New guy with no serious ambition. ;D

[BubbaKahuna]

Hi all,
By 'no ambition', I mean I'm strictly a hobbyist. I won't be taking any money out of any machinist's pockets with my efforts here.

I first logged in here in 2006 but have just been a lurker for the whole time reading and learning a little bit at a time. I'm not a professional machinist or tradesman (I'm in sales at a powersports dealership).

What I am I guess, is the kind of guy who likes learning how to do things the hard way. I guess since I'm not a young man (52) I'm what some would call Old School - I can remember when computers got most of their data on a punchcard. I don't really much care what I'm called as long as it's not an insult. lol

I'm a musician (guitar, voice & other) so I learned how to build & have made all my own effects and amplifiers from scratch. I ride motorcycles so I learned to weld and am building a bike from scratch (except for the engine - I don't have that kind of time or resources).

The reason I'm here is that after doing my homework I think I can actually build my own CNC mini-mill to do small cycle parts. I've already done some aluminum castings and think a small CNC machine would be nice to have more for finishing and detail than production (I don't think I want to spend that much time & $$$). More along the lines of etching and engraving in aluminum motorcycle parts like covers, emblems & various parts. Of course that could be a slippery slope leading into all kinds of other things once I see my first perfect part being made on a homebuilt CNC machine.

Looks like a good forum for that.

Cheers,
- BubbaKahuna (aka JJ)

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by BubbaKahuna Hi all, By 'no ambition', I mean I'm strictly a hobbyist. I won't be taking any money out of any machinist's pockets with my efforts here. I first logged in here in 2006 but have just been a lurker for the whole time reading and learning a little bit at a time. I'm not a professional machinist or tradesman (I'm in sales at a powersports dealership). What I am I guess, is the kind of guy who likes learning how to do things the hard way. I guess since I'm not a young man (52) I'm what some would call Old School - I can remember when computers got most of their data on a punchcard. I don't really much care what I'm called as long as it's not an insult. lol I'm a musician (guitar, voice & other) so I learned how to build & have made all my own effects and amplifiers from scratch. I ride motorcycles so I learned to weld and am building a bike from scratch (except for the engine - I don't have that kind of time or resources). The reason I'm here is that after doing my homework I think I can actually build my own CNC mini-mill to do small cycle parts. I've already done some aluminum castings and think a small CNC machine would be nice to have more for finishing and detail than production (I don't think I want to spend that much time & $$$). More along the lines of etching and engraving in aluminum motorcycle parts like covers, emblems & various parts. Of course that could be a slippery slope leading into all kinds of other things once I see my first perfect part being made on a homebuilt CNC machine. Looks like a good forum for that. Cheers, - BubbaKahuna (aka JJ)

Welcome to the Zone Bubba.
You sound like a lot of people here on the Zone. CNC is a great hobby to add to the casting that you have already done. A CNC mill would work great for the castings and by adding an auxiliary high speed spindle can double as an engraver.

I would think that one of the first questions that needs to be answered is what is your budget? Remember that the tooling required to support the machine can easily cost as much as the machine.

Second question is how large of a work envelope are you looking for?

Third would be what kind of space do you have for a machine?

Fourth would be what kind of power is available? A good used cnc mill might need 240Vac and if all you have is 120vac, that could be a problem.

There are many other questions to be answered but these should get you started.

By the way I don't want to hear that 52 is not young. I am 45 and still consider that to be quite young. 80 + is middle age for some people and old doesn't start until 100+


Mike

[BubbaKahuna]

I'm strictly doing this as a hobby at home and only intend to make a tabletop unit for small etching and some light cutting. The biggest item I'd be working on would probably be 10" or so long, less width, maybe 4" high at the most. I have 220 available but am only looking at a RotoZip or Router powered machine run by a home PC. I'm notoriously frugal (cheap) and expect what I build to run in the sub-$1K range from what I've researched.

I joke about my age, I'm 52 but still gig regularly with my rock band. I'll do that until they stop giving me money and free beer for playing guitar. lol

[TOTALLYRC]

I would then say a PC from the side of the road would be a great place to start.
If you search the zone there should be a basic design or two to chose from.
If you are buying a Rotozip get one with the metal nose. The plastic ones have a lot of flex.

Mike