New here... Opinions needed

[Brass_Machine]

New here to the site and to the machining world.

I am in the middle of starting a business (part-time for now) and am looking to incorporate a lathe and mill. I know I want either a CNC or CNC capable machines. But, I do not know what to look for... They will be used to make custom parts, brackets and to 'fix' stock stuff. There may even be light production runs. I do not want a huge machine but I am thinking the desktop stuff might be too small. The budget is not huge, but I will make do if I have to. The room that I have is not large either (home workshop).

Basically I am in the motorcycle business. I build custom track and street bikes. I also moddify and tweek engines. These are modern sport and race bikes. I am not building choppers... there are enough of those guys out there.

Any suggestions and opinions are greatly appreciated.

[ynneb]

The cheapest option is buy a lathe and convert it yourself. But it is also the hardedst option too. There is a pretty steep learning curve.

the advanteg with cnc machines is making many of the same piece. You get the code right and them you bulk produce a part. You would only need to use a cnc for one offs if the part is complex in design. It takes a while to make good gode and a few trials b4 you get it right. This is why one off parts are not that good for cnc.

Anyhow, I am sure by reading through this forum you will get a flood of information.

Welcome

[nervis1]

Really depends on budget. If you can afford new look at Haas mini series, they run about 35k after you add the "options" like coolant etc. They have a tool room series too that is around 20k-25k, Fadal's EMC, and the tool room series are good inexpensive ways to start too.

If not, look for used gear in good shape, Fadal, Haas, Hurco, and others can be had pretty cheap from the early 90s on. Check out CNC west magazine and online for prices on used gear, it will at least give you a ballpark to work from.

Retrofitting would be my last choice if you plan to make money and run production. Reason being that an industrial grade retrofit will run 6-30k, might as well get a complete used machine IMHO at that point and avoid the cost of the manual machine as a seperate purchase. You can get a decent VMC for 12k if you look around. I think a new decent 14-40 lathe and retrofit would be over 12k easy and on top of that you have to rig it all up and install it, and the ballscrews.

I'm sure that some here could do it cheaper but you are talking a serious time investment. Scrool through the forum, you'll run across a bunch of guys who have done it.

Remember that the tooling and software to run it all might amount to more than the cost of the machine, so plan on that as part of the budget.

[ger21]

Originally Posted by ynneb It takes a while to make good gode and a few trials b4 you get it right. This is why one off parts are not that good for cnc.

Not true, Benny. You're just not using the right software. Good CAM software will generate correct gcode every time. Which makes CNCing even one-off parts faster and (possibly) more accurate than manually machining.

While I work in the woodworking industry, which is quite different than metal, probably 99% of what we do is one-off and CNC lets us make these parts in 10% or less time than it would normally take.

[ynneb]

Ok Gerry, I'll concede.
Maybe , need to buy some better CDA/CAM software.

[Brass_Machine]

I was thinking about a rong fu mill and maybe a 9x20 lathe and convert in the furture. This way I can afford to get the machines and start using them wit the option to upgrade to CNC later.

I know there are retrofit kits for the rong fu, but what about the 9x20 or even a 7x12? Any opinions on these machines?