[EMS Discuss] CNC machine

[Mr. Clif]

I have a friend who I'll probably quote below. He says that these 
smaller machines are good for learning on but if you want repeatability 
or faster than crawling along you want a bigger machine. You can get 
larger machines and then retrofit it with CNC. He has recently looked 
into this very same thing, and determeind that he wanted something more 
than just a learning machine, ie, one that he could make real world 
parts on not just in plastic. Here are the links he came up with during 
his search:
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Clif,

These are both very low end hobby mills (the kind I was originally 
looking at).  They are suitable for working in wood, plastic and maybe 
aluminum.  They would be GREAT as a tool for learning CNC and G code 
programming.

A step up (though 3 times the money) would be something like 
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3501&category=1241045623 
or 
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3829&category=1241045623 


Remember that none of these light weight machines are going to be very 
stiff so slow and patient is the ticket if you want to have *ANY* kind 
of precision.

Other Hobby mills I looked at include:
http://www.taigtools.com/cmill.html
http://www.cnczone.com/classifieds/machines/p7920-cnc-converted-harbor-freight-mill-drill.html 

http://www.cncmasters.com/index.php?page=cnc-baron-milling-machine
http://makeprojects.com/Project/CNC+Mini+Mill+Conversion+Kit+%28Hardware%29/1295/1#.UJMRP4bud8E 


<He thought this was the ***BEST*** of the hobby mills>:

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=4218&category=1387807683 
PLUS
http://www.cncfusion.com/minimill1.html
http://www.kelinginc.net/
http://www.littlemachineshop.com/3652   (Today I'd probably look at 
LinuxCNC, even though the learning curve is steeper. )

Here is an in between mill:

http://www.littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3501&category=1241045623

Depending on skills he might consider converting one of the heavier 
bench-top mills.

My friend who withheld his name. ;-)
___________________________________________________________________________________________

These are obviousely all hobby mills, now his search has moved on to 
heavy duty bench top mills and low end production mills, and we could 
dig up those links if you are interested. like this one for instance:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-x-21-Mill-Drill/G0619

Though it's not CNC, yet... but he is still hopeful that there is a kit 
out there somewhere for it.

     Have fun,
     Clif

Brad Stewart wrote:
> If I purchase a CNC mill, I would probably leave it at the shop 
> (assuming there is a space).  Makes most sense for now.
> Brad
>
> On 10/31/2012 12:01 PM, Rick Osgood wrote:
>> I don't know much about CNC mills (or really mills in general) 
>> myself, but this looks pretty cool!  Are you looking to get something 
>> for yourself at home?  Or are you thinking of getting something to 
>> leave at the shop for communal use?
>>
>> Rick
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 10:28 AM, Brad Stewart <EMAIL HIDDEN 
>> <mailto:EMAIL HIDDEN>> wrote:
>>
>>     Hello Makers,
>>     I'm looking at getting a CNC Mill.  I found this one:
>>     http://www.maxnc.net/product_p/maxnc10.htm
>>     Let me know your comments.
>>
>>     --
>>       Brad Stewart
>>     EMAIL HIDDEN <mailto:EMAIL HIDDEN>
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