Originally Posted by jalessi  TMc,
What are you going to use it for?
How much room do you have?
Is $1,500 your total budget for the machine only or for everything?
Welcome to the Zone
Jeff... |
Thank you all for your help and advice.
I think I am going to use it mostly for soft metals, Brass and Aluminum, perhaps a little steel, but not much. I am interested in building a larger CNC for woodworking and I would like to make parts on the mill for use on the larger woodworking CNC. After that it will be used for making smaller metal models, etc.
I definately want to keep this to a tabletop version. I do have a little workshop space, but I don't want to dedicate a lot of space to this. My budget is 1,500 to get things started. I assume that I will invest more if I really get into the hobby, but that is my seed money. I want to get a good working manual platform I can build on in the future. I don't want to buy a mill I will have to replace once I get serious. I did that with a shopsmith and woodworking and didn't get my money back.
Priorities:
1) Reasonable sized work envelop ( as big as possible)
2) Ability to CNC it
3) Ability to use stock accessories
4) Robust quality mill.
The Sherline looks nice, but I am a little worried that it is more of a toy than a machine. I'm also concerned that I will be required to use high priced accessories. The Taig looks interesting, but I am not sure about the differences between the AC and DC motor. Sherline seems to make a big deal about that.
The X3 looks like a good mill, and perhaps a winner, but if it isn't a quality machine it might not be a good platform to build on and I might always regret my initial decision. I'm also not sure how easy it is to SNS the device.
Thanks again for your feedback.
TMc