coyoteboy
|
| posted on 24/7/13 at 06:55 PM |
|
|
Mill/CNC Mill
So I've been considering buying a vertical mill for a while now and I've bounced too and fro from a larger bridgeport manual one to a
desktop one (~8" travel) but ultimately it seems like a large capital outlay. While I will undoubtedly make damn good use of it over the period
of my build I'm not convinced it'll be financially the best decision - what's the approximate rates per hour from easily available
CNC houses these days? At work we pay for precision at a large UK aerospace supplier so I'm not sure what rates I'll get at bobs CNC down
the road.com - anyone any recent experience? Or experience of ordering items in from China?
|
|
|
|
|
omega0684
|
| posted on 24/7/13 at 07:30 PM |
|
|
why not buy one and then sell it after the build to recoup some capital?
I love Pinto's, even if i did get mine from P&O!
|
|
|
coyoteboy
|
| posted on 24/7/13 at 07:33 PM |
|
|
Sell one? Are you mental? I can't buy a tool and then sell it again - I'll lose the ability to do stuff that I just got! 
It's a valid point but I do own 7 bikes because I plan to sell the old ones but then find a use for them. I have 2 tintops because I can't
sell the estate just in case I need it and it's better the devil you know... (and if I need to buy a mill I might need an estate to transport
it!)
[Edited on 24/7/13 by coyoteboy]
|
|
|
theprisioner
|
| posted on 24/7/13 at 07:53 PM |
|
|
I have a CNC mill, converted it myself although I would not recommend it unless you have lots of time. The biggest advantage is it releases you from
the tedium of operating them. Mills = lots of small cuts with precision. I am hopeless at concentrating on what I am doing with loads of repetition in
an operation. I used to drill holes in the bed now I hardly ever do anything to the bed. I can download a Turbocad drawing and convert it to Gcode
select the operations and press and forget. Big Mills are cheap but need lots of room. Desktop (as is my Wabeco) tend to be more expensive if it is
good quality machine. Playing around wit CNC is fun! 3D printing must be awesome.
Even my Locost CNC conversion cost lots of bucks!
http://sylvabuild.blogspot.com/
http://austin7special.blogspot.co.uk/
|
|
|
ashg
|
| posted on 24/7/13 at 08:43 PM |
|
|
how did you go about cnc'ing yours? i have got a medium size warco vmc that i am planning to cnc
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
|
|
|
nick205
|
| posted on 24/7/13 at 09:38 PM |
|
|
Unless you have a lot of machining to do, the budget (including work piece holding, tools etc) and space for a CNC mill I'd use the PAYG service
of a machine shop.
I built a good relationship with a local machine shop/fabrication company during my build. They ended up being really useful for sourcing small bits
of metal, the odd machining and welding tasks, usually for cash and cakes/biscuits. They also provided some valuable input/ideas when I got stuck on
certain jobs. It helped that they were interested in what I was doing mind 
|
|
|
theprisioner
|
| posted on 24/7/13 at 10:30 PM |
|
|
After I retired from HP I decided to purchase a Wabeco to make parts for clocks. Being freshly from the electronic design world I thought I would
convert the Wabeco myself including software (Locost style). That was 10 years ago and I am still using it frequently. The motors are 1.8deg Steppers
4 off (it has a rotary table so I can make gears). The stepper drivers are professional drives from a us company called Compumotor and purchased s/h
from ebay (best in the business I recon). I then designed my own C++ software compiler and real time interpreter to go from Gcode to Xware (the
language that Compumotor's understand). The design features constant tool speed, it took me a year to design and build, but at the time it was
like therapy it saved me getting angst at being redundant at 53. The software fell over when Microsoft upgraded their operating system to W7 so I had
to recompile it a year or so ago (with some help from a friend). It is back working again minus a few bugs that used to get me down, the bug fixing
was difficult after 8 years.
My advice is, get desk CNC freeware and the hardware is also cheap and on the web. My software is unsupported for customers other than me.
Bet DeskCNC still can't cut a gear for a clock with 193 teeth! (has no stepper error compensation like mine).
http://sylvabuild.blogspot.com/
http://austin7special.blogspot.co.uk/
|
|
|
nick205
|
| posted on 24/7/13 at 10:53 PM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by theprisioner
After I retired from HP I decided to purchase a Wabeco to make parts for clocks. Being freshly from the electronic design world I thought I would
convert the Wabeco myself including software (Locost style). That was 10 years ago and I am still using it frequently. The motors are 1.8deg Steppers
4 off (it has a rotary table so I can make gears). The stepper drivers are professional drives from a us company called Compumotor and purchased s/h
from ebay (best in the business I recon). I then designed my own C++ software compiler and real time interpreter to go from Gcode to Xware (the
language that Compumotor's understand). The design features constant tool speed, it took me a year to design and build, but at the time it was
like therapy it saved me getting angst at being redundant at 53. The software fell over when Microsoft upgraded their operating system to W7 so I had
to recompile it a year or so ago (with some help from a friend). It is back working again minus a few bugs that used to get me down, the bug fixing
was difficult after 8 years.
My advice is, get desk CNC freeware and the hardware is also cheap and on the web. My software is unsupported for customers other than me.
Bet DeskCNC still can't cut a gear for a clock with 193 teeth! (has no stepper error compensation like mine).
That is impressive!
Have you any photos of the conversion and parts you've made?
(sorry to hijack the thread)
|
|
|
theprisioner
|
| posted on 25/7/13 at 08:06 AM |
|
|
I have just reinstalled the web page I created in 2004, unfortunately some of the links are broken:
http://www.alastair-reynolds.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/milling/
The mechanics of it can be found at
http://www.alastair-reynolds.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/milling/latest_pictures/index.htm
enjoy!
http://sylvabuild.blogspot.com/
http://austin7special.blogspot.co.uk/
|
|
|
Bluemoon
|
| posted on 25/7/13 at 09:00 AM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by theprisioner
I have just reinstalled the web page I created in 2004, unfortunately some of the links are broken:
http://www.alastair-reynolds.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/milling/
The mechanics of it can be found at
http://www.alastair-reynolds.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/milling/latest_pictures/index.htm
enjoy!
Nice bit of work there.. As you say time consuming; like always good to do if you have the time and enjoy programming and are a model making type
it's perfect project, for a locost builder maybe not, machine shop or manual mill I think..
Dan
|
|
|
coyoteboy
|
| posted on 25/7/13 at 11:14 AM |
|
|
Nice work there, yep! I definitely would consider converting a manual but "at a later date" - hence the idea of the small desktop seemed
more pricey but instant access. I've done a fair amount of manual machining (lathes and mills) but no CNC.
I'm thinking I could just about get away with machining calipers on a desktop machine (just) but I'd like to use it to make some of the
parts for fabricated uprights too (not all parts) and I'm concerned about size - no point buying something that doesn't do everything.
What sort of travel limits are on the machines you guys have and do you have any good sources other than ebay?
|
|
|
theprisioner
|
| posted on 25/7/13 at 01:34 PM |
|
|
Working area 500mm x 200mm x 280mm ( X Y Z)
Wabeco can be ordered thru Chronos
http://sylvabuild.blogspot.com/
http://austin7special.blogspot.co.uk/
|
|
|
nick205
|
| posted on 25/7/13 at 04:30 PM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by theprisioner
I have just reinstalled the web page I created in 2004, unfortunately some of the links are broken:
http://www.alastair-reynolds.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/milling/
The mechanics of it can be found at
http://www.alastair-reynolds.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/milling/latest_pictures/index.htm
enjoy!
Thank you - interesting reading!
|
|
|
