The Fireball V90 CNC Router is a CNC machine that comes in kit form requiring assembly. There was a sneak peak of its capability last week. See the text that the Fireball V90 routed into an old circuit board, with a PCB routing bit the Fireball V90 CNC Router easily went through everything that was in its way, and that included surface mount chips!
Currently the Fireball V90 is one of the cheapest CNC machines on the market and is a great way to get your feet wet with CNC machining. I spent considerable time researching entry level machines prior to making the plunge with this model. I first heard about the machine from a Nuts and Volts article that Vern Graner wrote. In addition to being a well designed machine I hear that Probotix which is owned by Len Shelton offers great support (although I haven’t needed anything replaced under warranty yet). There is also a Yahoo support group which currently has 989 members, this group of people includes John Hansford who is the creator of the machine.
The following pages will show the assembly steps needed to put together a Fireball V90 CNC Router, the video below will also give you a high level feel of what is involved in putting together one of these machines. Depending on your comfort level with hand tools it should take between 4 and 8 hours to put together. Other than the machine that is built here a motor controller, a control computer and CNC software is also needed. The construction of a motor controller and the setup of the computer will be covered in future articles so stay tuned!
I started on a CNC Lathe Project several months ago (at my current rate of progress, I *may* get it finished by 2012) and have since noticed a rash of DIY CNC Posts all over the Web.
What Oz/In torque are those Motors (at 40V it should just
scream!!!)
The V90 Fireball looks like a fantastic value for the money…
the only other kit I’ve seen (though I’ve not been actively
looking…) is a kit featured on the cover of the Jan 2007
issue of Elektor magazine out of the UK…
The working area was 30cm X 40cm and a Z plunge of 10cm.
Considerably less than the Fireball…
The price was 1,599 Euro’s (2007 currency) though it did
include the drivers & motors at that price.
All the Best with the V90, it looks like it’s going to be
well used!
The links under 3 axis mill is the Gen-1, and those labelled
Nex-Mill 15 are of the Gen 2 mill…
With those motors it must just fly…
I’m running 60 oz/in motors over-volted to 12V and get 90 ipm on
moves between cuts, but typically 30 to 45 ipm depending on the
material being machined…
>I have noticed the same increase in the area.
>Are you building most of yours or is it kit based?
Kit? Hell no. It’s not a Lathe in the traditional sense, it has precision rotation of the part being worked so you can actually drill an image (yes, a picture of a person) on to a dowel (think of a typical CNC with the “Y” component being rotation of a wooden dowel.) At my current rate of progress, I may (possibly) have it done as early as 2012 🙂 I’ll probably build a Web Page for it when it gets further along (make that *IF* it gets…)
Hey guys, check out mycncuk.com – The UK’s machinists community, home to all things related to cnc in the uk. For both the diy cnc machinist to the professional. We have many members building DIY machines.
Great review and the only one online that i could find for the fireball, thanks alan !
este equipo pudecer mas grande de 12´´x18´´ me interesa el kit completo muchas grasias att jany duarte tel.809/5451285 santo domingo
republica dominicana
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I started on a CNC Lathe Project several months ago (at my current rate of progress, I *may* get it finished by 2012) and have since noticed a rash of DIY CNC Posts all over the Web.
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Hey Almost there,
I have noticed the same increase in the area. Are you building most of yours or is it kit based?
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Looks like a fine machine. Looks like one person could handle the entire build. I am looking forward to seeing the controller go together.
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Very slick Vid & image blog of the assembly…
What Oz/In torque are those Motors (at 40V it should just
scream!!!)
The V90 Fireball looks like a fantastic value for the money…
the only other kit I’ve seen (though I’ve not been actively
looking…) is a kit featured on the cover of the Jan 2007
issue of Elektor magazine out of the UK…
The working area was 30cm X 40cm and a Z plunge of 10cm.
Considerably less than the Fireball…
The price was 1,599 Euro’s (2007 currency) though it did
include the drivers & motors at that price.
All the Best with the V90, it looks like it’s going to be
well used!
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Hi Frank,
The motors are 280 OzIn. I am still learning but I am very happy with the speed and power that the motors provide.
http://www.probotix.com/index.php?view=product&path=14&product_id=51
What type of machine is yours? Home made?
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oh yeah… very home made, at least the 1st one was…
And it was used to make some of the parts for the 2nd one…
I have a 3rd mill that is stalled in it’s construction due
to an issue I have to resolve…
there are a few pics at the link below…
http://www.theworkshop.ca/machining/machining.htm
The links under 3 axis mill is the Gen-1, and those labelled
Nex-Mill 15 are of the Gen 2 mill…
With those motors it must just fly…
I’m running 60 oz/in motors over-volted to 12V and get 90 ipm on
moves between cuts, but typically 30 to 45 ipm depending on the
material being machined…
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Alan;
>I have noticed the same increase in the area.
>Are you building most of yours or is it kit based?
Kit? Hell no. It’s not a Lathe in the traditional sense, it has precision rotation of the part being worked so you can actually drill an image (yes, a picture of a person) on to a dowel (think of a typical CNC with the “Y” component being rotation of a wooden dowel.) At my current rate of progress, I may (possibly) have it done as early as 2012 🙂 I’ll probably build a Web Page for it when it gets further along (make that *IF* it gets…)
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Hey Almost there,
Well even if it is 2012 let us know how the project turns out! One can never see too many CNC builds. 🙂
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Hey guys, check out mycncuk.com – The UK’s machinists community, home to all things related to cnc in the uk. For both the diy cnc machinist to the professional. We have many members building DIY machines.
Great review and the only one online that i could find for the fireball, thanks alan !
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Hello, 1. what’s the price of v90? 2. is the big plate wood or can i use metal?
thanks
mi
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Hi Mi,
It is wood. You sure could make it out of metal if you wanted.
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what is the serial of the pics used in the 3 axis kits of the cnc?
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what’s the price of v90?
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Hi Soba,
Not sure what you mean by serial. Could you please elaborate.
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Hi Mielo,
The base unit is currently $600 plus the motor and power supply you want. There are many options you can select,. Have a look at the options here.
http://www.probotix.com/FireBall_v90_cnc_router_kit/
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man.. idk a lot of english…i mean…i wanna know whats the factory number of the pic used in this proyect
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Hi Soba,
There is no PIC microcontroller used in this project.
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so… wats the IC microcontroller ?
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Hi Soba,
Have a look at this page and expand the image.
http://www.probotix.com/stepper_motor_drivers/ProboStep/
You can see the stepper motor driver chip that is being used.
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este equipo pudecer mas grande de 12´´x18´´ me interesa el kit completo muchas grasias att jany duarte tel.809/5451285 santo domingo
republica dominicana
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i want buy this
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