New to Mills

[Redgoatfab]

Have been looking at all the different build threads here and watching some vidios on youtube. With all the information that I have been looking over bring me to the fact that a RF 45 clone is what I need.

I am a Welder and at work only do stainless steel. I do build Bumpers and other stuff as a side business most everythign is dwarn up in Solidworks. just really getting started and wanting to do more bring in money.

I was looking at drills press only machines but with the high price of quality units, leads me to a mill that will do all the drilling I need it to and more.
One of the drill press I was looking is the US made clausing 20in drill press with a price take at 3995.

With looking at all the options of RF45 cones one of them that I like the looks of is the IH mill. With this mill and the upgraded motor package bring me in around 3500+shipping I will have a machine that will do a lot more.

What I am looking to know is what other options is there for machines with same power and abilities.

With all the CNC conversoins everyone is using belt drive reduction with servos. Why does no one use gear boxes?

I am about ready to build my Mach3 and candcnc.com plasma table so will be getting my feet wet with cnc and mach3 before i try and do the cnc conversion of the mill.

Couple thing that looks like a good thing is the belt conversoin and full flood cooling.

On of the things I want to be able to make is my shackle mounting tabs see the atached pdf. they are 1x2" cold rolled with rounded end and hole for shackle pin.

Anyway please give me feed back on what a beginer should get for tooling and what opts on different RF45 clones.

Thanks for your time.

Gary

[wizard]

Have been looking at all the different build threads here and watching some vidios on youtube. With all the information that I have been looking over bring me to the fact that a RF 45 clone is what I need.

If you want to machine parts beyond drilling holes that might do you nicely. Just remember a drill press and a mill/drill are not the same thing. For general purpose drilling a drill press can be much quicker to use.

I am a Welder and at work only do stainless steel. I do build Bumpers and other stuff as a side business most everythign is dwarn up in Solidworks. just really getting started and wanting to do more bring in money.

Then you are suffering from the age old problem of how to allocate your money. Realize that free advice is worth exactly what it costs you.

Given that I'm trying to put myself in your shoes. Thus the first thing that comes to mind is that such a business would need a manual drill press just for its utility. However such a drill press won't help much with knocking out those parts. A CNC machine certainly could do it if a bit slowly. How big and how fast is up to you.

Now the thing is is this really the way you want to go? My thinking is a water jet or plasma machine would be a better fit for a fab business. At least as a first CNC machine. There is the obvious question of what your expectations are for finish and accuracy. That and you would probably still have to drill that hole.

By the way you don't need to spend thousands on a drill press. Look towards the importers for one rated to drill your hole. The other smart option is to take that money and buy a used Bridgeport manual mill. You could set the Bridgeport up with fixtures to drill your parts.

I was looking at drills press only machines but with the high price of quality units, leads me to a mill that will do all the drilling I need it to and more.
One of the drill press I was looking is the US made clausing 20in drill press with a price take at 3995.

A good drill press for sure but for that money used Bridgeports can be had.

With looking at all the options of RF45 cones one of them that I like the looks of is the IH mill. With this mill and the upgraded motor package bring me in around 3500+shipping I will have a machine that will do a lot more.

That mill has a reasonably good rep.

What I am looking to know is what other options is there for machines with same power and abilities.

Well the first thing to do is to look at what the various importers have. Grizzly for example has a huge selection of mills, mill/drills and drill presses. Beyond that the used market is flooded with machines.

With all the CNC conversoins everyone is using belt drive reduction with servos. Why does no one use gear boxes?

Gear drives are extremely expensive to implement if you want zero backlash. Belt drives work surprisingly well. Often though direct drive is used.

I am about ready to build my Mach3 and candcnc.com plasma table so will be getting my feet wet with cnc and mach3 before i try and do the cnc conversion of the mill.

I must have missed this on the first read through. This is the step I would take first. I don't know much about Mach so I do wonder if it can controll the plasma head. One thing to point out here though, having a mill would make that build easier.

Couple thing that looks like a good thing is the belt conversoin and full flood cooling.

On of the things I want to be able to make is my shackle mounting tabs see the atached pdf. they are 1x2" cold rolled with rounded end and hole for shackle pin.

Anyway please give me feed back on what a beginer should get for tooling and what opts on different RF45 clones.

Thanks for your time.

Gary

Getting sleepy 😳

Tooling depends upon the parts and how quickly you convert to CNC.