What cnc to use?

[poodina1]

Hi to every one.

I am new to this forum was searching for informatio on google and got to know about his site. I have been working on some D.I.Y. project for couples of year now. have a degree in Electonics and communiction egn. so Hardware as well as software easly understood.
I have been working on my Truck for couple of month now and been do some parts needed for it by hand using files, small grinders, drills,etc. Now I want to do some thing like suspension damper tubes,control arms, alloy wheels, Thinking of designing and building a new OHC head for the old push rode engine.

I need some infomation regarding what sort of CNC machine should be used,hows many axis, how big should be the motor for actual machining tool,what sort of control motors should I use,can one cnc machine do all the above mentioned parts and will it be able to cut gears if needed with some add ons to control unit and software etc.
Mostly will be working with Aluminium and some times with steel.

[poodina1]

guys was hopping to get some info from this forum...

[kesparate]

some idea what size you are looking for would be helpful. if you want a table top size one try taig
http://www.taigtools.com/mmill.html
if you want to spend some cash think haas mini-mill
if your made of money.. well, the options are pretty much unlimited.

[boosted]

You really need to start at square one and decide what you want the machine to do. And no, do not pick a mile long list, group similar projects, with similar sizes.

That will tell you your best option(s) on size and cost on what to look for.

I will tell you now that you will not get a machine to do everything, you need to pick your 'bread and butter' size pieces you want to work with and go from there.

You also need to decide now if you want to do 3 or more axis. X/Y/Z or 4 axis with 'A' with 360 horizontal axis for round grooving/steeping/threading.

If you want to do suspension parts you will be much better off getting two machines, one a mill/drill combo and then a lathe separately (for tubing). You will have alot less headache and have more options open to you than trying to make one machine do it all.

[poodina1]

Thank you guys for replies...I am new at this but would like to build my own cnc machine [ I like building stuff], my main consideration is doing some parts with small dimensions like 5inch x10inch in a 2inch thick plates , and say about 3 feet x 1 foot x max of 1foot [billet engine head]. these are just some projects I am working on own. most of the work is in aluminium and may be steel / iron some times.
I can spend about $900 to $1000 on the parts for the machine. It would be helpful to know what type of cnc should I bulid for this type of work and some spec like power of the motor ,max rpm for the same, Should I go in for servo or stepper motors.what should be the ratings for these control motors.

Also if I need to bulid something different for gear cutting what should I build, specs for that. Gears will be of the size found in cars and light pickups. I have no idea about this, I have a friend who helps me with the design part [he is a mechanical engineer].

[boosted]

I would very honestly look at buying a mid grade mill and convert it.
What you would be looking at for parts to build yourself would be much much higher, unless you lucked out and found a mill for parts DIRT CHEAP.

[poodina1]

I have a lot of friend in mechanical industries [frogging, machining,casting,etc] so have access to a lot of surplus motors, steel beds out of old milling machine,etc.... Just what to know what sort of machine should I build out of all the cncs mentioned on this forum router, vertical mill, should I build a cnc with a moving toll arrangment or a moving bed ,etc.
Thats my main qusetion...and also what should be the control motors stepper or servos, motor for the tool ...power, rpm for cutting [can the speed of the tool be used in variable from for different material]...all this general info.

[boosted]

Again, this is where you need to decide what you will be doing as to what to build.
Each type has it's pro's and con's.
Generally most people prefer a vertical mill, IS moving table under a cutting tool head. For the most part they are easier to deal with, set up, clamp parts ect ect.

Yes you will want a variable speed cutting head for different materials.
The material your cutting does decide what speed, but more the depth of your cuts and size of the bit than anything play that factor.

You did not say which power level for what motor so I will say this, again you need to decide on what you will be primarily cutting and choose. My RF 31 has a 1.5 horse main spindle motor. With the speed variations, I have made solid full depth cuts in 1/4" steel. But I did have to go pretty darn slow because of chatter. If this were going to be a production piece (and I was done with cnc conversion) I would have made several thinner and much faster cuts. But this was a single clearance hole in a motor mount plate.

As far as how strong the axis motors should be, the same adage, depends on what your cutting. The lower rating motor, the less depth cut you can do. Me personally am running 1196 in/oz motors X/Y and 596 Z.
But I am going to try to do a small one off production shop so I want the beds to move pretty quickly and have a large selection of metals I can run effectively.

As far as the controller, look at the different manufacturers and compare. I went with a hobbycnc kit that has gotten good reviews on here, and also will provide a power supply good enough for my motors all in a nice neat box.

Trust me when I first thought about and started my conversion I was the same way, I wanted someone to tell me exactly what to do and what to use, just like you are doing. We can't. Plain and simple. There is just TOO MUCH that we do not know and no matter how long the conversation goes you cannot give us.
Me being me I decided to go for more than what I will probably need. I would much rather have everything overbuilt than underbuilt.

[poodina1]

Thank you Boosted, what info you have given is helpful...me I am building this cnc for just few personal projects which I work on...it's not for any business. I will be using it to design and build parts for my experiments.....one off pieces. the thing is going to people and explanig to them what I want is not going well[ people do not understand what I am looking for] so this is the only opption remaining.
Thanks again for the info, now I have some idea of what I should build with what sort of controllers and motors.