[miljnor]

Another thing to consider in the run off between the two machines mentioned. (not that there is a runnoff!) but the smithy comes with a cnc lathe built in.

something to consider

[dammachines]

Another thing to consider in the run off between the two machines mentioned. (not that there is a runnoff!) but the smithy comes with a cnc lathe built in.

something to consider

It does? Are you thinking of a different Smithy machine?

I think this is the one everyone is talking about, not one of the 3-in-1 machines:

http://www.americanmachinetools.com/cnc_milling.htm

Dave.

[BobWarfield]

He's probably thinking of the Shopsmith rather than the Smithy. Shopsmiths have a built in lathe, though I would think of it more as a lathe with a built in mill.

As to the question of video, I can sit and watch CNC videos all day long. They are just so cool!

I disagree with the Tormach folks in another way about parts is parts and you can't tell. I continue to think you can learn a lot by looking at what sorts of parts are being made by these machines. Nothing will sell me faster than to see a part that's just like what I'm interested in. That's what's got me sucked into looking at this darned OneCNC program that's so expensive!

[miljnor]

I am sorry!

I am a little off of my game this week!

too many things going wrong! got major brain fry!

Will quit posting for a few days to regain (or loose more ) brain cells.

hehe

later

[pbreed]

I'm waiting for my Tormach.
As for a Lathe I bough a 13x40 Birmingham lathe and had Arroan at IH
put ball screws, limit swithches and steppers on it.
I've yet to power it up as I'm in the middle of a home remodel that will
give me 100% use of the garage. (My wife gets an art studio) I probably wont
get back to the lathe until mid march.


Paul

[Willyb]

Anyone know if this might be coming down the road? If they do it should be a nice Lathe.

I also think that Tormach is making a big mistake by not putting some videos of their CNC Mill on their Web site. I asked Greg about this and got the same answer. They all cut metal so why do you need a video. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing like a CNC video to show how a machine is performing. I am wondering if it's something to do with the some what slow 60IPM travels?? The Smithly CNC Mill is even worse with a 40IPM? Just my thoughts.

Willy

[ataxy]

i am sorry to bring this thread back up but i was reading the spec of the smithy yesterday for the first time and i must admit that its a really nice bench cnc due to it huge travel compared to other but i was really disapointed to notice that it only as 4 speed

[dcprecision]

So far a s benchtops go, I think that the RF-45 is pretty good especially with the 3 phase 2 speed motor. It can be easily cnc adapted and is fairly rigid. The big downfall of all gear heads is noise, heat, and lack of rpm choice. It can be difficult to find a speed and feed that avoids harmonic vibrations with certain end mills. A belt drive kit is going to be a money maker for someone out there.
Off on a separate tangent, a few posts ago someone said that ball screws may be an expensive waste. Many people apparently think that ball screws are required only for position accuracy. There is another reason. A bit of machining FYI. A high tech method for high speed aluminum machining is to use 3 flute 60 deg. helix push cut end mills such as are sold by GARR tool. (By far the best). These mills can be used in the climb milling mode rather than traveling in an opposite direction to cutter rotation. They can be used as both a rough and finish cutter. Because it is a push cutter,(flexes away from the cut) you can rough to .005 in one pass at high chip load and feed without under sizing, then finish the cut at .005. The problem is that climb milling only works well with a zero backlash ball screw because it prevents the cutter and machine table from being pulled forward into the work. This is caused by cutting in the direction of tool rotation. This method provides the fastest possible material removal rate and also produces a superior finish in all materials.

[Ben Colby]

I agree with you totally on the climb-milling issue. No ballscrews no climb cutting without the risk of table jerk. Carbide endmills are by design climb-
cutters and surface finish and chip evacuation are certainly considerations.
I'm fond of Garr endmills, but Data Flute AFI 3 flutes are the kind, give one
a try and I think you'll be surprised.

[dcprecision]

Thanks for the info Ben. What is a good source for the DF AFI 3 flute mills.

DCO

[wisp]

For an benchtop mill that actually sits on a bench, I think the Benchman XT looks pretty ultimate.

[dcprecision]

I must agree, But talk about sticker shock. This mill is way beyond the affordable ranhge of the vast majority of people posting benchtop info. If we could affoard that unit, we would not be fooling around with all this chinese junk.

