Rookie wants to build a cnc mill/drill.

[Nathan Flycuter]

Hello, I'm new here, so tell me if this is the wrong place for this post.
I was thinking of building a two axis cnc mill/drill like: http://www.pathcom.com/~vhchan/cnc/cnc.html
Seems like a two axis would be easier because I just want to build my own machine, for the fun of it (I don't need a professional machine).
Just how hard is this to do? About how long would it take for a rookie?
Can I do an OK job for say $600? Thanks.

[Al_The_Man]

I think you will get the same advise here that you got over in the PracticalMachinist forum, Don't bother trying to convert a drill to mill, Not Rigid enough.
Al.

[Nathan Flycuter]

What exactly is so loose about them, is it the post that supports the headstock, or is it the bearings in the quill?
What sort of setup would be better?

[Nathan Flycuter]

Say, are you a moderator on the PM forum too?!

[Switcher]

Originally Posted by Nathan Flycuter Hello, I'm new here, so tell me if this is the wrong place for this post. I was thinking of building a two axis cnc mill/drill like: http://www.pathcom.com/~vhchan/cnc/cnc.html Seems like a two axis would be easier because I just want to build my own machine, for the fun of it (I don't need a professional machine). Just how hard is this to do? About how long would it take for a rookie? Can I do an OK job for say $600? Thanks.

Might work for light cuts, like PCB's.



.

[Nathan Flycuter]

Guy claims it will cut .020" with 1/4" endmill in steel. Not impressive, but something. What I want is a very basic two axis cnc mill I can build myself that will cut steel OK. Just want to mess around.

[ZipSnipe]

Hey Nathan , take it from me, you would better off by saving some dough and buying a mill locally or off EBAY. Then do a cnc conversion. I built my mill from scratch and by the time it was done I had spent many, many and I mean many hours building it and for a couple of hundred dollars more I could have picked up an X3. Here,s a link to my build http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18992
My Manual small mill project - CNCzone.com-The Ultimate Machinist Community

[Nathan Flycuter]

Well after looking at your thread I think your right, IF you want performance, buy it! But all I want is to play around, question is: Can you build a small cnc machine that will cut metal, (slowly but surely) and not spend a million bucks and/or the rest of your life. If not then you have saved me a whole lot of trouble.

[Nathan Flycuter]

But is the answer yes or no?

[in2steam]

Originally Posted by Nathan Flycuter Just how hard is this to do? About how long would it take for a rookie? Can I do an OK job for say $600? Thanks. Can you build a small cnc machine that will cut metal, (slowly but surely) and not spend a million bucks and/or the rest of your life.

By your own admission you don't know what you are doing, so that more then likely means you don't have any other equipment or tooling(which more often is more expensive then the machine), you should investigate what else you need just to build it.
My advice,
You can buy an seig x2 and convert it for around $800-$1000 if you are cheap about it and do alot of work yourself. That appears to be the same size machine you are looking at. This will give you a good machine base, doing "OK" in metal work will more then likely lead to injury before results that you would expect. As for spending the rest of your life doing it, converting a drill press without any other machines to do the machining will take along time. In addition, you are on the wrong track with a straight drill the spindle is not designed to side cut like a mill is, the bearings are only designed to push into stock. The whole setup is nowhere near as rigid(solid) for side cutting, and you wiill have to devise a spindle lock of some sorts not to mention the questionable locks on the table and column. Cutting metal is not as much about speed as it is about being able to cut it at all, its always slow on this size machine without a ridgid base your tooling will just deflect and break. If you were to expend the effort to build a machine you would almost be best off to totally build a machine from scratch then try and convert something else to a mill. Most machines share the same major features, after that its all in the designers head as to what it does and needs to do.

chris

[Nathan Flycuter]

After thinking it over last night I think you guys are right. Building a gizmo like this would take a long time, and would not be worth it. Thanks all.

[BobWarfield]

Nathan, the boards have basically banned drill press CNC machines. It IS very hard to build one that will work well, but not impossible. The fellow from the link you've given managed to accomplish it, albeit at a cost of completely re-engineering the drill press.

In answer to your question, the primary problem with the drill press is that the spindle doesn't like side loads, which are what you impose while milling. It's designed to take forces strictly up down, which is what happens when drilling. The fellow in your link rebuilt the spindle to overcome this problem. That's part of what I mean by completely re-engineering it. By the time you rebuild the spindle and fabricate some kind of X-Y table driven by steppers, there's not a lot of the original drill press left!

Here is what I find funny. There are folks building CNC routers out of MDF, pipes, and skate bearings and they're getting great results. Perhaps that's a better path for your learning? At least you'd get more folks interested in helping you.

My guess is you could build one of those just fine for the money you talk about. I wouldn't try to machine steel with it, but you might just get by with aluminum, which would let you create some interesting parts.

It is pretty amazing what can be accomplished with ingenuity. Since you've indicated you're primarily interested in learning, and I suspect your resources are limited, better to try something than nothing. You'll just be less frustrated if you can pick a path that doesn't require so much custom work to get the machine off the ground.

Best of Luck, and don't give up!

BW

PS And yes, lots of folks read both boards, although PM is dramatically less tolerant of anyone not using a REAL machine tool. The board owner himself will get on and chew you out if you spend too much time writing about drill press CNC.