A little background...
When I started CNCing, it was mainly a few parts for myself and a few others. Hobby stuff, not much more. Lately, I've found that I can make a little bit of money on the side with my CNC, so I've been spending more and more time on it. Right now, my biggest time killer is sizing material and squaring the edges up so that barstock can be mounted properly and repeatably.

I also have been using my CNC mill quite a bit for engraving logos on metal.

A third use that takes quite a bit of time is cutting thin grooves with a slitting saw on an arbor. It's a job that would be much better suited for a horizontal milling machine, but I don't have one.

For a while now I've been thinking about putting together a machine that would do these 3 tasks (accurately cut barstock, engrave, and horizontal milling) to clear up some of the mill's time. I'm kind of thinking of something along the lines of a 3D router, but with both a vertical router motor and a horizontal milling spindle. The vertical router/engraver would be easy to make, but I'm a little unsure about the horizontal mill.

First, has anyone seen a machine similar to this? Also, does this sound like a bad idea? The horizontal milling will be making shallow cuts in aluminum and copper (about 0.050" deep) and also cutting the aluminum and copper to length. I think a 4"-6" slitting saw should be the maximum size I'll need in the forseeable future. I'd like to try to put together a table with about 2'x4' of workable space.

Any input would be appreciated, especially on the horizontal milling capability.

Welcome to the forum Neo.
No it's not a bad idea, it is feasible. You get milling machines that works with horizontal & vertical spindels.
For example MAHO 600P, Deckel FP series and if i correct the Huron as well.

You can also explore the possibility of making a 90 deg attachment like you get for the Bridgeport type turret mills.....

Klox

That's not a bad idea.
Here's a couple of mine that never materialized. (Feel free to run with them it you want) They may or may not already exist. I never even checked.

A snowblower that converts to a Rototiller by changing the bolt on front end. I actually designed a tiller that would work with my old Ariens. :D

A small verticle mill with it's X and Y axis ON TOP of a rotary axis.
Putting a rotary table on a Bgpt type mill limits your rotational capability. You need to move the part on your fixture/vise to change a radius. If you had axis ABOVE the rotation you just move to the new position.

A gun oil that is also a Buck lure.










I get 10% :D

Yes, stock resizing is a time waster all right. Depending on the accuracy that you need, an investment in a "cold saw" might be good, although these things are not really cheap either. These are nothing more than a high speed steel blade driven by a worm drive gearbox, similar to a mitre cutoff saw.

I have a Bewo cold saw sold by Scotchman. I modified it by adding a variable frequency AC drive to it so I can optimize the rpms. The saw is built for sawing steel, so it is sort of low on speed for aluminum sawing, but I make do by running the motor 100% above the nameplate rpm (at 120hz) via the frequency drive.

It uses a hollow ground blade, up to 14" dia (.125 kerf width) and so the cut faces are pretty smooth and square. Different blade sharpenings are available for cutting different materials. For a lot of work, the saw cuts are good enough to call finished, and are square enough for good positioning in the milling vise.

With a 14" blade, I can cut off material up to 6" wide. This unit has a self-centering vise that is split in the center to allow the blade to descend through it. So, both the stock end and the cutoff piece are clamped for the entire cycle.

With some scrounging, you might be able to make up a machine like this for cheap. Depending on your slotting requirements (are you sawing heat sink fins?), you could also use such a saw for that purpose. A large diameter saw might leave an acceptably shallow radius at the bottom of your slots. You might want to have a custom blade made with a reduced thickness rim for sawing heat sinks.

That is a fantastic Idea. So good that I may use it. I'm also into building my own machines. Six months ago I became interested in CNC so I built a 3 axis machine. Now I'm building another one larger and more rigid. All I need to do is change the spindle direction to make it have a horizontal spindle.
http://www.chaski-test.com/pictures/17372-head.jpg

Jim

jimglass,
That idea is the result of many years of rotating :D
I was thinking the tiller/blower combo would better serve a larger number of people :) so I worked it out. It's kind of in the "junk yard wars" catagorie now though. :D

Originally posted by Turbine

A gun oil that is also a Buck lure.






FWIW, I found some gun oil that smells like apples.