What About Bob?

I have been intrigued with how things work for as long as I can remember. As a young boy I always tore apart my toys and tried to make improvements. I may not have had much success but gained lots of experience. I enjoy design, electronics, manufacturing and programming computers and microprocessors. Bottom line if it moves and functions it's got my attention.

I am a mechanical engineer and currently work as a project engineer. I have been building CNC routers for over 10 years and recently have been designing and manufacturing 3D printers. Due to my love of design and manufacturing, I decided to start BobsCNC to share my designs with people who like to create and are fascinated by how things work.

My design and manufacturing philosophy is pretty basic. I love designs that are simple and cost-effective. It is not just a slogan or mission statement but what drives my designs. I am irritated by too many features (Facebook clutter drives me nuts). A complex design will suffer in reliability, a complex part is difficult and can be expensive to manufacture. For me, a great design is one that does the job, functions well and has only the needed parts and can be easily be manufactured.

My first router build operated very slowly due to the 1/4-20 all-thread used for motion and a flexible Dremel shaft for a spindle. The majority of the frame was MDF glued and screwed together. The linear rail system was aluminum channel with UHMW sliders made on a table saw. The stepper motors had a whopping 58 ounce-inches of torque. However, it functioned very well, and I was amazed at how precise it cut. I was hooked!

I originally intended this router to go to my father, but he wanted a larger one. A history of some of my CNC projects can be found on the CNC Zone under username rlwoodjr.

Bob's first router build
Software I use:
  • SpaceClaim
  • Design Spark Mechanical
  • NC Corrector
  • OpenSCAD
  • Repitier
  • OpenSCAM
  • GMAX
  • Arduino
  • LinuxCNC
  • Grbl
Websites I visit:
  • CNCZone
  • Thingiverse
  • Mouser
  • eBay
  • RepRap
  • Arduino
  • Grbl
  • CNC Toolkit
  • GMax
Other pages that have nothing to do with CNC

The God Journey
A conversation with those who are thinking outside the box of organized religion.

NorthPoint Online
Not really fond of large religious organizations but I like their mission statement which is “To lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.”