[ataxy]

I must agree, But talk about sticker shock. This mill is way beyond the affordable ranhge of the vast majority of people posting benchtop info. If we could affoard that unit, we would not be fooling around with all this chinese junk.

exactly and at that point i would get a bigger one

[mattmu]

hey guys, I actually have a smithy cnc1240 benchtop mill and use it to cut Banshee grill out of 304 stainless and just now getting into aluminum. They use the rutex drives if anybody was wondering. They get the cast iron from china and gears and put them all together in the usa. Most of the electronics are purchased from rutex and automation direct. They are advertised with an accuracy of 0.0005 which you should be able to get or better. You have to tram the head but once trammed I'm getting between .0001-.0005 within a 12" diameter. Could probably get better but I didn't want to take the time.
Haven't checked what it is to the end of the x axis yet but there pretty much isn't any movement on my dial indicator on the x axis just on the Y.

y axis advertised at 13.75″ you can only get 12.75". 13.75 is manual mill specs. They didn't account for the nut used on the cnc machine. You could probably stretch this out 2 or 3 more inches with a few modifications and a longer ball screw. The table has the travel in it.

x axis is advertised at 24" I have mine at 26" now and I could squeeze another 1/2" out of it at least.

I replaced the drip tray that came with it and had one made for it which is 8 feet long by 4 feet wide. I use a full flood coolant setup and have mine totally enclosed.

I also built a plasma table I can set on top of the bet and a holder I insert into the spindle which holds my plasma cutter. 2 for 1 I spliced into the switch for my plasma cutter and use the M8, M9 commands to turn the plasma on and off.

Also the IPM rated at 40 for these machines is way underkill.
for the plasma cutting I had it running around 200-400 ipm no problem. I jacked the rapid up to 2000 IPM but that was a little fast.

So I wouldn't worry about the IPM the machine has hadled it for me no problem. All you have to do is change the configuration file

The machine does lack rpms. I use a 5 flute 1/8 bit a lot of the time and have been cutting 304 no problem once you figure out your IPM. currently between slow and very slow. But I can cut 2 grills out at once and it takes about 1-2 hours.

The machine does lack rpms. I use 5 flute 1/8 bit a lot of the time and have been cutting 304 no problem once you figure out your IPM. currently between 1/8in 10 3/16in 20IPM depending on the size of endmill.

The gears are very loud at higher rpms and you would expect a little better quality out of them. Low rpm you wouldn't even hear the machine running except for the gears. I believe with belts and pullies you could quiet the machine down and get 10,000+ rpm out of it.
I am currently looking at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...3142&rd=1&rd=1 a variable speed motor and controller combo on ebay I was thinking about replacing the existing motor with this setup and new pully system with 3 gear ratios 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 which would give me around 21k out of it.
Shouldn't be to difficult and then I would have one hell of a machine.

[boaterri]

I just found this thread and can't help noticing that there is no comment on the Ajax CNC mill. Any one have one or is it a real dog?

Rick

[philbur]

I couldn't find any bench mills at Ajax cnc? Which model are you referring to.

Phil

I just found this thread and can't help noticing that there is no comment on the Ajax CNC mill. Any one have one or is it a real dog?

Rick

[boaterri]

Ajac CNC makes a mill that seems to be in a similar class with the Tormach or IH mills. Not exactly a bench top mill but a big bench top mill on a base.

Try this link: http://www.ajaxcnc.com/DM45.htm

Rick

[mattmu]

Looks a little small for me nice machine but having the pc that close is just asking for problems and the bed looks a little wimpy. Rpms better but still not enough for me.

[smarbaga]

i think one should have optical home switches for accuracy.
mechanical limit switches for safety,( to protect your system)
the limit switches should release a relay which would break the power.
the relay would be set when you turn on the system.
in my opinion.

[SyilAmerica]

My personal preferance after playing around with lots of options are:

1. Something that comes ready to run (no more "CNC ready", "could be", "can be", or "only 100hrs of time and you could convert this!")
2. Good value (I don't want to have to sell any children to get it)
3. Versitile (can't be good for limited types of metals)
4. Benchtop, but still heavy and rigid (45lb or 85lb mills are out of the question)