Hi. I have been tasked with putting together a CNC milling machine for research at my university. The real meat of the research will be measuring forces and determining tool life while machining as well as integrating STEP-NC. Everything in the project is supposed to be open source. Right now we're planning on using LinuxCNC along with Mesa electronics and stepper motors probably driven by a gecko brand drive. We are thinking that the best route will be to buy a manual mill and convert it to CNC. Lead time is an issue as the machine must be operational by mid December. I have been looking at the Grizzly G0704 and G0619. Since the project is not centered around building the mill, I would like to find an option where I can just slap some steppers on a mill and begin cutting. I have experience with Taig mills but I would be concerned about their rigidity. The budget for the machine is $4-5k USD. We have serious reservations against buying used equipment or equipment without warranties. We intend on spending a minimal amount of time assembling the mill initially. Hopefully as the research progresses we will get more funding and can switch over to servos and nicer ball screws etc.

Initially we will not be doing any high speed machining, does this mean I can avoid installing a new ball screw on the G0704?

We will need fine control over spindle speed from LinuxCNC. The 2250 rpm of the G0704 will probably not cut it.(hah) How easy is it to upgrade the spindle / motor? We will primarily be cutting aluminum.

I'm sure I had other questions but I can't think of them right now. I intend on documenting the process and sharing it.

Thanks