All.

As some of you may have guessed, I am currently shopping for a CNC
mill. I would like to get one for the following purposes: relief
cutting on rubber, PC board routing, small metal boxes, gears and other
small mechanical parts, and silver utensils.

I would like to be able to cut some types of steel as a reserve
capability, and I would like to have some of the effects of a lathe as
a reserve capability, hence considering 4th axis.

As I am a novice at milling of any sort I would rather not gamble on
buying one from an Ebay auction unless I absolutely must. I may
consider a reputable Ebay dealer if you know of one, but the following
come all from on-line stores:

So far, I found these compromises:

a) MAXNC 10 Closed loop vertical micromill (MAX NC 10 CLB)
$2345
4th Axis rotary table for above
$ 495

----------

$2840


b) Taig 2019 CR-ER (ready for Nema 23)
$1055
Xylotek 4-axis control (with 4 Nema 23/269 oz-in motors)
$575
Sherline 4th Axis rotary table
$470

---------

$2095

c) AcuMotion ProCNC milling package 5000CP with these extras:
(Sherline mounts, 250 oz-in motors for 3 axis, 4th axis driver,
268 oz-in motor on 4th axis)
$2314

Would anyone be willing to either help me narrow the choices down
further,
of inform me of a possibility that I have not considered.

Thanks,

The Eternal Squire

"The Eternal Squire" wrote in message
ups.com...
All.

As some of you may have guessed, I am currently shopping for a CNC
mill. I would like to get one for the following purposes: relief
cutting on rubber, PC board routing, small metal boxes, gears and other
small mechanical parts, and silver utensils.

I would like to be able to cut some types of steel as a reserve
capability, and I would like to have some of the effects of a lathe as
a reserve capability, hence considering 4th axis.

As I am a novice at milling of any sort I would rather not gamble on
buying one from an Ebay auction unless I absolutely must. I may
consider a reputable Ebay dealer if you know of one, but the following
come all from on-line stores:

So far, I found these compromises:

a) MAXNC 10 Closed loop vertical micromill (MAX NC 10 CLB)
$2345
4th Axis rotary table for above
$ 495

----------

$2840

[The MaxNC's closed loop stepper system is the best thing about this one,
but it has a tendency to generate "servo errors" that shut down the system
somewhat randomly. If you replace or at least isolate the low-quality
spindle motor which causes interference, it can help, but some owners have
done that and still battle this constantly. Aside from that, its
all-aluminum construction, small-diameter screws solid-coupled directly to
the motors, and two-bolts-out-of-four motor motor-mounting scheme tend to
make machining metals as hard as steel pretty difficult with this machine.]


b) Taig 2019 CR-ER (ready for Nema 23)
$1055
Xylotek 4-axis control (with 4 Nema 23/269 oz-in motors)
$575
Sherline 4th Axis rotary table
$470

$2095


[I'd say this one is the best overall choice of these three alternatives for
what you've got in mind. It's bigger than the other two, and also costs the
least. Taig's frame is quite heavy-duty for its size, and the engineering is
good; it has beefy bearing blocks and half-inch diameter screws. There's a
lot of steel used in the slides, particularly the Z-axis box ways. With the
pulley-driven ER spindle you get low runout, plus low speeds and lots of
torque for steel milling, or high speeds for softer materials and small
cutters. The Xylotex control has 8x microstepping, which is good for
reducing stepper resonance, and these motors have plenty of holding torque.
I've heard some complaints about lost-step errors over certain speeds, but
generally the Xylotex system gets good reviews (I haven't tried it myself,
though.)] ---------


c) AcuMotion ProCNC milling package 5000CP with these extras:
(Sherline mounts, 250 oz-in motors for 3 axis, 4th axis driver,
268 oz-in motor on 4th axis)
$2314

[This is a Sherline #5400 mill with a third-party motion control system
attached (which I can't really comment on, except to note that the motors
seem powerful enough.) Sherline's products are all well-constructed, with
good fit and finish. But they are somewhat light-duty, especially compared
with the Taig, and smaller, especially in X (9" travel vs 12" for the 2019
CR). Like the MaxNC, they have 1/4" leadscrews, although they do a better
job of mounting them. One excellent feature of the Sherline is its
variable-speed DC spindle motor, which is powerful for its size and
relatively quiet. For milling steel, though, rigidity counts for a lot, and
the Sherline's Z-axis in particular is not as robust as the Taig's. Sherline
builds the rotary table used in all three alternatives listed above,
although MaxNC and Taig use their own mounting plates on it.]



Would anyone be willing to either help me narrow the choices down
further,
of inform me of a possibility that I have not considered.

Thanks,

The Eternal Squire

[If you wanted to combine the best features of all the above, you might
consider getting MaxNC's motion control system and Sherline's spindle motor,
and mounting them on the Taig frame.]

All the Best;

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

Andrew,

I looked through your website. I also did surfed for the components
you suggested, but I could not find where the Sherline variable speed
spindle motor could be found. It also looks like I would have to do a
fair amount of disassembly and reassembly to change the TAIG spindle to
a Sherline spindle. And then, what would I do with all the spare
parts? I did find a Mini Mill R8 variable speed head instead.

d) MAXNC 22160 (4 axis closed-loop control system)
975
MAXNC 4th axis adaptor for closed loop system
495
TAIG 2019 CR/ER
1055
Mini Mill r8 variable speed head
250

Would you be willing to walk me through creating a hybrid mill, or even
to build one for me from parts you may have on hand? Failing that, I
would likely go for Plan b

The Eternal Squire