Noob to DIY retro fitting CNC setup

[boosted_hyundai]

Hello all,

I am going to buy a Hafco mill drill to setup as a small CNC milling machine. The majority of the work will be 10-12mm thick steel, just mild steel. The machine im thinking of buying is... https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Pr...stockCode=M121 . Now I used to work on a HAAS toolroom mill a few years ago so I do have some cnc experience.

So the main question is... What do i need to make this work? I have absolutely no knowledge of building a cnc machine so I am relying total on the information I can get from you guys.

Will a kit like this be suitable... Cnc Mill 3axis PC Control Kit NEMA23 MIRCO STEPPTER (eBay item 270724008508 end time 21-Apr-11 14:05:52 AEST) : Industrial ???

Now I am wanting to have a couple of emergency stop buttons, Cycle start, Feed hold, Cycle Stop buttons. Also do I need limit switches to get home position or can I manually put it in the extents of each axis and refrence them as stops?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers Ryan

[rusel]

Hi Ryan and welcome aboard.
We cnc the 45 mill with the geared head and square column. There is much I would do differently second time around.
The question you need to answer are
How accurate do I want to be 0.01mm or 0.0001mm.
How fast does it need to run. 500mm/minute or 8000mm / minute
What do I want to cut? plastic, aluminium, steel, harden steel
Answer these and then you can buy the right set up.
Your link shows a round column mill you should be looking a a square or dove tail column if you want to use the z axis
If you do get your mill from HF the first then before turn it on is to strip it down and find all the faults before using it.
I am now looking at building a new mill from scratch using modern gear not a design that has not change in nearly 100 years. Most probably will not work out any dearer then what I spent on my first cnc mill but many times better.
Arr just my thoughts
Do not now where you are but you (and any one else) are welcome to come and have a look at my set up.

Russell

[RCaffin]

I am going to buy a Hafco mill drill to setup as a small CNC milling machine. The majority of the work will be 10-12mm thick steel, just mild steel. The machine im thinking of buying is... https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Pr...stockCode=M121 .

That's a very light mill for cutting 10 mm steel. I have a very similar mill, and do cut steel on it, but I have to go very slow (manual).

Because it is so light you will need to keep the gibs fairly tight - or have it rattle everywhere and break cutters. But that means you may need bigger motors, and/or significant gearing.

Cheers