I built a DMC2 Mini, a small desktop CNC mill, from a kit. I worked on it from late September into October 2025.
Mechanical assembly (September and October 2025)
This is the bench at the end of an evening in late September. Good progress, but lots left in this build. The kit parts are laid out, with the instructions up on the laptop.
And the frame, partly assembled, surrounded by bags of hardware.
A regular socket wouldn't fit into one tight spot, so I ground down the outside wall of a 7 mm deep socket. Having a grinder means never having to say you're sorry.
By October 2 it was probably about two thirds done: you can see the frame, the table, the ballscrews and linear rails, and a stepper motor on top of the Z axis. Yes, it has ballscrews. Fancy, but necessary.
On October 3 the mechanical assembly was complete, so next up was electrical. That's the finished machine at the top of the page.
Electrical (October 2025)
I chipped away at the electrical work when I had time. Here's the back of the machine with the electronics bay open, showing the controller boards and wiring, with the coolant reservoir on the side. The power-on smoke test didn't reveal any immediate glaring issues.
Next up was installing the software and making it move. The machine also needs a home: I'm planning to use the big CNC at the makerspace to make a rolling cart for it to sit on, with room for the power cables, coolant lines and so on.
Moving (October 2025)
On October 10, finally, all three axes working.
I also had to build a coolant basin for it to sit in.