[sgman]

Hello

Is a lathe more versatile than a mill.

I am a mechanical designer needing to prototype small aluminum parts

I definelty need to turn parts and I need a fairly small area to do some profiling on these parts.

So I am thinking of going to cnc lathe

Whats the best set up for cnc with under 2000.00 to play with.

Thanks for any help

Steven

[Oldboy]

CNC MILL with 4th Axis. 5th Axis is better.

[ataxy]

i would go for a mill first but you will miss the capacity of a lathe fast, you can get along doing certain work with a 4th axis but for cylindrical part there is nothing like a lathe

[Oldboy]

I agree.
Mill can do alot of things. But TURNING is best done with a lathe.

[bones]

Hi,
Well I did a cnc lathe first, but then I did a cnc mill.
I should of done a mill first, because you can buy a lathe chuck that can fit in the spindle of the mill and turn items up.
As long as it isn't a long piece that needs to go thought the centre.
Just mount the tools on a fairly desent height block on the deck of the mill.

If you get really tricky you can mount all your tools allong the block and if you want to change tools you just move to the next one.
An auto tool changer sort of thing.
I have turned on a mill and it works out just fine.

As Oldboy said you can use a 4th axis. This is a great idea as you mill the metal off instead cutting it off, plus do much much more.
But for turning there is nothing like a lathe.

Rod

[arekugi]

Might consider a non-NC lathe and a CNC mill....that's where I'm at right now and I have quite a lot of capability. Will soon be upgrading my mill to a new one, but intend to keep a manual lathe.

[sgman]

Hello

I found a xendoll lathe cnc and cnc milling machine (both 3 axis) c/w software ,stepper motors, 3 axis controller.

all I think for around 3000.00 (waiting for price)

both these are direct sherline knock offs

I am concerned that both these machines will not deliver the metal removal material I need

I will me machining anything from s/s to plastic. but I will only be machining small stuff (around 1.5" diameter)

Does this setup sound like a reciepe for frustation?

Thanks again

SG

[ataxy]

forget ss on those machine there a waste of money for what you intend

[bones]

Hi,
Sorry the sherlines don't do much for me.

A quote I once heard.
"You can do a small job on a big lathe but you can't do a big job on a small lathe"
This goes for mills too.

I was thinking of an X2 or X3 with a lathe chuck spindle.

Have a look at this thread the video on the end of this pages shows you what I mean.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...668#post411668

Rod

[nbritton]

I'd go for the lathe... like a LatheMaster 9x30 with a horizontal milling attachment. Or perhaps a Smithy Granite 3-in-1 machine. $2000 dollars is not enough to get into the CNC game after you add up the costs of tooling and accessories. Hell, the CNC CAM software alone costs at least $1000 (BobCAD-CAM).

If you have no more then $2000 to build a machine shop get the lathe, the mill is just a vertical lathe with an xy table.

I have a CNC mini mill and a LatheMaster 8x14. The CNC mill cost $3000 and the lathe cost $600... I though I would use the mill more often but the opposite has turned out to be true... the mini mill is just too small for some of the things I want to do. Both are good machines and I don't regret plunking down $3000 for the mill (it has it's uses) but on retrospec, it would have been better to spend $3000 on the biggest and best lathe (with milling attachment) I could find.

I'd also like to add that CNC is not as great as I first thought it would be. Often times I'll spend more time programming the machine then It would take to machine the part manually... And I'm not some computer illiterate person, my day job is as a senior unix systems engineer and I have a degree in mathematics. CNC is awesome for making the same part over an over again or making complex shapes, but it's sucks for making one-off prototypes that have simple geometric shapes.

Hello

Is a lathe more versatile than a mill.

I am a mechanical designer needing to prototype small aluminum parts

I definelty need to turn parts and I need a fairly small area to do some profiling on these parts.

So I am thinking of going to cnc lathe

Whats the best set up for cnc with under 2000.00 to play with.

Thanks for any help

Steven

[MrWild]

Simply put, a Sherline is a toy, and $2,000 for CNC anything besides a home made router, isn't enough. This is coming from Mr. Wild, the cheapest pack ratiest, pinch a penny until it screams carmudgian.

Dolphin is better in many ways than Bob CAM. Even at the rock bottom Hobby pricing, neither is cheap. Say a third of their advertised price.

