNC router. The deciding factor was mainly that the machine would reduce costs and greatly speed the development of future projects. This may be the most involved project I have taken on single handedly, but I am up for the challenge.
