I am a newbie in its truest sense. I have been using CAD software for years, but all I do is design the part, save it to disk, and give it to the machinist.

I want my own CNC machine to mill parts out of stainless steel. The parts will require a 4 axis machine, but are fairly simple. I am not rich, and this will be for my hobby, but I must make my parts out of stainless steel, unfortunatly. I have access to some pretty spiffy CAM software, and I'm told that it will generate my tool path for me, and all I need to know is my tool size and material to be milled (for rate, etc.)

Taig claims their machine will mill stainless with no problem. They say I need to buy a 4 axis from somebody else, but when I do, I can put a part in before I go to sleep, and by morning it will be completed with an accuracy of .0005 all the way around.

I posted a pic of the part. It's a fan disk for a very small turbine engine. An expert machinist who works with me stated unequivically that this part only requires a vertical mill with a forth, rotary axis.

I see folks here machining plastic, wood, and aluminum, but not much talk about steel. I am not interested in mass producing parts. I don't care how long it takes. But before I slap down two or three grand on a 4 axis Taig setup, I want to know from a non biased expert (you guys) if their machine is up to that task. If it isn't which one is?

Thanks in advance. I really appreciate you reading this long post.