A decent mill BEFORE you CNC is already at $1,600. If you find a way to tighten up the lead screws and live with the back lash, control software can be either free (EMC2) or about $150 (Mach 3).

Motors are $39 each (~270 oz. in motors) (cheapest is Keling) x 3

mounts and tooling and extras will get you to another $1,000.

Going with small on the idea that small means affordable and cheap, only means cheap as in toy like, and a very small job scope. The three in one machines although robust seeming have a LOT of issues that require complete disassembly and rebuild from NEW!. Their ability to turn is overated by the manufacturers (diameter is lost due to the mill table in the way), and if you read the user groups, they are full of complaints.

Even though your scope of projects seem small, the headaces you will endure going with a small machine are enormous.

Two bits of advice. Spend more (or understand $2,000 will only open the door), and don't buy toys.

You can save by buying used. Teach yourself EVERYTHING before you go looking, and you may want to TAKE SOMEONE THAT knows AS THERE ARE A lot OF SHYSTERS UNLOADING JUNK. But you can get around the need for CAM progams by learning to hand code. Not hard and you need it to proof CAM made code when it glitches. Linux EMC2 really kicks butt, and is advancing all of the time. Free is cool.

I learned the hard way and I tried, Oh lord I tried every which way to do it cheap. I got a lot of head aches and lost time as a result. I didn't listen when I was told what I've told you, but oh boy, I should have.

[wwendorf]

I had a small manual Sherline lathe with milling column. I spent $1200 on upgrading it to CNC thinking "Well, it works good for manual stuff, should work great for CNC." Let's just say, BOY, WAS I WRONG!!! About 2 months later, I spent over $4k for a Syil America SX3 that was CNC'd. Made a big difference.

Wade

[Teyber]

just my .02$...

id get a higher quality mill (x3) and a nice rotary table and keep in manual until you really need cnc. All my plans said cnc as soon as i get the basics down... but ive been milling daily for a couple months now and there really isn't a need for me to cnc anymore...

a 1500$ non cnc setup will leave you a lot happier then a 2000$ cnc setup... Depends on what your doing of course. some things need to be cnc'd

[ryansuperbee]

Steven, The best set up that I have found (if you are still looking) is a CNC mill, any kind will do. And a plain old bench lathe mounted to the bed of your cnc mill. It's a very simple setup, yet very effective. When you mount the lathe to the bed of your CNC mill the X axis of your CNC mill will act as the X axis of a cnc lathe. likewise, a staionary tool post fixed to the neck of your spindle (holding your lathe tool) will act as the Z axis of a CNC lathe. The best part about it is when you are done CNC lathing parts out, you just remove the lathe and you have your regular CNC mill back. Not to mention a manual lathe. The ONLY funtion that you will not be able to perform is CNC threading (without being able to syncronize the lathe motor some how to your computer) If you can live without threading, you can perform ALL the other cuts a CNC lathe can perform. For a video demonstration check out www.youtube.com and type into the search "duality lathe". Like I said very simple setup. If you have any questions please ask.

P.S. You DO NOT need the setup that you see on youtube. ANY CNC mill and manual lathe will be fine. ( just make sure the lathe you choose corrosponds to the size of your mill)

[cmanning]

I have to agree with ryansuperbee.

I started out with a small lathe, and eventually converted it to CNC. I always enjoyed working on the lathe, but it always frustrated me not being able to do larger work, or mill work.

Earlier this year I picked up a Taig CNC mill, and frankly I wish I'd done it years ago. The Taig mill is not going to set any records for depth of cut, or speed of milling, but it is solid and accurate. You should be able to find a CNC version with 4th axis for around $2000.

I've since mounted the headstock from a Taig lathe on my mill bed, and started selling off all of my other small lathe. I'll be replacing it with a larger manual lathe for the larger work I have which I can't turn on the mill.

If I were starting again, I'd buy the mill, plus a small lathe to mount on it.

As for the costs of CAD/CAM software, you can get reasonable tools for not a lot of money. Stay away from BobCAM unless you want to be stalked by sales people. Instead look at Mach3, CNCTools, SheetCAM, MeshCAM, MoI and Truespace. All of which are either inexpensive or free, and will allow you to get started. Once you have some experience with CAD/CAM and you know what you want, then spend the big bucks on the expensive professional packages.

Chris