[Siress]

I would LOVE to get into this but the problem is I have a small budget and I am still in school, senior year of high school. I have allways been intrested in metal work but never really had the resorces close to home. My grandad has a lot of stuff, lathes, all types of welders, presses, etc... and I grew up using the stuff when I was visiting twice a month. (owned a iron working business) His shop is 2hrs away but I still have plenty of access to it. I am currrently deeply involved with the paintball scene and want my projects mainly to be milling the bodies of my paintball markers and eventually other peoples markers. What kind of price range are we talking about for some one like me to get going in this? I'm hopping that somewhere around 1k could do it. Any build-it-your-self things out there for mills? I would like to eventually make a business out of metal working but I need something to start out on. I can always upgrade machines when I see the market for this. Thanks for your help.

[motomitch1]

yes you can build a small cnc mill for $1000

http://www.cnczone.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/20

[Hobbiest]

You can absolutely get your machine running for under 1k. If you are industrious, I'd say that under $500 is even reasonable. If you are looking also for instruction on building machines, check out David Gingery's line of books, "How to build a metal shop from scrap". Just punch Gingery Lathe into google and check the links out. Do this early though, or you may not get to sleep until the wee hours!

[Hobbiest]

Motomitch1,
Nice mill!

[motomitch1]

Thanks heres what mine cost

mill $400 new
motor drivers $350 new
stepper motors $150 used e bay
pc 400mhz $80 used
stepper software Q step $55
$1035

[Siress]

Sweetness. What kind of performance do you get from that mill? Smooth lines? Depth?

[motomitch1]

Runs good could use more RPMs It only runs at 2900 rpm max

[Siress]

Whats the norm RPM?

[motomitch1]

5000 to 10,000 would be better for small endmills .062/.125 cutting alum.

[Siress]

What would it take to make one that reached that RPM? I really need instructions for this.

I was just wondering, what are the pros/cons of a CNC Mill over a manuel mill?

[Hobbiest]

Check out DC servos...but save your money first before you get all excited. I am really excited, but broke!

[JFettig]

The only problem with your price figures is that you do not include any of the tooling, I have over $500 worth of just random crap for mine.


Jon

[Siress]

I know this is the CNC forums but would it be cheaper to go with a manuel machine than CNC (assuming that I don't lose any quality, do I?)?

[cncadmin]

Originally posted by Siress
I know this is the CNC forums but would it be cheaper to go with a manuel machine than CNC (assuming that I don't lose any quality, do I?)?

No, this site is NOT just CNC. IMO a non CNC machine is cheaper but, your time is not. A CNC machine will do a lot more with less manuel effort.

[Hobbiest]

and it can be a chore to mill out a circle with a manual machine too! What materials and thicknesses are you looking to mill, and what will you actually be doing, ie through cuts, engraving, etc.

[Siress]

Milling on gun bodies and standard hobby stuff. The gun bodies are about 1/2" thick at the thickest parts. The tolerances are close in many spots though. Check out TarantulaMfg.com for examples.

Any recomendations for the design of the mill to keep the price as low as possible while keeping smoothlines andwhat not?

My grandfather is also planing on getting a CNC machine for plasma cuters.

[Hobbiest]

How big of a machine does he need for plasma?

[Siress]

He is buying one thats pretty big, probably 5' x 8'. Its very large, comes in blue and yellow colors...if you can get the name from that...I can't remember the company. He is pretty set on it but not sure when he will get it yet.

Back to my home brew though, I am getting excited about just the design process of the machine.

Incidently, anyone ever see that horizontal mill built from a 4 cil. engin block? Thats cool, I might even try that later....lol.

[Hobbiest]

That sounds like a pretty powerful mill!

[Siress]

Never seen it? I will look for the picture..I want it too.