Newbie- Just starting out - would love some advice!

[littledog]

Hi folks,

I've got an idea for an electronic product and am considering investing in some manner of CNC equipment to produce the metal casing to hold the components. Thing is, I know nothing about machining or CNC. I don't even know if a CNC system can produce what I want or not. I could use some advice.

I want to make hollow cylinders, between the size of a pen and the size of a marker. Threads would need to be milled to allow it to screw apart in multiple sections. Metal would probably be aluminum. It sounds easy enough and I'm hoping there is a commercially available CNC mill I can purchase and operate in my garage to make such a thing. I'm assuming I'd model the item in software, then stick a chunk of aluminum in a machine, push a button and a little while later, out pops my item. Maybe it's not that easy?

How can I go about learning more about the capabilities of CNC mills, to know what to buy and whether it can produce what I want? I can afford to spend as much as ten grand on a unit, but prefer to keep the budget below five if at all possible. Is this even realistic?

I believe I can learn the necessary skills, just need some pointers in the right direction to get started. I am a competent woodworker and have built some nice furniture I designed in SketchUp. I do IT work for a living so the computer design side of the equation doesn't concern me. On the physical side, I understand the basics of mechanics and do a lot of my own auto repair, I've replaced engines & transmissions, etc. I can visualize exactly what I want and how all of the parts would go together. So this all seems very plausible to me.

Thank you!

[TOTALLYRC]

A couple of things.
1. It is no where that easy.
2. Sounds more like lathe work than mill work
3. I would consider having these quoted in the rfq section. If you are not making a whole bunch right away, it might be a great way to get started
4. If the dimensions are not too critical, you might want to see if the size you are looking for is already made for a different application.
5. To get to the push a button and make stage parts requires that the program be perfect, the tooling be correct, and a host of other things. Not to mention the time involved.
6. Depending on the wall thickness, they night have to be done on a mandrel to prevent wall collapse during threading.

Mike

[PhoenixMetal]

I would definitely not reccommend you purchase a machine just to start making a product.

From a business point of view, I imagine you would be better off simply having an experienced company make it for you. CNC machined parts do lend themselves to small production runs, so its not like you will need to purchase a large quantity or invest in upfront costs for custom tooling to have your part made. Also, if this is a new product, most likely you're better off spending your time and effort trying to sell these things rather than getting into the nitty gritty of learning to be a manufacturer.

From a manufacturing point of view, this is going to be way, way, way more complicated than you can imagine right now. I purchased my first CNC machining center approximately 2 months ago also thinking "how hard could it be?" I was already an experienced 3D designer (in Solidworks, which is directly applicable to machined parts), and already an experienced programmer for other CNC machines (of the sheet metal fabrication type), and have been in the metal fabrication business for several years now.

All that applicable experience, and learning CNC machining still really kicked my ass. It truly is on another level of complexity from other CNC manufacturing technologies. After two intense months of working at it 7 days a week 15 hours a day, I can now say I'm pretty decent at it. My parts generally are coming out as I expect them to, and when they don't I generally can figure out what to tweak to fix the issue.

Another surprise was the cost of all the ancillary items that are needed to do what you need to do. Every day as I was learning I found that I needed to purchase another item to move on... Electronic height setters, all manner of tooling, carbide inserts, coolant fluid, ways lubricant, spindle lubricant, saws to prepare stock, special collet tightening fixtures, special hammers, deburring tools... and the list goes on and on. And we already plenty of "factory type stuff" here. You will end up spending many thousands of dollars more than originally expected before you really manage to get up and running.

I know, you watch the videos on Youtube of parts being made and think "I can do that!" Well yes, yes you can, but its a much more difficult and expensive road to get to that point.