Good benchtop CNC mill for RC hobby?

[Chevy-SS]

I want a CNC machine for my radio control hobby. I race RC cars and trucks, which is a lot of fun. I am always modding parts and "inventing" things, but am truly limited in my ability to produce quality parts with the tools I have on hand. Therefore I'm searching for a small CNC mill. I was thinking of buying a lathe, but that is too limiting, in my opinion. I'd rather have a full mill.

Most of my parts would be plastic, aluminum or mild steel. I want a mill that is completely built and ready to use, requiring only training on my part.

I have no machinist experience or schooling, though I've been scratch-building slot cars, RC cars and real cars for almost 40 years, so I'm mechanically inclined. I'm pretty adept and experienced with computers, so it would be just a matter of learning the CNC software, which would be a challenge, I'm sure.........

I have limited space in my garage, so I don't want a huge machine. I'd like to keep the price around $5,000 to $6,000 or so, if possible, but I'd spend more to get a capable machine.

I would be grateful for some recommendations and I apologize if this question has been asked a hundred times already. I did search some in the forums, but did not find anything that resembled my question.

thanks.......................

[CrazyRonny]

I just place an order for a super X3 from http://www.syil.com .
I can't tell you how good it is because I have not receive it yet, but from what I have read in this forum, the X3 is a capable mill... and it will fit in your budget and you will have some money left to buy some tooling to go with it.

I'm in the same hobby also... RC car, RC plane, RC boat... RC everything lol

CrazyRonny

[phil burman]

A mill without a lathe is like a knife without a fork. They kinda go together. Its not really a choice between a lathe or a mill, they have complementary not the same functions.

Also operating a cnc mill is not just about software. The machinist part is still about 80% of the operation. With your budget I would buy a manual mill and lathe with the option to convert the mill to cnc later.

Regards
Phil

Originally Posted by Chevy-SS I want a CNC machine for my radio control hobby. I race RC cars and trucks, which is a lot of fun. I am always modding parts and "inventing" things, but am truly limited in my ability to produce quality parts with the tools I have on hand. Therefore I'm searching for a small CNC mill. I was thinking of buying a lathe, but that is too limiting, in my opinion. I'd rather have a full mill. Most of my parts would be plastic, aluminum or mild steel. I want a mill that is completely built and ready to use, requiring only training on my part. I have no machinist experience or schooling, though I've been scratch-building slot cars, RC cars and real cars for almost 40 years, so I'm mechanically inclined. I'm pretty adept and experienced with computers, so it would be just a matter of learning the CNC software, which would be a challenge, I'm sure......... I have limited space in my garage, so I don't want a huge machine. I'd like to keep the price around $5,000 to $6,000 or so, if possible, but I'd spend more to get a capable machine. I would be grateful for some recommendations and I apologize if this question has been asked a hundred times already. I did search some in the forums, but did not find anything that resembled my question. thanks.......................

[radicooldude]

I would suggest a Tormach mill. Its $6800, but sweet, and appears to cut steel like butter for a mid-sized mill. This mill uses ground ballscrews and steppers. It also has a 16"x10" cut envelope.

A less capable, but still very nice, $3000 option is a SuperX3 mill from Syil, at www.syil.cn Although it is less rigid, and less industrial like, (I am speaking only from specs and looks), it still is excellent for R/C use. I do not know about its steel capabilities, but its aluminum is probably just as good as the Tormach. This mill uses rolled ballscrews and steppers.
It has a 11.8"x6.2" cut envelope.

Another option would be the Industrial Hobbies mill, and cnc conversion. I believe this is $6900. This mill uses rolled ballscrews and servos. THis does have a large cut envolope of 30"x12".

Overall, iif you can fit your largest part in the any of these machines, they will be a good choice.

These are just opinions by look, and specs. I dont own any of them. - Zachery

[Fixittt]

ironically when dealing with RC stuff, you will find that you will spend more time trying to figure out how to hold the small parts for machining rather then actually making the parts. Fixtures can be your best friend if you get them designed right.

If you dont have any machine experience then start off light and easy. I would recommend a cnc taig. One other thing you need to be concerned with is, How are you going to cut your material for the cnc machine? Hack saws get old fast! A small lathe can be your best friend as well. As it was said before, they work together!
Your budget is kind of small for a cnc setup in my opinion. Your going to pay a few grand for the cnc machine. Yes, but you will end up spending twice if not 3 times the machines cost on tooling. Most people dont really understand this. But what good is a cnc machine sitting on the bench if you dont have vices and cutters, drill bits, taps, air compressor, air tools, die grinders, belt sander for deburing edges, man, the list could keep going..................

[sansbury]

You're wasting your money if you go with anything less than a Haas minimill with the 20-station toolchanger. Sure it's around $50k and will require an addition on your house to fit, but just think, you can quit playing with those R/C toys and manufacture parts for defense companies instead!

Seriously guys, a Tormach? $5k not enough? Unless I'm wrong, most R/C parts can be made of 6061 or acetal and will fit in a cigarette box. Unless you're planning on production runs for profit, a Taig should be more than sufficient, and there's plenty of guys out there who have done this with Sherlines. $2k or so should be enough for the mill with CNC components, and you can get core tooling for $500, though there is no limit to how much you spend there.

