[Gamble]

Sorry for the newbie questions. I've always wanted a cnc lathe to compliment my little cnc router and cnc plasma. I have turned a few things on a lathe one or twice before. I still don't know much about the terminology but I am very interested in a cnc lathe. I work for myself currently and growing my business. What would be a good budget friendly cnc lathe to get started with and learn and grow with. Budget would be under 5k
90% of what I cut and weld is aluminum. I would dip into steel or stainless hardly ever
Also looking at something that is benchtop size. I don't need a huge monster machine to get started.

I saw a cnc lathe conversion kit for the grizzly lathe on ebay. I *think* it would be like $3k all in for everything but I could be wrong. I'm kind of leaning away from this because I know I'll be pulling my hair out for awhile getting things fine tuned. And still not 100% confident in myself I can build it and it would be a waste of money if I failed. I would prefer one that works out of the box. I don't know one brand from the other. I know the tormach starts around 11k. Not sure who or what else is out there that would work for me.

Also the largest diameter of something I would turn is probably 2" at best.

Anyone have any thoughts/ideas/words of wisdom I'm all ears

[awerby]

Take a look at the new Taig CNC lathe. It's small, but they've worked out things like threading so it's all electronic, without needing a series of change gears. If your parts are all under 2" diameter and not too long, it might work fine for your purposes. At least you could get right into your own projects without getting bogged down in a conversion project.

[Fastest1]

TopTech offers some lathes.

[AVRnj]

Where in the country are you located?

[DSpeck]

What about the Lab-Volt 5500? I have the earlier model (D&M5), and it is sturdy for its size. It comes with a 4" chuck, so it's a bit smaller than a 7x minilathe, but much better constructed. I don't know what Lab-Volt charges, though.

Another option would be the Emco-Maier Compact5 CNC, but for those, you might want to do an update of the controls to modern standards. Don't know if this is the route you want to go for starting out.

Your best option is to look for a used benchtop CNC lathe, as the price is much more likely to be in your budget.

[Tkamsker]

Hi
i maybe have a solution for you build in europe i have to look how much the shipping cost to your location.
our lathes can be run manual and cnc (just a switch )
the have a 400V 1,1 kw Motor controlled by an VFD so you only need 220V (and i am sure 110 will also work but this i have to check first )
All machines run on linear rails . the standard size between centers is 650mm and up to 1100mm is possible , the standard machines have normal spindles this has the advantage that in z axis you can use the manual handle for moving the support fast. there is an option where the X axis is an ball bearing spindle and then there is an version where also the long Z axis is an ball bearing spindle but then the manual movement of the support is different.
the system comes with an preconfigured control linuxcnc and gmoccapy. (very similar to path pilot ) we are working right now on the tool changer for the lathe to integrate it perfectly

so if that is of interest let me know thomas

[Gamble]

Thanks I will look into some of these.
Problem with a used machine is I don't know what to look for

I am out of Chicago

Thomas please send me a message

[DonKes]

One of the first questions to ask yourself is, how big a through hole do I need?

Don

[Gamble]

One of the first questions to ask yourself is, how big a through hole do I need?

Don

In the center? 3/4" at most. Most of what I need will be smaller than that.
Will of these have manual tool changes and multiple programs? What I need to make it threaded bungs for the most part. Just sick of buying them. I can't tell you how much money I spend on them a year

[Gamble]

Anyone use the kit from flashcut cnc? they have the lathe and all the software and motors, touch probe sensor and tax for $3400

[Gamble]

Sherline any good? They have their cnc lathe for $2700 with linux pc. Never used linux so not sure why it's good or bad over windows. Same machine with flashcut cnc controls, tax out the door and a windows machine is $3400 from flashcut.

Would the flash cut be worth the $700 more?

[pippin88]

LinuxCNC is great. I have not looked in depth into Flashcut, but from what I know I don't see an advantage.

[charliex]

flashcut is ok if you just want the out of the box and get going approach. you're stuck in their ecosystem after that, and there us some back and forth about who gets good support from them ( i'm on the i don't side)

if the difference is only 700 that doesn't seem so bad, i guess its their smaller control box. you can download their software and run it simulate mode and see how it works. if you're the hacker/tinkering type and want to change stuff, its probably not a good choice.

[analogman]

I know you will not like this but...

You said 90% of your work is threaded bungs. And you were tired of spending money on them. How much a year do you spend on these? How many bungs do you purchase a year?

