Voron Just Released their Cascade DIY CNC Mill Design

Voron is probably the most well-regarded name in the DIY 3D printer scene, with several very popular designs released. I’ve built a Trident myself and can attest to the Voron team’s engineering skill. And now they’ve entered into the machining world with the release of the Voron Cascade CNC mill.

Before going further, it is important to note that the Voron Cascade is very clearly a light duty desktop CNC mill. The closest comparable machine seems to be the Millennium Milo — though the two machines have different layouts.

You’ll be able to mill wood, plastic, and PCBs pretty well. And you should be able to mill aluminum, though that will require careful milling strategies to account for the lack of rigidity. Steel is where machines like the Voron Cascade and Millennium Milo will start to struggle. Both can technically mill steel, but won’t do so with much efficiency or to tight tolerances.

If you’re okay with that, then the Voron Cascade looks attractive. You’ll get the great engineering and phenomenal documentation that Voron is known for, which is very compelling.

The Cascade is an enclosed, gantry-style CNC mill. The construction is primarily aluminum extrusion and 3D-printed parts, which is why rigidity isn’t going to be amazing. But there are machined parts, such as the X Carriage Plate. Those aren’t cheap, but they provide increased strength and rigidity in key areas.

The spindle is an off-the-shelf unit and there are a couple of options. The better option is a G-Penny 1.5kw 24,000 RPM ER16 spindle paired with a VFD. That isn’t bad, but it is important to note that spindle motors like that really need to run at high speed. They lose all torque at low speeds, which can hurt capability in some materials (like steel).

There are also different options for control: either an Expatria FlexiHAL and drivers or a BTT Scylla CNC board. In both cases, a Raspberry Pi SBC (Single-Board Computer) is integrated into the machine to tell those what to do. They drive the axes with NEMA 23 stepper motors through ball screws.

A build like this isn’t for the faint of heart, but Voron’s documentation is famous for being comprehensive and the community support is great. If you’ve built a Voron 3D printer, you should be able to pull this off. Expect to pay somewhere between $2,000 and $3,000 to complete the project, depending on the options you choose and how you source parts.

Here is a video showing one of the few Voron Cascade machines already built: