[ready961]

Hello

Im looking to purchase a CNC mill for work to replace the old manual Bridgeport. It will mostly be used for fixtures and such, not for production. I have used Prototraks in the past and liked them. Any suggestions on what machine would be good, software? And oh ya my boss is tight with a buck.

[JDenyer232]

Hello

Im looking to purchase a CNC mill for work to replace the old manual Bridgeport. It will mostly be used for fixtures and such, not for production. I have used Prototraks in the past and liked them. Any suggestions on what machine would be good, software? And oh ya my boss is tight with a buck.

Well you could always buy a cnc retrofit kit and have it installed on the old Bridgeport. Flood coolant really wouldn't be an option(to messy), no automatic tool changer either, but it would probably be the cheaper of your options. Another option would be to find a used vertical machining center that is in ok shape, sometimes the older ones can be had for under 12K. If you are doing tight tolerance work then an old machine may not be up to the task. I believe you can get entry level cnc retrofit kits for bridgeports starting at around 12-15K. Hope this is of some help.

[LUCKY13]

I think it will take much more info than this to get a idea of what machine would be best. There are just so many options now and things like real world budget,working size of parts/fixtures being made, time frame to make them, what will the parts be made of (Steel,aluminum,plastic) and many other questions that could come to mind.



A good low cost machine to look at would be the Tormach, there is a section in the forum on them you can get info from. Also the Industrial Hobbies machine ( bigger/stronger version of the Tormach) that can be bought in a CNC setup with great specs.


There is really many routes that could be taking to meat your needs, and budget would be a really good guide line to start with.


Jess