Canadian Electronic Hardware Designer chick living in LA! says hi!

[neferstefany]

Hi Guys!

Just to say hi and introduce myself... (I am originaly from Montreal and I live in LA (Studio City) now)

I am a Hardware electronic designer who design image processing product for digital camera.

Presently working on a new project, Stereoscopic HD1080p capture rig and I am looking forward to equip myself with a CNC so, I can design a make my own camera head and other mechanical parts... So basically aluminum or plastic (nylon, abs, etc...) work.

So it is great to be here, to have some feedback and comments about the different benchtop CNC out there (not that many but still).

Stefany

[ViperTX]

Geesch....a chick who can design hardware.....

[neferstefany]

Originally Posted by ViperTX Geesch....a chick who can design hardware.....

is this supposed to be a good or a bad comment ?

[jalessi]

Hey Stefany,

How do you like Jerry's Deli?

Have you been to Bob's Big Boy on Friday night?

Welcome to the Zone,

Jeff...

[laszlozoltan]

Originally Posted by neferstefany is this supposed to be a good or a bad comment ?

I think it is the kind of comment one might expect from a man who feels instantly emasculated. But then, you didn't have to say you are a chick did you ?

how big/or small is this camera you have in mind ? portable action cam with dual micro sdhc flash memory recording ?

[neferstefany]

Hi Jeff,

I did not go to either of them... sorry :O(

When you start living here, figuring out where you are and where you need to go is pretty much what you do for the first 6 months, so since I move twice in that time, then you can imagine that I did not have time to chased down very specific places...

Thanks for the greetings...

Stefany

Originally Posted by jalessi Hey Stefany, How do you like Jerry's Deli? Have you been to Bob's Big Boy on Friday night? Welcome to the Zone, Jeff...

[neferstefany]

Originally Posted by laszlozoltan I think it is the kind of comment one might expect from a man who feels instantly emasculated. But then, you didn't have to say you are a chick did you ? how big/or small is this camera you have in mind ? portable action cam with dual micro sdhc flash memory recording ?

Well, obviously I did not come in this forum with some tools to remove the preferred part of your anatomy I was merely indicating my gender so there would be no confusion since there must be like 99.9 % guys here...

Anyway, well I am talking about 4 x 6 unit with 2 SATA disk real time recording...

Stefany

[jalessi]

Stefany,

What kind of budget do you have for your CNC machine?

What X-Y -Z capacity or travel is required for your parts?

Jeff...

[neferstefany]

Jeff,

excellent question:

Well, my budget is about 4Gs (shipping included).
The material I will be machining, will be mostly Aluminum, Plastics and some copper. Really soft material if you ask me.

Well, I might have to do some work on an already existing aluminum extrusion that I will use to enclose the PCB. and this enclosure is 4 x 6 x 2 about. I don't forecast to machine stuff bigger then that... I might, but it is not a limiting factor

At this point and this why I am here, I wanted to see what would be the best between those 2:

1- LittleMachineShop 3501: (I know it is a SIEG KX1) which seems to be the perfect choice unless you can convince me otherwise. (and you could probably do). The good thing is that they are about 15 minutes away from my place and I guess support wise and tools wise it would be great to deal with them. BTW, the 3503 is way out of my budget so unfortunately I had to rule it out.

2- SYIL X4 : bit more expensive, but still in the middle of the 3501 and the 3503. But I don't get a good vibes from SYIL since I feel that I will spend a tremendous amount of time figuring it out and the support seems very basic at best (the local rep tries to do their best I guess).

Other then that, either they are refit or they are too expensive or too mini to handle the job. I want something that I can setup in no time and I won't spend 1 month figuring it out. And obviously and I want something that will do the job I need it to do without realizing later on that the machine I bought won't be able to. The time of machining in my case is really not a problem, so I don't need a super dooper fast machine.

Jeff, I really appreciate that you ask the question, that will speed up my decision making... Hopefully the answers will be as pertinent as the question!

Cheer!

Stefany

PS: BTW: Those X numbers from SIEG and SYIL are very confusing... you know, KX1, KX3, X2, X3, X4, X4+ etc... I am wondering sometimes if they are all not one and only one manufacturer...

Originally Posted by jalessi Stefany, What kind of budget do you have for your CNC machine? What X-Y -Z capacity or travel is required for your parts? Jeff...

[jalessi]

Stefany,

I don't like the MT2 spindle taper on the 3501, that would be a deal breaker for me.

There is a big reason for you to choose the Little Machine Shop though.

The Little Machine Shop store is super convenient, just jump on the 134 and your there in a flash.

They are really nice people to deal with and the tools are good quality.

Having a wealth of information and tech support that close to home is priceless!

Maybe you can special order the 3501 with a R8 spindle.


Jeff...

[neferstefany]

Originally Posted by jalessi Stefany, I don't like the MT2 spindle taper on the 3501, that would be a deal breaker for me. There is a big reason for you to choose the Little Machine Shop though. The Little Machine Shop store is super convenient, just jump on the 134 and your there in a flash. They are really nice people to deal with and the tools are good quality. Having a wealth of information and tech support that close to home is priceless! Maybe you can special order the 3501 with a R8 spindle. Jeff...

Thanks a lot Jeff, would you have any other issues in mind that would make you hesitate on that choice other than the spindle ? like the power of the spindle motor ? other then that the X,Y,Z limits are more then I need, the precision is right too, so the price is just about right...

So, I will inquire about the spindle...

Thanks again, really appreciate it!

Stefany

[jalessi]

Stefany,

The spindle motor wont be a problem, the machine rigidity is more of a issue.

As long as you keep the feed rate down it will do a decent job on your small parts.

Are you making one of a kind prototype's or going into full blown production?

You may want to ask Little Machine Shop to give you a demo and run your code.

Jeff...