It will take time for you to get up to speed. Then you have the outlay of capital cost of the CNC and tooling. Then you will have to operate the machine to make the threaded bungs, plus cost of materials.

Take a hard look at the total cost of ownership and operation, then compare it to getting bungs made overseas or by a cheaper in-country source. Sometimes, it is just not worth it.


On the other hand - you have also said you have always wanted a CNC. Then that sounds more like "fun" or "hobby". If that is the case, then dont worry about the money, dont have expectations about saving lots of money and enjoy the new toy.

[Gamble]

I know you will not like this but...

You said 90% of your work is threaded bungs. And you were tired of spending money on them. How much a year do you spend on these? How many bungs do you purchase a year?

It will take time for you to get up to speed. Then you have the outlay of capital cost of the CNC and tooling. Then you will have to operate the machine to make the threaded bungs, plus cost of materials.

Take a hard look at the total cost of ownership and operation, then compare it to getting bungs made overseas or by a cheaper in-country source. Sometimes, it is just not worth it.


On the other hand - you have also said you have always wanted a CNC. Then that sounds more like "fun" or "hobby". If that is the case, then dont worry about the money, dont have expectations about saving lots of money and enjoy the new toy.

Yep mostly threaded bungs. I would like to expand into other things too like bushings. I am currently out of work and have been for almost a year. So I've been taking this time to grow my home business. I currently do tig welding and cnc plasma work. I know it's a big investment but if it will pay for itself that's what I am after. My long term goal is to run my small home business and do low production stuff. CNC plasma, lathe and mill. I also have a small cnc router I just got. Haven't had a ton of time to dedicate to it just yet but I do have to say that my learning curve has sped up a lot since learning the cnc plasma. They claim the plasma would take a year to pay for itself and they were pretty much right. I have a small 2x2 table without height control. So my thoughts were that I could upgrade to height control or expand to another type of machine. I'm doing pretty well without the height control so I rather learn a new skill. The plasma is pretty much paying for itself every few months easily.
I make a lot of automotive stuff.
Since Jan 2015 I have kept track of expenses. In AN fittings alone I have spend about $2000 in the past year. Another $300-500 in threaded bungs. And roughly another $200 on aluminum barb fittings. I do get some stuff overseas as it's a lot cheaper but the wait time stinks. And there is nothing like making a customer have to wait since I don't have a $5 fitting in stock.
On the other side of the coin. I am doing a lot of reselling parts. So while I use a lot of these fittings I sell a few too. That's kind of the direction I'm headed.
If I can get the machine to pay for itself in a year I think that would be a home run.

The software will take some getting used to for sure! I have dabbled in 3d design with 123d design, sketchup and fusion but I could use some serious help. 2d design like on the plasma I am pretty good at now.

So it's a little fun/hobby/business type thing going.

We are looking to buy a house soon so I'm hoping to setup more of a permanent shop with a better layout and I can have better way to work. I also had an idea (tell me what you think) that if I can get a little cnc lathe going and over time a tormach 440 or 1100 I could hire someone to work at my place and spit out my parts. OR I could "rent" out my tools/shop for someone. Say someone does cnc for a living and has no room or budget to buy their own I could let them use mine for $xxx. I've been thinking about this all night. There has to be people out there that live in apartments or where their work won't let them make their own parts. They can come by me in my shop and make whatever they want and just pay me for their time. Of course a contract would need to be written up but if someone knows what they are doing then why not? As long as I don't have to babysit anyone. I could section out a part of the shop and have cameras everywhere.

So that's kind of where I'm headed...in my head at least.

[analogman]

Cool thanks for the explanation.

Sounds like you have thought it out and have good experience under your belt! I just hate to see some guys spending $3k to save $1k - IF its a business. If its fun/hobby, then giv'er!

[MichaelHenry]

Who pays for the repairs when your rental user runs a 1/2-in carbide cutter through the vise? Renting out a machine seems like a really bad idea to me, though I suppose you could make it work if you are careful and really lucky.

[Gamble]

Who pays for the repairs when your rental user runs a 1/2-in carbide cutter through the vise? Renting out a machine seems like a really bad idea to me, though I suppose you could make it work if you are careful and really lucky.

Security deposit? lol I don't know. Just one of those things that popped in my head so I figured you guys were the ones to ask. Didn't think that far ahead haha