Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: As and industrial elctrician I'm tired of reading books people publish using exagerated big wording to impress the reader or maybe themself. Simple to read and understand a laymen could build one.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I am very pleased with this book. The author seems to be a regular guy who likes to build things and so am I. I liked all the information about the electronics, when it comes to that sort of task i can use all the help I can get. I now have working driver boards that I have used to move some small stepper motors with my computer. I am using the rest of the book as inspiration for the machine that I'm building. This is a project book so if you like to build things from the ground up you'll love it.
Rating: 
Summary: Much less than promised...
Review: I waited anxiously for this book to become available, and even paid $15 for overnight delivery when Amazon finally had it in stock.The pre-pub blurbs say it shows you how to build the equivelent of a $7500 workshop bot (an intentional play on the name ShopBot I guess) for $1500, and the cover front and rear are full of promises not delivered inside... "Great for use... on the industrial floor" NOT! "Provides step-by-step instructions for building your own CNC machine"... "Scaling and customizing instructions for building just the robot you want"... "Sources for easily obtained parts" There is no discussion of design rationale, bearing loads, etc. He just jumps in and, in a 12 page Chapter 1 (three of which are used for showing the explosion views of the $3000? NuArc copy camera he scrounged the entire Y-axis carriage and rails from and telling you he made the Z axis from a TV shelf slide), tells you what he used. Nothing about the pros and cons and accuracy implications of different linear motion components, ballscrews vs acme, etc. Less text in the chapter than someone would use in a web forum post breifly describing their homebuilt CNC machine. Chapter 2 uses 51 of its 62 pages to reprint the manufacturer's documentation (probably available online) for the L297 and L298 chips he uses in his stepper motor driver... Chapter 3 is 20 pages showing how to photo etch his printed cicuit board... Chapter 4 is 13 pages showing how to drill the board and solder the components on. This information may be of use to some, but with proven 3-axis stepper driver boards readily available for $100-150, I think I'd skip the electronic components gathing, and the gloves, eye protection, respirator, and the carefully monitored heated baking dish full of of ferric chloride solution giving off "nasty and dangerous fumes." Chapter 5 shows you how to install KellyWare KCam software and test your drives... he barely mentions that he used three PC power supplies to power the three axii (he left them out on the "Materials Needed" list that starts the chapter); no discussion at all about power supply selection issues if you happen to have stepper motors different from the surplus ones he found. The next few chapters show how he drilled and bolted the frame and gantry, and made pillow blocks... how he crudely supported the 3/4" linear shafting on free-standing bolts (he doesn't say, but I guess he bought the shafting pre-tapped, which nearly triples the price). I just love this... "In order to assemble the Y-axis, you will need the following tools and materials: Guide rails... Slide from NuArc copy camera...". The shaft support bolts are used to "straighten" the precision rails to a constant height from the square tubing that supports them (??). After a decent chapter on motor and leadscrew mounting (no comment on probable whipping of the very long skinny X-axis leadscrew), more about KCam, some crude router mounting, and some examples of some things he's routed, the book ends with a list of addresses and phone numbers of corporate headquarters of linear motion components manufacturers, etc. This book isn't real impressive with its lack of technical info. Most of it is like the web pages individuals put up showing pictures of the CNC router they built, often with scrounged/E-bayed parts that the next guy may or may not be able to find. Like those websites, it's always interesting to "see how someone else did it", but don't burn your $35 on this book expecting much more. If nothing else, I suppose you can vicariously "build" your first machine in your mind by reading this book, then build your first real machine better after more web research and questions to others online who seem to be more informed on design issues than this author.
Rating:
Summary: Not For The Serious CNC Builder
Review: I was hoping for a book that would give usefull information on the compoments and construction of a quality CNC router. This book didn't even come close. This is a documentation of cobbeling together a make-shift CNC router and does not give any real info on how to choose components or lay out and build a serious machine.
If, like me, you are looking for detailed help on choosing linear motion components, stepper or servo motors and controllers, and how to design and build a machine that can approximate the quality of the pre-built routers costing $10,000 and up this is NOT the book for you. Don't waste your money!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed - Many details left out.
Review: I was very disappointed that many important details were left out. Anyone who does a little research on the internet and has seen a CNC router knows the basics of what makes up a machine. What the book promised were the details of how to build your own. The details and parts lists were left out. Those are the critical items. Your money would be much better spent buying a good set of plans from the internet. There are many bulletin boards and web sites that have good information. Research them.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed - Many details left out.
Review: I was very disappointed that many important details were left out. Anyone who does a little research on the internet and has seen a CNC router knows the basics of what makes up a machine. What the book promised were the details of how to build your own. The details and parts lists were left out. Those are the critical items. Your money would be much better spent buying a good set of plans from the internet. There are many bulletin boards and web sites that have good information. Research them.
Rating:
Summary: This book is better on making PC Boards than on CNC...
Review: I, too, couldn't wait to get my hands on this book-- only to be very dissappointed when I got it. Nearly 100 pages (a third of the book) are spent describing how he made his own circuit boards, assembled them ,etc. It seems really silly when better micro-stepping controllers are available for around $100. There is almost no discussion of design theories. He just found this great surplus sliding unit from a $3000 graphic arts copy camera and decided to build the rest of his machine around it. Good luck to you trying to find one just like it! There is much better information available on the web and in the newsgroups. Save your $35.
Rating:
Summary: CNC Robotics: Everything I was looking for
Review: My comapny was looking to buy a number of CNC machine to mass produce a huge volume of parts. Most machines and maintenance contracts are very expensive. This book has literally saved us over 100 thousand dollars and we had a great time building the machines ! We can now maintain, re-tool and modify as we need. The design outlined in the book works perfectly and after creating a prototype from similar off the self parts (we couldn't find a NuArc so we ordered some very inexpensive precut steel) we made some modifications to the design to meet some of our specific needs ( changed the power supplies and stepper motors). The author includes just the right amount of technical and mechincal information to get you started on the road to automation ! The design is simple, straight forwared and easily modified. I highly recomend this book to anyone who wants to quickly create a CNC machine. The future of automation is yours... Thank you very much Geoff, we look forward to an even more profitable year !
Rating:
Summary: Not so Great Book
Review: The sources in the book to buy the hardware and electronics only sale products by the hundreds, if you contact them for only a few parts YOU WILL BE IGNORED, when you're not ignored you'll find that the prices are much (MUCH) higher than then ones mentioned in the book I have to complaints on the electronics part: 1) There are a total of six (6) chips to be soldered; you need some good soldering skills to successfully solder those chips without short-circuiting anything. 2) The section that explains the circuitry says, and I quote "Don't worry too much about understanding how this circuit works; as long as you follow the directions closely, the board you build will function properly," WHICH IS NOT TRUE, you have to closely follow and understand the electronics in order to find an error in the book, even though it is a minor error, it can really drive you nuts. Also note there is no contact information of the author, YOU WILL BE ON YOUR OWN. My advise to you, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK, unless you are a really good troubleshooter and willing to spend some serious time hunting for the parts.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Best
Review: This book is NOT what was promised. The parts list is very lacking..you must be very familliar with electronics just to be able to order the parts..specifications would have been nice. Labeling and numbering the circuit boards would have saved tons of time. I did get a set of boards built that will run the stepper motors..I believe most of the information is correct but very hard to understand and follow..a few more wiring diagrams or more complete schematics would have been a great improvement. I could write a book on how to use this book and I have not started the gantry yet. It would have been nice to have more advice on motor selection and what it takes to drive what..too much left to guesswork.
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