At the Jyväskylä Hacklab here in Finland we've been building a large CNC machine for some months. The inspiration for the Peoples CNC Frame (PCF) comes from the successes and lessons that our lab machine has taught us. The elegance of the PCF comes from its simplicity, ruggedness and availability of parts and tools. Linear motion on the X and Y axis is achieved by using skateboard wheels and bearings. These can be ordered online for quite cheap. The rails are standard hardware store square pipe. Our hacklab version is based on 50x50mm rails, it uses lead screws and covers an area of 1x1m (cutting area is less). The machine is very sturdy and could easily be much larger without losing rigidity. Our hacklab version uses longboard wheels.

The People need a CNC machine for home. I often have a need to engrave a PCB quickly to test a circuit and I wish I had a CNC machine to do the job. I'm sure you have a need for a desktop CNC machine as well, so heck lets make one.

I've ordered some standard skateboard wheels and bearings. While I wait for them I'm going make a sketch of how the Peoples CNC Frame could look like, it'll be smaller than our hacklab version since we don't want to upset our partners, neighbors, pets or our personal zen.