Degree of confidence in a business proposition is often inversely proportional to the level of personal investment required.
Go for it.
Regards
Phil
Actually if I weren't up to my neck with a mortgage and car payment, and a personal business venture of my own I would consider this option. I've never been afraid to risk my own money for the sake of doing the "impossible". If I ever get the CAD drawings done, I'll show everyone a combination CNC machine that I have been spec'ing. It has a decent size work envelope (30"X by 20"Y by 20"Z) and incorporates a vertical mill with a horizontal mill that doubles as a lathe and live axis...
Small CNC lathes come up on eBay fairly frequently and fairly cheaply.
Look for the Emco compact 5 and others.
Personally, I expect I will do the lathe/mill trick eventually.
-Jeff
The only problem with an EMCO 5 is that they are CNC mini/micro lathes...cool for training, not much use for most hobbyist use. Unless you are into turning zillions of .75" or smaller parts. I trained on one at school...the average guy is going to want to turn something in the 1"-1.5" range occasionally and even turn some bigger stuff...swing is important as is a larger thru-bore. Hobby equipment shouldn't mean toy...it should mean that it is capable of supporting the hobbyist's interests.  |