Goodday all,
Well, I posted a thread in the Taig area the other day, presenting a little intro of who I am, and what I'd like to do. Basically, I want to set myself up for future success with a beginner's CNC mill, with intent to upgrade down the road, when I get closer to retirement from the Navy.
So, my initial thoughts were towards learning on a Taig CNC, but in doing some more research and thinking, I'm not sold on that option. The price is about $2400-ish, plus shipping, plus taxes, etc, for a bench-top mini-machine that provides the opportunity to learn, but has limits in both work-space and cutting capability.
I've done a few hours more reading on here, plus some additional research and have been testing my google-fu, and have come up with a couple of other options.
First, the Seig X2.
Pricing on the machine is from a Canadian Distributor:
https://www.machinetoolswarehouse.co...L-p-16298.html
The CNC kit is from CNC Fusion:
CNC Fusion
The 3 Axis CNC drive setup is from Keling
Page Title
And a Gecko 540:
G540 4-Axis Motor Control
Prices:
Seig X2L $799
CNC Kit $579
3 Axis $377.21
Gecko $299
Total $2054.21
Plus tax and shipping which will run up another $4-500-ish, plus a copy of Mach for $149.
Next up would be a Seig SX3:
Same Canadian Distrubutor:
https://www.machinetoolswarehouse.co...3-p-16242.html
CNC kit from CNC Fusion:
CNC Fusion
3 Axis CNC Drive from Keling:
Page Title
And the same Gecko 540:
G540 4-Axis Motor Control
Prices:
Seig SX3 $1499
CNC Kit $599
3 Axis $631
Gecko $299
Total $$3028
Plus tax and shipping which will run another $6-700 (heavier machine, more $$$) plus a copy of Mach for $149.
Considering a Taig CNC Mill package from Soigeneris:
$2404.00
Plus tax and shipping for probably $4-500
I have about a $4,000 budget for this project, so that basically knocks out the SX3, as it's right at the top end leaving no space for additional tooling and software, not to mention it's rather substantial weight would involve me having to build a new section onto my work-bench, which I'm not currently able to do because of the limited space I have...so while the footprint is similar to the X2, the X3's weight is also a no-go for right now.
That leaves me the Taig or the X2.
Of these, I think I preffer the X2, for a couple of reasons.
First, the X2 has an R8 spindle, meaning it's compatible with my existing manual mill tooling.
Second, it doesn't have an aluminium work-surface. Past experience with such on another small mill has left me jaded, I like heavier duty.
So, basically, I'm now leaning towards the X2 as my "affordable" entry-level mini-CNC Mill.
Am I missing anything major here? Are the packages of "stuff" that I've identified all that I need to conduct the upgrade of the manual machine to a CNC?
Are there other considerations I should be taking into account? (I've got spare computers hanging around the house to hook up with...I'm an IT geek too.)
I'm open for input on this, but I think my current choices in a relatively limited market are the X2 or the Taig, are there other options I'm missing?
Thanks,
NavyShooter