[MarioC]

Hello Experts!
I often need to make prototypes and custom adapters for some instruments I use, and the lead time I get from the local shops are way too long. For this reason I'm considering buying a CNC machine and make them myself.

Since my experience in milling is essentially zero and I have a few requirements that seem to be rather hard to meet, I thought I would ask here for a few pointers.

The main issues are the following:
- The parts are either in some hard metal (AISI 3xx Stainless Steel, Inconel, Titanium) or ceramic (Macor, Zirconia) and neither seem to be very easy to handle.
- The parts often have rather tight tolerances; I could live with +/- 0.025mm, but ideally I would like to get +/- 0.010.
- My office floor has a hard limit at 250Kg/m^2. While I could probably improve that some by reinforcing the floor, transporting the machine to its intended position might be tricky unless it can be disassembled and reassembled.
- If possible, I'd rather have a machine that is natively metric as that is what I use most of the time.
- Same goes for power requirements: I can easily get either 220VAC single phase or 380VAC three phases. Anything else I can adapt to, but I'd rather not.

This said: the parts I need to mill are relatively small; the largest I ever designed is 200x30x20 mm and since I don't need to mass-produce them milling speed is not important. Price isn't the main concern, either.

So far I haven't seen anything too convincing, I hope someone has the time to review this and share his or her experiences.

Thanks in advance

mac

[rowbare]

How about something like a Haas Office Mill? The OM2 model would probably suit your needs. It weighs about 700 Kg but isn't cheap...

bob

[MarioC]

Thanks a lot for your advice, the Haas Office Mill looks nifty. Definitely not cheap, but might still be workable. My only concern is that I would have to disassemble it upon receipt and assemble it in place (carrying 700Kg through hallways and stairways is my building is unadvisable at best) and the machine looks rather "monolithic". I'll contact the nearest dealer and see what they think about that.

I guess that means a tabletop machine wouldn't be able to handle the kind of work I had in mind, right?

[G0G90]

Honestly, you're probably better off finding an alternative supplier.
Machining ceramics and high tensil steel is not the job of a light-duty machine if you want to hold those tolerances. You might be able to at first but, quality will degrade quick.
The materials you're going to cut require a rigid base and heavy duty spindle with AT LEAST linear scales.

There are not many smaller machines that fit this bill.

[underthetire]

IMO good luck with a mini mill on that hard of material with that .01mm tolerance.

A Mori Seiki NVD1500 would work, except it's only 6X6 inch travel, and requires 208 3 phase. And if you think a mini mill is expensive....

[JQ Laser]

What is the thickness of your metal? the laser cutting machine can meet you demands too, I think you can have a investigation.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/JinQi...47979518587781

Best Regards
Casper Geng
Email:[email protected]

Hello Experts!
I often need to make prototypes and custom adapters for some instruments I use, and the lead time I get from the local shops are way too long. For this reason I'm considering buying a CNC machine and make them myself.

Since my experience in milling is essentially zero and I have a few requirements that seem to be rather hard to meet, I thought I would ask here for a few pointers.

The main issues are the following:
- The parts are either in some hard metal (AISI 3xx Stainless Steel, Inconel, Titanium) or ceramic (Macor, Zirconia) and neither seem to be very easy to handle.
- The parts often have rather tight tolerances; I could live with +/- 0.025mm, but ideally I would like to get +/- 0.010.
- My office floor has a hard limit at 250Kg/m^2. While I could probably improve that some by reinforcing the floor, transporting the machine to its intended position might be tricky unless it can be disassembled and reassembled.
- If possible, I'd rather have a machine that is natively metric as that is what I use most of the time.
- Same goes for power requirements: I can easily get either 220VAC single phase or 380VAC three phases. Anything else I can adapt to, but I'd rather not.

This said: the parts I need to mill are relatively small; the largest I ever designed is 200x30x20 mm and since I don't need to mass-produce them milling speed is not important. Price isn't the main concern, either.

So far I haven't seen anything too convincing, I hope someone has the time to review this and share his or her experiences.

Thanks in advance

mac

[asuratman]

MarioC,
You can build machine w/no welding, move part by part, and assemble like mine.

[IMG]D:\CNC\Image0169.jpg[/IMG]