Need Help!- Like to buy a tabletop/desktop CNC Mill

[chouyang]

Hello experienced CNC experts,

Can I get your inputs/suggestions? I am “not” very experienced in CNC. Last year I took a college course of CNC “G” code class and I did total ~ 10 hands-on projects which includes spot drilling, drilling, contouring, pocket, tapping, engraving, …but my total time of usage of CNC is still very limited. This year I am taking Mastercam course.

I am thinking to purchase a desktop or tabletop CNC mill so I can do more practice at home, making some prototypes for work, and maybe make some toys for kids. The desktop CNC can not be too big or too noisy otherwise my neighbor will complain and I can only use standard residential 110V, not 220V.

I did some research on the internet and here are some desktop CNC mills I found. Would you advise me these CNC are good or so so or bad? My max allowed budget is ~ $3-5K.


(1) CNC Masters
CNC Jr Table Top Milling Machine $5423
Some people said the price is a rip off and z axis 5” travel is too short? Is RPM enough?

(2) SYIL
Are SyiL CNC Machine "B" Series good choices? They have BF46, BF20, BF16. My concern is the support and guarantee. The products are from China.
http://www.syil.com/

(3) Townlabs
How about this one?
http://www.townlabs.com/products.html

(4) Taig Micro Mills?
http://www.taigtools.com/mmill.html

(5) LV350D
http://www.levil.com/LV350D.htm
looks nice but it is over my budget

(6) Mini-Mill-1 CNC Micro Milling Machine
http://www.tabletopcnc.com/mini%20mill%20100.htm
It looks nice but shorter XYX travel length – probably this is because the tool is designed for micro application.

(7) Flashcut
http://www.flashcutcnc.com/6500_prototyping_mill.php
they have 6500, 7300, 8300 but I do not know the price and accuracy of the spindle movement?

(8)Shirline
http://www.sherline.com/8540pg.htm

(9) ...??? any good one to suggest?

Thanks alot for any inputs.

chouyang

[Fastest1]

My experience is with the Sherline mostly. I am not sure of the materials that you would like to cut but I would say with patience all can be achieved. The Sherline does fit your needs in many ways. It is small and portable, runs on 110v and is an excellent little machine with incredible support and options. In my research it seems to be the most popular and affordable machine. That all being said, the Taig is more sturdy and can take deeper cuts etc. but its build quality doesnt appear in the same league to me. These machines (Sherline or Taig) pop up on ebay, craigslist and the classifieds here and on other forums often. Shipping should be inexpensive. Also look at the Max line of machines Maxnc? If I were to do it again, which I am btw I would build it again. I learned more from building a Hobby cnc pro kit and retrofitting an old Sherline. The knowledge you had to get to build the electronics, test it, make it interface with your new machine, figure out port and pin settings, motor tunings and other information Mach or what ever control program you use will need. That education is priceless and will give you a much better understanding of all the factors. However being a student you might be too busy to take that all on now. I have been very pleased with my Sherline though I have experienced plenty of frustration with it too. Mostly user error and impatience. Waiting for a pocket to finish cutting at .01 doc with a feedrate of 2-6 ipm can be boring to say the least. With a feedrate override button problems can and will occur! :-)

[Fastest1]

After responding to your question, I got on ebay and the 1st thing that popped up re: Sherline was this
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sherline-Model-4...#ht_500wt_1182
When I saw it there was 1 day left and it was at 710 dollars. There are thousands of dollars in accessories, tooling, vises etc. For another 1000 dollars tops all of that could be converted to cnc, steppers, controller and all. Machine looks like it was very well cared for. That rotary table alone is a 300 dollar item. He also has a custom power feed added on.

[JD68]

chouyang,

you have surely done your homework. Here is another one to consider.

www.blurrycustoms.com

The Ironman series looks interesting to me and offers the opportunity to build a quality piece of equipment at a reasonable price. Take a look and see if it might suit your needs.

JD

[johnyaya]

I have been using a Townlabs TL518ER for about 6 months. When used for what it is designed for (a trainer) I think it works fine. This is my first CNC and I mostly cut plastic, wood, and soft metal. I selected the TL518ER because I wanted a CNC out of the box instead of modifying a mill. I also liked the idea of servos.

[kiwols]

Johnyaya,

Can you give an update on your Townlabs mill?

[mactec54]

chouyang

PM sent

[johnyaya]

Sorry for the late replay, but I've been out of the country for a while...
My Townlabs mill is working fine. I have replaced the spindle motor with a Ryobi that Alex says is shipping on new units, which is nicer than the original.

I mill mostly plastic, and use small mills (down to 1/32"), so I do not use very high feed rates. X and Y axis backlash is acceptable, and I have Mach3 compensate for it.

The unit I have does not have way covers or limit switches. The Servo drive detects when excess current is pulled by the motors and shuts them off. This is good, but not the same as a limit switch. However, I do not miss limit switches enough to add them myself.