DIY metal mill/lathe HOMEMADE

[rhino]

im starting this with my intentions to build a cnc mill and lathe for steel and cast iron machining.
B4 i start i need a bit of guideance.
I plan on getting married before the baby comes along this year so the materials used for the machine will be scrounged and what i can find as cheap as possible (because the wife and baby will be a real pocket burner).
I believe this is still a very feasible project as i am a cnc machinist by trade and most parts will be cnc machined for both projects.

can anyone give me some pointers on mill/lathe bed materials, servos, etc to get the ol' cogs grinding between the ears?

[Karl_T]

have you seen the Gingery line of books, "build a ... from scrap"? Available at the lindsay books website.

I don't know about Oz, but here in the states CNC machines with dead obsolete controls can be purchased for scrap iron prices. You got to stop around all the shops and look for that machine sitting on the pallet in the back room.

Good luck on becoming a family man.

Karl

[ZipSnipe]

Hunt down any salvage yard or surplus centers in your area, sometimes they have bits and pieces of mills and lathes, that you can use, and also metal that you can probably get cheap.

[2muchstuff]

Check with machine tool rebuilders, riggers and repair they may know of a machine collecting dust somewhere. Some other places you might look into are schools, tech schools, manufacturers, govt auctions........ Good machines are made out of cast iron.

[wizard]

Karl was full fo good suggestions. The Gingery approach for you would be interesting as far as showing what is possible to do bootstrapping a shop. Since you have access to a machine shop probably not the best approach for you as you will be able to do better. Futher someone already mentoned castiron which is a key component in machine tool building. You might want to learn a little about casting and make ocntact with hobbiest in the area.

The big if here is the size of he machines you are talking about. The larger the machine the more work and greater the demands for purchased components. You are very likely to find all the castiron sections need, for a small lathe or Mill, in a lage junk yard near an industrial city. You woud ned to be creative about machining and construction. Larger machines are more of a problem and may take a long itme to find all the right psections to build with. This is where casting RIon might come in.

Go to model engineering shows. There are usually junk (used equipment dealers) there iwth stuff that is of little value. These machine parts may contribute to a nice start on a lathe of mill.

Someone has already mentioned used CNc equipment. If you are going that route a rebuild of an old machine may make sense. They can be had dirt cheap and after the rebuild you could have a very nice machine. There ae two categories here, old machines that are not easy to repair but usable and machines that are just plain worn out. Cheap used machines might not be a reality where you are. The trick is to find them before machine tool brokers firnd them or at going out of business auctions.

Dave