Milling Machine or CNC?

[Steve A]

And not forgetting of course it takes years of training to be a competent manual miller and that helps a lot if you move onto a cnc

[BHawthorne]

And not forgetting of course it takes years of training to be a competent manual miller and that helps a lot if you move onto a cnc

I've always equated out a competant machnist to be one who has all his fingers and eyes still in working order. Some machinists who are competant manual millers can't say that much. You're only as good as your worst mistake. Although mills are a hobby, they're definitely not toys.

[flatlandpilot]

I bought a sable2015 not long ago,
and can do 20 x 18 cm.
a little small butt, I'm very happy with it,
for "panels" a "resolution" of .1 mm. is more than good enough
I think to go for "router" size and speed is more wise than "milling" accuracy.

[BHawthorne]

I think to go for "router" size and speed is more wise than "milling" accuracy.

Really depends on your target goals. Speed isn't going to be an issue with one-off parts made for personal projects. Personally, I find accuracy more important than speed on the parts I do.

[Crescent]

Where would you guys recommend buying a milling machine from? I've been looking at tons of them...and no, I'm not looking at something in the 14k range hehe. I figure a manual one, with autofeed etc.

A couple of sites that caught my eye were Harbor Freight and Grizzly Tools. I am in Canada, but it's probably going to be cheaper to buy out of the states.

[autocadplease]

General / Gorilla now makes some http://www.gorillacnc.com/cnc_machines

Any General dealer in Canada (www.general.ca) can get them. The Tool Place in Kelowna should be able to get them.

I built my own from http://www.rockcliffmachine.com/ and am building a bigger and better one http://www.joescnc.com/themachines-hybrid.php.

Either way you won't regret getting one!

[BHawthorne]

Where would you guys recommend buying a milling machine from? I've been looking at tons of them...and no, I'm not looking at something in the 14k range hehe. I figure a manual one, with autofeed etc.

A couple of sites that caught my eye were Harbor Freight and Grizzly Tools. I am in Canada, but it's probably going to be cheaper to buy out of the states.

Harbor Freight or Grizzly both sell the X2. It's hard to get a context to the size for the X2, but it's pretty small. You'd do most of your detail work with it. If you do go with something like an X2 or Sherline minimill I really suggest using www.littlemachineshop.com for consumables. They cater to the minimill and minilathe hobbiests.

As far as routers both Rockcliff and MechMate come to mind for plans. It's the first time I've seen the Joes CNC link before, but it looks like a very good design for a 48x48" table.

Of the minimill and the router you can go cheap or expensive as needed. You are essentially trading off accuracy for $$$ though. Even the cheap ones make great parts, it's just that you won't be doing professional quality/quantity work with it with high tolerance specs.