My dad bought a Sainsmart Genmitsu 3018 PROver CNC router over a year ago, but never really set it up or learned how to use it. Since I enjoy the role of creating and maintaining tools and infrastructure, I decided to help him set it up and operate it to cut thin polycarbonate sheets. In this first episode, I hook the machine up to my laptop and try to cut out a representative model from 1.5mm polycarbonate sheet. It goes… okay… as you can see in the video.

I have big plans for this router in the future, including making it literally bigger (3040 upgrade), and setting up one of my absolute favorite Dell Wyse 3040 thin clients to run it standalone without a control computer. All of that’s in the future though.

This video is the first episode in the CNC Router Megaproject.

Video⌗

Click the thumbnail to watch it on Youtube. Video Thumbnail

Parts and Software⌗

Here are links to some of the hardware and software that make this project possible: