[Atlay]

All,

Apologies for the newbie questions here, but I would appreciate some guidance regarding a project to add a milling machine to my workshop. At the moment the main machine I have is a Myford Super 7 lathe, but I’ve gotten to the point that the limited milling I can do with my vertical slide is not up to the job anymore. I’m primarily interested in build steam locomotive and traction engines, ranging from small garden size upto my newest project, a 7 ¼” narrow guage. Basically, I need a much bigger milling capacity for some of the items I want to make now.

I’d been thinking about the idea of getting a CNC based mill, when I came across this site. This has led me to read the articles by Dick Stephen, on converting a standard Sieg X3 mill to CNC.

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/projec...CNC/index.html

This is a fascinating project, but I don’t think the X3 will be big enough for me. Therefore, I’m looking for advice on candidates that would suit a similar approach to the project, but with a bit more capacity. I’m perfectly happy buying a new import, and fiddling it to do what I want. Over on this thread, NC Cams said:

IF you consider the import to be a DIY work in progress, you can turn them into a pretty good piece if you know how to shim, move and cajole machinery.

I’m comfortable with that approach.

At the moment I am considering the machine that is badged by Chester UK as the ‘626 Turret Mill’. This is 410Kg of metal solid looking metal, has 610mm by 175mm travel, and I think it has a dove tail slide on the Z axis (a requirement, according to the Dick Stephen articles). The machine can be viewed here...

http://www.chesteruk.net/store/super_lux_mill.htm

Does anyone have any experience with this machine (either from Chester, or if it is badged by someone else under a different name?).

Are there any other machines of a similar size that would be a better bet for 3 axis CNC conversion (possibly with a documented conversion)?


Thanks in advance,

Wayne

[ironDigit]

that looks like a ZAY and i've heard some pretty positive things bout them

just remember what NCcams said and i think you'll be fine if it has enough travel Hp's and RPM's for your needs

just remember bigger IS better no matter what they tell ya but bigger is also more expensive retrofitting i'ld say get the biggest mill you can afford to retro budget in all software some ppl(like me)forget about that and you wont be disappointed

look around this forum for a ZAY i think its the same mill

good lukk m8

[Atlay]

Thanks, I'll look around for ZAY posts. Unfortunately you can't search these forums with a 3 letter word, so having to trawl manually (had this problem on other vBulletin boards).

Any ZAY related links much appreciated, if anyone has some stored away somewhere.


Cheers,

Wayne