Howdy from Kansas,
I work for the basketball powerhouse KU. We do radars to measure the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. I am an Electronics Technician trying to do machinist work also. I mostly put pockets in 6061 so we can put our circuit boards in the holes. We are getting some new money and they have allocated ~25K for a CNC knee mill to replace the RongFu 40 we bought two years ago. As I expect mission creep I would like to have a 4 axis machine. Since I am not an experienced machinist or trained in G code I need a easy to operate machine. Also I do hole drilling on 16.5 x 24" panels and would like to be able to do them with one setup.
A kitchen sink would be nice also! :rolleyes:
PRISM Project (http://ku-prism.org/) Our website.
Thanks in advance.
Sundy58

Sundy, buying a new machine has a lot of advantages. Warranty, training, getting-just-what-you-want, resale-value,.... Both Fadal and Haas have toolroom VMCs which would be in your price-range and would be ideal for the work you are describing.
I would not worry about fourth axis capability (ability to move in four axis simultaneously) An indexer (as opposed to a fourth axis), either manual or controlled via G-code, can be added to anything when the nessesity dictates.

surface, I had looked at Haas website but didn't see the toolroom machines. Thats great! I thought I was going to have to buy a Tiawan machine. We have a local dealer so maybe I can get my hands on one. I hate buying without trying even if it's not my money! I am going to take in some stock and a CAD file so I can see from start to finish. I think I'll call them now!

I was looking at the Bridgeport knee mills with CNC but have heard the software is not that great. I was hoping to hear something about Bridgeports.

old bridgeport knee mills have great iron[though not to do as large a part as you want] bu tall 'boss' machines are dicey

At your price range, get one of those haas mini mills, I have heard good things. used in that price range is a crapshoot

Sorry but I don't know what a 'boss' machine is.

Take a look at the HAAS mini mill. We have four of them at work. Not too big and not too small for the work we do.

Remember to ask for an educational discount :)

I always do! When we run out of grant money I run out of a job!
Any thoughts on Bridgeport since the bankruptcy?

This is your life time opportunity. Put this as downpayment for around $200,000.00 and problem solved. That will do it and just in case you need to make some more precision holes, pockets or whatever.

Sundy
Talk to the sales reps from all brands you may be interested in. Also ask to see the machines running at a local shops. You may find that certain machines are used more in your area (SUPPORT). Some will have conversional programing and some will be G code only. It sounds like conversional may be your best bet. good luck
Halfa32