Newbie - machining wood with 300W 3020 mill

[-pwray]

Hi all
I am considering buying a small (3020, 300W) mill to try to make custom clog-style shoes (like Scholl or Birkenstock).
I have no experience with mills (and not much with woodworking either!), but have dabbled in 3D printing.

Before I waste money on a mill that may not do the job, I thought I would simply ask here about feasibility.

My needs would be:

* Wooden stock (not sure what species yet)
* Accuracy not particularly high ~0.2 mm would suffice.
* I would want to remove up to say 20mm of material, average probably ~10mm over the whole area of a shoe blank.
* I would want to do double sided machining to cut the curve of the base.
* Final cutout and finishing I plan to do with band saw & belt sander/hand sanding.
* I would want to complete the machining for one side in no more than say 1 hour.

Is such a plan feasible with a 300W machine? Are there any obvious problems or gotchas here?

Thanks in advance.

Paul

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[CitizenOfDreams]

Is a 300x200 machine large enough to accomodate an adult shoe (plus the clamps/fixtures)?
The "300W spindle" (which is really just a brushed DC motor) will be your weakest link. Throw in a real spindle, even a small Chinese one, then what you are talking about should be feasible.

[Sterob]

Is a 300x200 machine large enough to accomodate an adult shoe (plus the clamps/fixtures)?
The "300W spindle" (which is really just a brushed DC motor) will be your weakest link. Throw in a real spindle, even a small Chinese one, then what you are talking about should be feasible.

Agree.....you will probably need quite a bit more room for clamping than the size of your job. You may make it difficult for your self if go with this size machine.

Consider what size bits you are going to use....this will determine what Collet size you will need, and to some extent, what size spindle you will need.
I would consider a 800W spindle or larger, to do what you want to do. This means a 3 Ph motor driven from a VFD.