Hi guys,

This is long, but bear with me.

The time is coming where I want to upgrade from my Sherline CNC. I need more rigidity, durability, speed and accuracy. Longer travels would be nice, but aren't crucial. The parts being machined are putters. Material is brass and aluminum. There may be some free cutting steel down the road.

I don't have a garage or basement to work from. This will have to go in a bedroom like the Sherlines (manual and CNC) are now. Because of this, the Tormach and any other machines north of 300 pounds are out.

It my options are very limited. The X2 doesn't have enough Y travel, X3 and X4 are too heavy to haul up a flight of stairs. Same deal with the Smithy's, 516 doesn't have enough Y and the 622 is too heavy. I also have doubts about the quality of these Chinese made machines. It seems guys put in a ton of work to get them where they want. This does not appeal to me.

This leaves me with either making my own machine or a Wabeco. An F1210E with ballscrews and the ISO30 taper at 110 volts is $10,190. It does come with a PC with Mach 3 loaded, which is nice. This is a German made machine, so the quality, materials and engineering will be top notch. But again, 10 G's plus whatever shipping (eeek!) and duty & taxes will cost (I'm thinking in the $1,600 range total here). So 11 something. Then whatever building an enclosure and the coolant setup costs. So pushing 12K. Yikes.

http://www.mdaprecision.com/

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I have a machine in the CAD design process. Base is an 18 by 12 by 3 granite surface plate (already have). Rails, ballscrews and end supports will be homeshopcnc and they will do all machining. Cost for this is in the $2,300 range total plus shipping. Control will be a pre-made ready to run one from Keling, the more powerful one. Price $569. Steppers from Keling $130. Mach 3 from Keling $159. So total for electronics and control about $860. Spindle will be the X2 one from Homeshop CNC. Add in the belt drive, spindle lock, and drawbar for another $265. Say another $300 for DC motor and some type of "dimmer switch" control. We'll tack on another $150 for stepper couplers. That's $3,875. Tax on that is $500 (GST and PST) and say shipping is another $200. At $4,580. Let's say the required aluminum costs another $300. Misc stuff $250. Enclosure and coolant setup another $500. About $5,630 total all included. Half the price of the Wabeco.

I could do the ebay thing and save a ton of cash. Unfourtunately, my current machines aren't up to turning down ballscrew ends and my electronics knowledge is zero. So ordering stuff "to size", ballscrews pre-machined and electronics ready to go is probably the smart course of action.

Now, I realize that my build won't be as capable as the Wabeco. It will be a good 75 or so pounds lighter and probably not as precise. But if done right it will still be a lot faster, more rigid and more precise than my Sherline.

Does anyone have any experience with the Wabeco CNC mills? Are there any other machines under 300 pounds that would meet my requirements? Does anyone have any advice, suggestions, etc...?

Thanks,

Serge