$200 cnc router or 3d printer? For learning.

I'm finally playing with Fusion 360 a bit. (free starter license) I've always looked at those cheap kits online that are either a cnc router or 3d printer. I'm not really sure what these can really teach me or what they can actually do. I'd like to be able to program cnc mills in the end. I don't know if a router is limited to engraving only at this price range. It would be cool to actually cut a aluminum part even if it's slow feeds and little cuts. Just don't know how you would find zero for the 2nd op of the part. It would probably have to be kept in the garage. Maybe I could make some kind of box for the router so it won't be such a mess.

The main reasons for wanting to get one or the other is to learn and to possibly have something that I could use to make RC vehicles/components out of.

What do you think?
Higgins909

Personally, I’d go 3D printer.

You’ll learn the basics of stepper motors and automation along with something useful for making plastic parts for model cars.

You can use what you learn from the 3D printer build to make a CNC Router. Even produce some of the parts you’ll need for the router using the printer.




Check out my website!
The Ballistic Assistant

Wow this thread is going to be closed so fast! Read the rules bud.

rblalexander said:

Wow this thread is going to be closed so fast! Read the rules bud.

Click to expand...

I looked at the guidelines and didn't see anything about my post that wasn't obvious allowed. Maybe it could have gone in the CNC Machining or CAD/CAM sub-forum but this seemed more like a "General" topic even though the description of "General" is more specific. It is kinda about discussing machines? Other than the guidelines in this sub-forum, I don't see any rules?

(edit: confused a word with another)

It's more that this falls under both hobby machining and cheap import machinery. CNC zone is what you want.

I took a look at CNC zone. It looks like they do have areas for it, but it doesn't seem like their most popular topic. Found a forum just for 3d printing that I will check out. But I don't know if there will be any machinist there. I currently work in a machine shop but only get to do minimal hand programming. I've been wanting to do more then I have been doing at work. Was wondering if people with machining experience thought it was a good idea to get either a router or printer, so I could apply that knowledge to a mill.

I just bought an Ender 3 for under $200. I'm using Tinkercad for modeling and Cura for slicing (post). It is a great learning tool and can do useful work. Ceartainly not for production, though.

The additive mindset is very different.

wheels17 said:

I just bought an Ender 3 for under $200. I'm using Tinkercad for modeling and Cura for slicing (post). It is a great learning tool and can do useful work. Ceartainly not for production, though.

The additive mindset is very different.

Click to expand...

Is Fusion 360 any good for 3d printing? Right now I'm googling for different sources and such trying to figure this all out. It looks like the 3d printer forum I was wanting to check out has problems with new people registering. I know people use F360 for CNC mills/lathes but not sure about 3d printers. I guess the goal it to learn to 3d print with F360 and then apply it to mills/lathes. I think the tutorials I'm following are for a 3d printer. But I haven't gotten that far in the tutorials. I'm having issues with the versions of F360 being different.

This is borderline subject matter but it could be rephrased to be more acceptable. The core question is if one should start learning about machine tools with a router or 3d printer which if you don't get into specifics about the models seems ok.

I would up the budget a little and get a 3d printer kit. (Something not Chinese and probably from Prusa like the new mini) you can't get a usable router spindle let alone a whole machine for less than a few times the current budget and they are noisy, messy etc making the printer a better place to start.
I like onshape for a free personal use CAD option, 360 dives me nuts but I am used to "real" packages

You can design parts on any CAD software and then export the stl files for slicing (cura or slic3r) which generates the gcode the printer consumes.
Luke

Most cheap routers are 2 1/2 axis devices. As others have said, to learn a bit more about 3D, get a 3D printer.

A $200 3D printer (like the Ender 3) is a great little tool/toy. Can produce some nice stuff with it and works well. A $200 CNC is going to be a piece of junk, maybe it could cut wood if you're lucky. A CNC router that could cut aluminum, even very slowly is going to be at least 10x the price.

If you're trying to learn machining, neither is going to help you. 3D printers do use gcode but you generally never have to mess with it and its not really going to help you with machining even if you did.

As for Fusion 360, its a great CAD package, but its not specific for 3D printers. You would use it to model whatever you want to print and then kick the model over to a slicer (like Cura) which would generate the gcode to send to the printer.

If you wanted to use Fusion for a CNC router, you would model the part in the same way, and then use its CAM functionality to generate the toolpaths to send to the router.