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IndustryArena Forum > Community Club House > General Off Topic Discussions > Aspiring newish machinist wants to build CNC Milling Center, advice much appreciated.
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Posts
    2

    Aspiring newish machinist wants to build CNC Milling Center, advice much appreciated.

    I do machine design, have designed lots of complex billet parts, understand the process, regularly looking up available mill sizes etc.

    I'm looking to build a CNC milling center capable of working from CAD models. I have the basic idea, I have solidworks, can output models, I'll need I think CAM software, driver hardware, driver software maybe, and a milling machine with stepper motors and controller.

    I'm pretty new to this project, so lots to learn, but want to learn it then buy fairly quickly, so why I'm posting this, any advice much appreciated.

    I think of this sort of like my home build CAD workstation I built a few years back. I knew enough to know I'd get far more bang for the buck to build my own rather than buy a Dell or HP, and I did to great success, with the help of PC overclockers forums and lots of homework. I'm hoping to do the same with this build.

    My first goal is to build a four axis machine, x, y, z, and x rotation, which is capable of using software to convert from complex cad model to the machine. I'm thinking mostly aluminum, but If not too much more expensive I'd like to be able to do steels also. I definitely want 110V setup for in a spare room in my house, I'll build an enclosure too. I also want it not too small, but small enough that I can build and install myself. Thinking of it, I do have an engine hoist in case of needing to lift too heavy, so keep that in mind.

    I'm looking to spend about 3-5 grand for this setup. Something super light like a sherline milling machine is appealing, but I think I want larger but not too large. I'm mainly thinking of billet motorcycle parts and tooling for stamping in my hydraulic press, etching in small plates such as a custom driveway kickstand plate, stuff like that.

    Any relevant articles I should check out? Any advice?

    Thanks in advance.

    Jay

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    1602

    Re: Aspiring newish machinist wants to build CNC Milling Center, advice much apprecia

    You don't mention what kind of work envelope you need but given your budget it will be fairly limited. Also do you want to make parts or do you want to build a machine?

    You could start with something like a Taig Mini Mill. Soigeneris and Deepgroove1 have decent packages. You could roll your own by buying the CNC ready mill and building your own controller but I wouldn't stray too far from what they are offering in terms of controller/motor combinations.

    This would fit your budget and leave you room for tooling etc... The nice thing about a Taig is that the resale value on them is pretty good. If you outgrow it you can get most of your money back to appy to your next machine.

    Good luck
    bob

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Posts
    2

    Re: Aspiring newish machinist wants to build CNC Milling Center, advice much apprecia

    Thanks Bob. I do want to make parts too, but a large part of this is to teach myself how to build cnc machines that work off of my CAD designs. Build envelope not to important at this stage, I'm thinking small parts, think radar detector bracket. Although bigger envelope is better. On the other hand I want something that I can move around by myself with a little help from basic handling equipment, hand truck, engine hoist, hyd jacks, etc..

    When you say build my own controller, I like the sound of that to a point, but what does that mean? That's a major detail I'm trying to learn about what is needed.

    Any educational links?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    5728

    Re: Aspiring newish machinist wants to build CNC Milling Center, advice much apprecia

    It sounds like a CNC-ready Taig might work for you, if the parts you want to make fall within its 12" x 5.5" x 6" work envelope. You can get it "CNC-ready" to save money, and add the 4th axis rotary table and tailstock, and 4 stepper motors. The best option for a roll-your-own controller is the Geckodrive G540, which has a built-in breakout board and 4 drivers. All you'd need to do is add a 48v power supply and enclose it in a box with a fan, some heatsinking, and an e-stop button. Of course, you'd also need a desktop computer with a parallel port, and Mach3 or LinuxCNC. Mount the whole machine on a cart if you want to move it around. For CAM software, look at VisualMill; it has a version that plugs into Solidworks, so you don't need to keep importing and exporting while working on your toolpaths.
    Andrew Werby
    Website

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