Ok, about 6 months ago, I decided I was tired of making parts with my drill press, band saw and Dremel. I needed more ability, more precision, better quality. I will have about $3000 total to spend, shipping included.

I know I want a mill and lathe because of what they can do, but that's about all I know.

Lately I have picked up some very basic information...

CNC is better, but adds considerable cost.
I am having a hard time finding out what size parts any machine can make.
Some 3-n-1's are okay, some are not.
It might be better to have two seperate machines, a mill and a lathe.

The largest part I can think I would need to make would be a chassis for a 1/10 scale RC, roughly 12" in diameter I would guess, without getting out a tape.

The parts I want to make could be complicated, see the image.

http://www.offroad-rc.com/FOC%20trans.jpg


My main questions...

What are my options for machines? There are so many different machines. If I look at CNC, the options are huge!

What should I expect to pay?

I just did all this research.

Taig CNC mill with 12 in travel X axis and CNC setup $1500 - $2000 on ebay
Harbor Freight manual 7X10 lathe = $369
Drill press benchtop @ HF = $79, Floor model @ about $200

Then expect to kick in about $500 to $1000 for tooling

Ask some questions here and get lots of answers as you go. :cool: Great sources of info here I am finding.

When you can swing the cost you will definitely want both mill and lathe.

BlueMonster...from your pics looks like most of your work will be "gear hobbing?

If that is what you really want to do....then at a minimum you'll need a mill with a horizontal attachment to spin your cutters...forget Taig.....you really need a horizontal mill......

I just fired off an email to Taig. I am looking at the following

http://www.taigtools.com/mmill.html (Look at the 2019UPG)

and this lathe
http://www.taigtools.com/starter.html

Package #3 (1017-3) Just about everything you will need

- Micro lathe assembled unit
- Collet set with 8 collets and closer
- 3 jaw self centering chuck
- 0 to 1/4 inch Jacobs chuck
- 6 piece tool bit set
- Drilling tailstock with 3/8-24 thread
- 12 x 18 mounting board
- motor mount bracket
- 1/2 inch pulley set (3M 500 belt)
- 1/4 hp Marathon Motor (1725 RPM) wired with switch and cord.

How would this do? What else woould I need as far as attachments? The pic above is just one example of something I might do.

CNC is better, ........

For you I do not agree on this!
Unless I read your posting wrong, you have little or no experience with manual machines. Then CNC will just complicate your work. And it seems you want the tools to make something.

Let me give one example: When working these machines by hand, you can feel how hard the machine and tool is working. So you can gain experience on how deep you can cut and how fast you can feed. With a CNC machine you have to know this, and must be able to put a figure on it.

Go for the manual machines and gain experience. Think about CNC if you need to make one of your parts in large numbers, that's the number one benefit of CNC, you program it once and it makes many parts.

There is not much a CNC machine can do that you cannot do manually if you know the secret: jigs.

You are exactly right. I thought the machines I listed were manual. Did I miss something?

BlueMonster....the Taig Mill on your link is CNC enabled....it's a manual machine until you add the steppers/servos and drivers.

What's your budget....I would opt for a larger lathe as a minimum....I recommend the Lathemaster from lathemaster.com and if it's not available then the Harbor Freight 9x20. You'll eventually want to add a QCTP (quick change tool post) and move to carbide inserts for your turning.

There is not much a CNC machine can do that you cannot do manually if you know the secret: jigs.

I've been dancing in my basement for years with no luck, that's why I went cnc :cheers:
Oh wait....that's a different kind of jig :withstupi