Joe's 4x4 CNC Router

It didn't take long lurking at the cnczone.com forum to notice that Joe's 2006 and Joe's 4x4 Hybrid CNC routers were the topic of many threads. The 4x4 Hybrid is the latest design by Joe.

Joe made a significant contribution to the home brew CNC community by developing the the 2006 design and making them available free of charge. They can be found here. Joe offers a partial kit for both the 2006 and 4x4 Hybrid . The 4x4 Hybrid plans are available for $100 at Joe'sCNC.com.

I purchased the 4x4 plans and joined the private forum. What I received was a set of quality design drawings (assembly and detail parts) in a 27 page .pdf file. This document also included a fairly complete Bill of Material (BOM) with source information. At first I was disappointed that there was no assembly instructions, but I soon realized that the many build logs in the private 4x4 forum provide extensive information on the build process.

The machine is a 'hybrid' in that it combines steel uni-strut (for the base), 80/20 aluminum extrusion, MDF, and HDPE components. It has dual gantry drive lines and has a cutting area of 4'x4' (who would have thought!). It is a clever combination of materials resulting in a capable machine for a reasonable cost.

The private forum is very active and supportive from what I have observed. Some participants have contributed supplemental information such as a very complete Super BOM spreadsheet that includes some parts not included in the basic BOM and parts and sources for common options and alternatives.

There are build logs for many completed and in-process builds. Some have chosen to scale up the design to 8x8 or down to a 2x4 size, which would be my course of action due to my limited shop space.

Joe offers a kit of CNC routed MDF and HDPE parts, but the base, frame, rails and so forth require sourcing and some fabrication by the builder. The linear motion systems uses steel angle for rails and 'V' bearings.

I am very impressed with this design and the diligent support given it. It is a bit bigger than I would want given my space constraints and I would prefer a complete ready-to-assemble kit. The cost to build this machine would fit within my allocated budget.