[691175002]

Hi, I am really new to cnc stuff and want to get a small cheap mill. So far the best place I can find for mini mills is www.flashcutcnc.com. I am thinking of getting the minimill 2000 with a rotary table. For software I can only think of getting the education versions of rhino 3d and visual mill.

I am open to sugestions and am just looking for something cheap and easy to use for hobbies and stuff like that.

[Idle hands]

The Taig mill http://www.taigtools.com/cmill.html is also popular in that size. I just set my Taig up this last week. This is really a well built machine. It's not as big as some of the other benchtop mills, but the hardened steel ways and brass gibbs on all axis are nice. One drawback to this kind of mill is the colum or Z axis. It can take a few minutes to bring the colum perpendicular to the table. I set mine and leave it alone for the most part. I don't have need to tilt the colum yet so that dosen't bother me. The ways, gibbs, screws and spindle are probably the most important parts of the mill. Since you want to cnc it then the axis drive motors are important as well servos or steppers? Open or closed loop?

If I had a way to put absolute? scales (DRO) on my xyz axis and get them to tie into the feedback loop to my servos that would be nice. I wouldnt have to worry about backlash as much possibly. I like the idea of the feedback in the closed loop type systems.

[awerby]

The Taig is a good choice, if you want a sturdily contructed miniature milling machine. If you want a closed-loop control system, Flashcut is a good alternative. Rhino has an educational version, VisualMill does not.