Congratulations on embarking on your CNC journey! While you are waiting for the machine to show up, you can get the ball rolling by doing a couple of things:
📖 Start Learning
- Familiarize yourself with fundamental CNC concepts and workflows
- Dive into understanding CNC software
- Bookmark these resources pages to refer to after your LongMill assembly 🔖
- Add-ons installation and usage guides (e.g. AutoZero touch plate, AutoSpin router, gControl panel)
- Feeds and speeds for various material and bit types
- Step by step instructions on how to run a CNC job
🔌Setup Your Space
- Clear space in your shop or garage to build the machine
- Find drawings for the 48×30 and 30×30 on this page
- Build or source a table
- Looking for ideas? See these table designs made by fellow community members
- Grab an MDF sheet as your wasteboard, to mount onto your table surface during assembly 🟫
- 3/4″x4’x8′ for the 48×30, you may need to cut it to size for your table
- 3/4″x4’x4′ for the 30×30
- If you want to build a different style of wasteboard later on with workholding accessories, you may need another MDF sheet
🛠️ Get Materials and Equipment
- Determine what computer to get, if you are not getting gControl panel
- Consider which workholding methods to use
- Source cutting tools for the types of projects you’re interested in making
- Figure out your dust collection system
- Take precautions and grab safety gear to protect your eyes and ears
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Familiarize yourself with the CAM software options available, purchase it, then set up your post processor
🗪 Community & Help
We’ve got a great online community that is well worth visiting and being a part of. If you have questions about the machine, machining techniques or how to use some software, this is the first place to start.
- Sienci Community Forum – A great spot to look for solutions and participate in conversation with fellow LongMill and AltMill owners
- LongMill, AltMill, and Mill One User Group – Another place to crowd-source information and show off your projects
If you run into issues with your machine, feel free to use the Forum or Facebook group to ask for help. You can also check our troubleshooting articles for solutions: Troubleshooting Articles 🧠
Otherwise, you can get help from our technical support team by filling out the contact form!
We hope you have a great time building, learning and creating with your LongMill MK3 CNC!