It almost sounds like you have two interests. Specfic products you want to make such as the dealer buttons and scope rings and more or less parts that might be associated with a job shop. If you are just starting out then it would be best to have amachine that can be used well both manually and as a CNC machine. Manual can be read as manual like the old days and also as a CNC controller that allows for easy manual use.
As to the engraving of the buttons this is not impossible on a metal working mill with limited spindle speeds One could simply attach an air driven spindle to the head stock. Or some other speed increasing device, assuming that you have the horse power. This would give you the ability to use small engraving and machining tools on the plastic buttons. Yeah it is an additional expense but you will still have a CNC machine at your disposal for metal work.
As to the actuall machine figure out how much you are willing to invest in your products. From that take awy the cost of materials to produce them, the start up cost of materials and fixturing and any other cpaital requirements. Give your self some buffering cash wise and see how much you have left for the machine. I'm willing to bet it won't be much.
That is one way too look at it, many would suggest that the capital equipment would best be fiananced over time. I'm going to suggest that you don't have a business plan for that yet. This would free up some ofthe cash up front for more business related items, not the least of which would be marketing these products. Marketing would be huge for things like the dealer buttons as I see the real money there being in custom products, which would be difficult to sell over E-Bay. In any event as mentioned below I don't see a busness case for fianacing approval.
As to the "as big of a mill as possible" I think that attitude is clouding your business sense a bit. Rather think about what you want to do and get a mill that can cover that demand well. To large a mill and you will never be able to cover the expense of keeping and maintaining it with your products. Some of the items you mentioned would be very compatible with a smaller CNC mill and if produced in high enough quanities could be very profitable. Produce enough profits at startup time and you could easly expand your operation with a larger machine for future endeavors. Get saddled with a machine that causes huge debt and is not productive for the parts in question and you end up selling out three years down the road wondering why you never made any money. This is why I believe that your best bet is a really small used CNC machine, assuming that you have the ability to power it.
Thanks
Dave  |