Hello everyone.
Im looking into making a CNC Mini Mill so I can make my own alumnium parts for my R/C's.
But my problem is I dont know where to start and im on a extremely low budget.
The max I can spend is $150. :(
Is it possible to build a Mini-Mill that can do small alumnium parts for under $150?
Any help is apreciated.
Thanks, James

Nope!!

Darn.... :(
Do you think one like this http://www.hackaday.com/2006/07/12/how-to-build-your-own-cnc-mill/ will cut small alumnium parts? Because I allready have some Stepper motors from an office printer and Dremel's are pretty cheap.

Even a micro mill will cost double that, then you have the cost of the cnc conversion, tooling, etc.

That would be good for maybe circuit boards or small plastic stuff but it doesn't look rigid enough for cutting aluminum.

Link,

While I am still a newbie to CNC myself I just don't think you can do it for $150.00. Just the software alone for the controller is going to cost you that much(Mach3).Add the cost of a CAD program plus drive board. Plus the saying that you will spend many times the cost of the machine in tooling is very very true and that stands true even for a bare bones setup.
And no I don't think that little machine you had the link to will cut it. You just can't cut metal with a machine made from plastic.

LAter,
Tim

I was planning on making the base out of X tubeing (I think thats what its called.) so it will be more rigid.
Also I allready have CAD (Delmia and AutoCad)

Linkster ya could probably do it real cheap like many others here have done. But $150, it would be a $150 cnc thing. I too plan to build a cnc gantry mill. I also plan to save as much money as possible without sacrificing quality. To cut metal whether its aluminum or steel or whatever. Ya need a degree of accuracy. Ya could do some dumpster diving like JasonMarsha did and probably save quite a bit. But if ya add up the time it takes to put all the different pieces together and getting them to work is another thing. I,d say probably the cheapest ya could do it would be around $500 and thats pushing it. I,m estimating my build to be around $1500(hopefully cheaper) But if I have to pay out more to make it right than so be it. Some the guys on here have set the bar high when it comes to DIY cnc and it really should be about craftsmanship and ingenuity. I push myself to be as good as some of the guys here and you should too. Here,s some links to help ya get started.

http://www.americanmachinetools.com/how_to_use_a_milling_machine.htm
How to use a Milling Machine

http://www.hobbycnc.com/
HobbyCNC.com

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2006031417565040&catname=electric&item=11-2449
Surplus Center Item Detail

http://dumpstercnc.com/
dumpsterCNC - anti-backlash leadnuts

http://www.vxb.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT
Ball Bearings:Ceramic & Miniature Bearings

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29075
Jayson's #2 Machine - CNCzone.com-The Ultimate Machinist Community


http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28908
Zip's CNC Router - CNCzone.com-The Ultimate Machinist Community

Good luck

I saw an article sometime ago where a guy converted a 79 drill press to CNC. He used a little ENCO mill table. While not nearly the ideal CNC setup, he had decent results. Under 150 is a stretch. If you go that route, you can probably do under 250 if you already have steppers and they are strong enough.

Link,

Good luck with your project. You still need control software that takes your g-code and tells the machine what to do. Again I think Mach2/3 is the cheapest you will find at $159.00!

LAter,
Tim

Link,

EMC2 is open source and runs on linux. You can get both for free.

Alan

Link,

Good luck with your project. You still need control software that takes your g-code and tells the machine what to do. Again I think Mach2/3 is the cheapest you will find at $159.00!

LAter,
Tim

No turbocnc is free and 60 dollars to register with source code..

Phantomcow2, I think this is the conversion you refer to:
http://www.pathcom.com/~vhchan/cnc/cnc.html

Phantomcow2, I think this is the conversion you refer to:
http://www.pathcom.com/~vhchan/cnc/cnc.html

That's the one. It looks like his page has changed a bit since the last time I was there (2 years ago)

I know there are cheaper china milling tables than the one he used, maybe from ebay? However, the project would still end up costing more than $150. I doubt even a manual machine caple of machining aluminium could be made?

a Cheap CNC?.. i personally think, quality has its price... at the moment i'm builing a 4 Axis CNC myself, the steel for the frame is cheap ( get it at work ) but i still needed to buy stepper motors, and stepper controlers ( 1 for each axis ) which put me down 200 euro's, and i still need to purchase linear ball rails, and spindles with nuts. "it's gonna cost me some" , but it wil be accurate..

www.pathcom.com/~vhchan/cnc/cnc.html
try this
i built my first cnc using plastic sheet it is a standard gantry router affair
running a "dremel" still use it for engraving although the plastic was replaced
with aluminium a while back for no reason other than i'd allways intended too
acess to a manual mill (with dro) is a major advantage in building this
but carefull marking out and a bench drill would suffice.
have a go you might surprise yourself.
mike

I have tried that same route with the drill press and x y table. It is alot of work and the result are less than satisfactory. so far I have successfully turned a bench top drill press into a milling machine, but the amout of play in the Z axis is rediculas. I cannot cut more than 3/16th" in aluminum and plung cuts result in a horrible surface finish. I have decided to turn my old taig lathe (bed carraige and headstock) into the z axis. hopfully this will solve the z axis problem. The X,Y table is great after you "tune it up" a bit. I replaced the coarse 8tpi acme screws with 1/2" 20nf grade 5 stainless rod. new lead nuts were created using a lathe and I installed 2 ball bearings on each lead screw. This greatly improved the smoothness and accuracy of the table. In my opinion, I would save up and buy a real mill rather than try to construct one.
Mike

maybe casting but even then you will exceed your budget.

casting will have ,LOWER setup costs. And will be easier maintained you will only need more gas and more aluminium whilst the rest of the equipment does not wear as fast as cutting perishables and the contant efforts and costs of maintaining a cncmachine wich will take more your time and budget as the machines get cheaper.

Even if you make your own oven from ytongblocks you will have to snipe auctions for pouring crucibles ,gas/oxy tanks ,and then sand and other chems.With your budget you might have to be snipe a mighty long time to acquire all you need ,but you will sniper even longer if you choose to go cnc.

i dont know if time is a concirn but my guess is pouring will be lot faster too and save on alu ,wich is a big plus if your running a production or lots o parts.

the safety measures for metalcasting are quite strict but not impossible to meet at all.

when i saw the plastic machine on the link you posted i just assumed you are not to conirned by accuracy either.

take a look at the casting section ,lots of info there.