[mactec54]

Background:
Career fabricator that built a cnc x2 mini mill 10 yrs. ago with the help of this forum. got it built but sold it before I did much with it.
Mostly just learned how to make decent cad drawings to give to actual machinist's

I am working with a small start up that is considering bringing our modest machining needs in house.
Basically we need to drill and tap a number of vertical holes in 1/2"x2"x up to 12" solid aluminum extrusion.
About 1-200 pcs a week would be plenty.

I am thinking a 3 axis mill with tool changer, but maybe that's overkill. We can afford the mill but I recall that software can cost a good bit.
Played with mach3 back then but would that be suitable? I would like to learn to run this myself but we would be willing to hire someone with experience if necessary.

Fortunately we are thinking ahead so there is time to determine the correct path. Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

You may not need a cnc mill to just drill and tap holes.

For a machine control Acorn, it one of the better controls that can do rigid tapping, Mach3 is still good for anything to do with milling, not so good in the rigid tapping area though.

Need to know if you need to do any milling on the parts??

A flex arm can be better for taping production run pieces like this, it can be mounted onto a work bench, and you would use fixtures for your parts.