I'm new at this, and very interested in acquiring a CNC setup for hobby use. I've looked at some of the available CNC micromill setups (sherline, maxnc, micromark, taig) and they all seem to have cutting areas.

The CNC routing tables I have looked at are all cost prohibitive (5K+), or are made of wood, and usually smaller as well.

I'm trying to do several things...

First of all, I fly RC helis (nod to CNCAdmin), and would like to be able to machine sideframes for stack frame helis. That means at least 12" by 12" if I want to do the machining in one pass. I would be working with .080 to .125 carbon fiber, aluminum, and G10 plate. I'd also like to do PCB milling for building custom PCB's for tube amps. This is all what you would call 2-1/2D milling, correct?

I'd like to be able to fabricate 3D parts as well, however, out of aluminum and delrin.

Any reccomendations, places to look, etc?

I'd prefer not to assemble a boneyard beast, if possible. A kit or ready made machine is preferable. I'd like to spend less than $2000 on something that is reliable, and accurate to the nescessary degree (Any idea what I'd need for sideframes CNCAdmin?), and that I won't outgrow unless my need change.

Thanks for the help.

Anybody? Thanks.

J,
Give it a day or two, the server has been up and down, so it's been hard for guys to get on.
New server tonight, so everything will be back to normal.
Don't give up the guys will jump in. :)

I used a wood router table and it worked very well see this thread- http://www.cnczone.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65

Here is some pics

another

Yet another

You may want to look at my web page www.campbelldesigns.com.

I sell plans for a very rigid moving table CNC router.

Bob Campbell

Does anybody have any experience with the Sherline model 2000? It looks like a decent compromise to at least learn the basics of CNC machining, while still allowing reasonably sized milled metal parts. The big downside I have seen with most of the other setups (Taig, Harbor Freight, etc) is that the Y axis is limited to 4 or 5 inches.

The model 2000 offers 9" in X, and 7" in Y, so that is closer to what I need.

http://www.sherline.com/mills.htm

http://www.sherline.com/2000pg.htm


I also looked at the SuperTech MiniRobo router with the RoboZip tool. That offers 12" x by 8" y.

http://www.super-tech.com/root/miniroboiii/

I'm really looking for a system that is bolt together. Not nescessarily plug and play, but at least well documented.

The Sherline is appealing because I can get a CNC ready mill with a work area that I can use.

The Super-Tech is appealing because it is plug and play, out of the box.

Any experience with either that would sway it?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=33686

Perhaps something like this unit? Plenty of workspace, heavy duty (appearing?)

Has anybody converted this?

Thanks.