On Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:58:12 -0400, "DrollTroll"
wrote:


"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:50:28 -0700, "Bob La Londe"
wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
monster.com...

Bob La Londe wrote:

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message
anews.com...


Where do I start? I looked at adding a CNC kit to a mill myslef,
but
most affordable mills are to small to do some of the work I want to
do.
Am I back to looking at the rotary tool on rails setups?

Mills with obsolete CNC controls can be found for scrap price. Look
for
a
knee mill with a BOSS (Bridgeport) or Bandit control. If you're near
the
left coast, there seems to be a lot of Shizouka mills, one of the
best
choices.

Refit the machine with the PC based control Mach 3, This is a bit of
a
job
but there are several NGs to go for advice. CNCzone.com is one of the
best.

Good luck

Karl

I have been reading CNCzone and some others in my spare sit down
moments
all
weekend. There is just too much information to absorb.

Pickup a copy of Home Shop Machinist and look over the Tormach and

Tormach is nice looking, but when you look their basic CNC pack is $9,500
software not included. Basically back at that ten grand plus I was
talking
about. Not a price range conducive to a hobbiest. Well atleast not this
one. Might be able to knock it down some by setting up your own CNC on
it,
but then that kinda defeats the purpose, and the base price for their mill
is still $7,500. Still a lot.

Smithy ads, both offer turnkey packages with mills large enough to be

Smithy looks to be in the same price range at a quick glance.

able to handle your 12" square AL molds.

Actually two different things. 12 x 12 engraving and aluminum molds. Its
starting to look like it might be cheaper to buy two different machines
for
this.

If as you indicate there is too
much information to absorb on CNCzone,

I've been reading CNC Zone for two days. Its pretty hard to wade through
the bits and pieces of scattered info from people of different knowledge
and
skill levels to get to a good getting started point. Putting together a
machine doesn't look that difficult when I just go look at the components
and manufacturer's information. There is a ton of info on CNC zone and if
you know exactly what to search for that's great, but gettign a grasp of
the
big picture and finding a starting point is not easy.

you probably won't want to spend
the time and effort to do a CNC retrofit yourself.

The retrofit doesn't look like that big of a deal depending on the
machine.
The toughest things seems to be coupling the motors, and calibrating them
to
match your software. Some of the small mill manufacturers offer their
mills
with mounting for motors for a minimal extra charge. Like I said. It
might
be cheaper and more effective for me to get a small mill to convert, and
an
engraving router.



Anyone interested...Ive got a Hitachi-Seiki for sale. 30 taper,
carosel (10 tools IIRC..maybe 15), coolant, pretty damned clean and
was running good when I disconnected the power 6 months ago. Fresh ram
batteries installed before pulling power.

Located in Fullerton, California. $5k Includes all the books and
manuals, vise, some tooling etc etc.

Also, kmb1 Hurcos (USA) can be had relatively cheap, $3-6K, sometimes with a
10 tool changer. The tool changing hurco needs about 9 feet of headroom,
tho, and all are about 4-5,000#. Boards can be a little pricey, and
moldmaking would require g-code/dnc.

Can also get 90's vintage Haas, fadals for mebbe under $10K -- also USA. 21
tool carousels, weigh about 6,000 lbs, footprint about 7x7 + access space,
also need 8-9 ft headroom, work well from a properly-tuned rpc.

Call local dealers, they often have heads up on who's getting rid of what.

I don't think Gunner sells to Democrats -- or if he does, there is a steep
surcharge.


**** dude...Id sell to the Devil himself, business is business.

Hummm though for some leftwing fringe extremist kooks here...I might
play with the perimeters a bit....G

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your
wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do
something damned nasty to all three of them.