Ok, this is going to be a long winded post.....lots of newbie questions and a fairly straight forward request about responses.
The request on responses is simple.....please just answer the questions, don't attempt to tell me I am getting in over my head or that I am wasting money or the what not. There is a bunch personally that I am not going to talk about that factors in the decisions I am making.
So, with that being said, I have decided to start a machine shop out of my garage, mainly to support my side business of RC Car parts that I have been running for 5 years now and am going to be doing it full time now. My business mainly did motors and batteries, along with the occasional specialty part or tool. Motors and Batteries have changed a bunch, since the acceptance of Brushless and Lipo batteries, so to keep my company going, I am going to be moving in new directions with machined parts, while still doing the motor and battery thing. I will also be machining some Airsoft gun parts (not very big) and possibly the occasional small car or bike part for my dad/brother. Nothing will be very big, say bigger than a shoe....
I am a very big novice at machining, but I am well on my way and eager to learn. Ordered quite a few videos and books, along with working on setting up a mentor thing local. I am going to be buying a few mills, but I want to get my workhouse out of the way now, while I am able to make it happen.
I have narrowed my choices down to the Sharp 2412 or the Haas Minimill.....
Now the problems I face are the following.....
Since the unit will be going in my garage at home, which is attached to the house, I have a few size and power issues.
First, my garage door, if I take it off the hinges and everything MIGHT squeek at 84 inches, probably more like 83...once inside, I have 112 and techincally, I could cutout some drywall if I need a few more. I have tried finding the minimum hieght specs on both machines, with little luck. I have a sturdy 4 inch floor from what I can tell.
Second, is power....I am not a power expert, but from my understanding, 3 phase is not very doable for a reasonable price in residential neighborhoods. I am already gonna have to upgrade my box, as I am out of circuits anyways. I don't really understand the whole phase convertor thing, tried reading about it on the net, but the info is very generic.
Now on to the machines......seems like a toss up really. Some people seem really sold on the haas, but the limited few posting on the sharp think they are amazing...
The pros/cons
Haas
Pros
Well Built
Solid rep
small foot print
single phase power requirement
Cons
tech/repair seems to have issues in certain areas
might be too tall
guides are not as good sharp from what I read
sharp
cheaper
better guides
seems like better customer service, regardless of where u live
cheaper
bigger work space
from what I read, its shorter max height
cons
3 phase power (oof)
less info on the net about them
Other questions I have is about accessories and software. Which do I need and what comes with the unit? Any ideas what I would be looking at price wise out the door? I worry about calling the companies, cause they are just gonna tell me what I wanna hear and then find out its not.
I have attached photos of items similar to what I would be machining for RC parts.....Airsoft stuff is basically internal parts for the guns, very small....
Just to be clear again, my situation sets me in buying this machine. I am in the process of buying a couple of other units.....a smaller CNC for prototyping and a manual mill for whatever, mainly just to learn and stuff on or even a prototype...
Thanks for looking and any help you can provide, keeping my RC company going is keeping my dream alive.....
Later EddieO