Software you can spend another $0-$2000 depending on how turnkey you want to be. At the low end you use EMC2 (free) or Mach demo (free but limited program size), eMachineShop's CAD (free) and CamBam beta CAM (free). At the high end you buy Mach and get BobCAD-CAM, Alibre, or another similar integrated CAD-CAM package. I've been at this for a year and still on the "free" option though starting to look for a better CAM approach.

A 7x10 or Taig lathe is a must if you are doing R/C as you have plenty of round parts. You don't need this to be CNC and you can get the lathe and the necessary core tooling starting around $600, though you could easily spend another $200 on useful stuff. You also definitely need a bandsaw but I am still getting by with a portable one since I don't have space for the full-size one.

Anyway $5k in my opinion is plenty.

[sergizmo]

A voice of reason. Thank you sansbury. C'mon guys, a Tormach for RC parts? He states that he has limited space and a 5-6K budget. A Tormach setup ready to run (stand, coolant, etc...) always seems to push 10K. Then he has to buy a lathe and tooling. Waaaay over his budget. This constant "Go big or go home!" crap is getting tiresome.

Chevy, a little more info would be helpful. How big are the parts you will be making? How many are you looking to produce? What kind of tolerances do you want to hold?

From what we're hearing so far, a CNC Taig and some kind of small manual lathe will be fine. You really don't need a CNC lathe unless cranking out a mass of parts, as fairly simple lathe parts are quick to do manually.

http://www.microproto.com/micromill2000.htm

You can get one with ER16 spindle and Mach3 for $2,260. If you want the longer 12" of X travel that's $200 more. That includes the mounted steppers, driver box, control software and cables. You supply the computer.

For lathe you can get a Taig, Sherline, or one of the Chinese imports. If you are concerned about quality and the parts aren't too big in diameter I would suggest Sherline or Taig. I have the larger Sherline lathe (4400) and it is very nice. Bought package 4400A http://www.sherline.com/packages.htm

Accessories are pricey on Sherlines though.

CAD/CAM software. BobCAD v21 is available for $495 from Microproto with a CNC mill. Great price. The videos for $125 help a lot as well. So $620 for CAD/CAM. While this isn't parametric solids modelling with MasterCAM level CAM, it is certainly good enough for a hobby machinist.

After that you need to buy measuring and tooling stuff. This includes a quality vernier caliper, edge/center finder, ground machinist square, set of small parallels (the Sherline ones are nice), drill chuck, collets/end mill holders, end mills, and some drills and taps. A cut-off tool and holder for the lathe. If you want to do tight tolerance stuff on the lathe I would suggest a 0-1 micrometer as well. A small test indicator is useful to square up the vise, but this can be done with the edge finder. We'll say $800 total.

So $2,260 for the ready to run CNC mill with Mach 3, $800 for a lathe package, $620 for CAD/CAM, say another $800 in measuring and tooling. That's $4,480 pre shipping. Easily in budget.

Serge

[rfrenzl]

Even though this is not a CNC based site, try looking at LittleMachineShop.com. They specialize in the mini-lathe and mini-mill with tooling, kits, accessories, and a lot of other things for a reasonable price. It has a lot of online help and guides to get you familiar with things. If you send an email to them, they will respond and can offer some advice on this line of equipment.

As for precision, Taig would most likely be your best bet. If you need bigger, consider getting an X2 or X3 mill and add the CNC yourself. If you really need something complete, a Smithy 3-n-1 may be something to look at. It is bigger and heavier but may fit your needs. I think I recall seeing a CNC package for Smithy but it was not cheap. Doesn't hurt to look. Of course, a 3-1 machine will have some pro and cons over two different machines but something to at least consider.

Like in the previous message, more details on what you are going to make would help.

If it is any consolation, I too am into R/C and have made a number of parts for my planes. Mostly prop hubs, wheels, and motor mounts. I have a design to convert the Du-Bro wheels to aluminum and they do look good. A small Taig lathe and mill would be perfect for this kind of stuff. However, if the diameter will be over 1.5", consider upgrading to a larger chuck and stand-off blocks for the lathe.

For reference, I have an X3 mill converted to CNC, an X2 mill I converted myself, a Taig lathe I converted to CNC, and a Grizzly 10x22 lathe I converted to CNC. I started with the Taig, added the X2, upgraded to X3 and the upgraded to the 10x22. I just could not do the larger parts I wanted for 2"+ wheels or working more complex designs. Based on my R/C car experience (25yrs ago and 1/8 scale gas), a micro-mill may not quite be enough but you can get around it by making parts in stages. You can rotate the stock to cut only one side at a time for larger parts.

Good luck in your search.
Ron

[mwye0627]

Do you guys know that you are responding to an OLD thread?
Old, like from May 2006?

Just wondering

[sergizmo]

Haha, not until you just pointed it out. Whoops.

[sansbury]

Oh, phooey. Figures it was a Chinese spammer that dredged it up. Really, threads which haven't had a response in 3+ months ought to be locked.

[lovebugjunkie]

May be old, but thanks for responding, gave me some good info.