Tips To Model Your Next CNC Cabinet in CAD Before Buying Anything

[Clough42] has started a new CNC control cabinet build, and uses it as an opportunity to demonstrate why he models the whole thing out in CAD before ordering parts or …. Tips To Model Your Next CNC Cabinet in CAD Before Buying Anything. One may wonder why to bother, and the simple answer is to ensure there are no surprises or waste.

[Clough42] has built plenty of these cabinets and there’s always something that isn’t as expected. Modeling out an entire cabinet sounds like it should be easy, because today one can obtain 3D models for components from industrial suppliers with ease. In practice, it’s a process fraught with little gotchas.

For example, a STEP file of a component can lack convenient geometric snap points. An enclosure will be a single entity, without a separate door (and certainly not articulated at the hinge). [Clough42] shows ways to deal with all of these, and more, in Fusion 360.