[steve355]

Hi

My first post! How exciting. Hopefully i am in the right place.

I am a hobby machinist in the UK with moderate experience. I have a bunch of small manual vintage machines I have renovated myself. Vertical and horizontal mill, surface grinder, lathe. I have no experience at CNC but I've played with CAD quite a bit. I'm not an expert at machining but I can cut ACME threads and gears, grind cutters, etc. I understands speeds and feeds and chatter/rigidity etc.

I recently lost my job as a manager and I am looking to prototype some products I've been thinking of for a while that would require CNC of small parts in brass and annealed O1 tool steel. By small I mean maximum 8" by 4", both some small simple brass parts and cutting plate brass and annealed O1 (1/8" max)

My budget is very, very limited. If I can prove the concept I can find money to ramp up, but I can't afford a big outlay right now, so I am looking at budget machines for prototyping. I am looking to learn the process myself rather than outsource.

I've been considering the latest Genmitsu 3030, but it looks to me more of a wood router and I don't think it has anything like the rigidity needed.

I've also been considering the Proxxon MF70 CNC. Looks good in many ways but size is very very limited. The Genmitsu is more like the size I am looking for.

I don't need anything particularly fast.

Any suggestions very welcome. I don't really know where to start.

Plus - I'm in the UK.

Steve