Precision Matthews Alternative vendor?

[z05]

Hi Guys, I have an urgent need of a CNC mill and I have purchased a basic one from eBay for $1900 and it turned out to be unusable and it is going back. I wanted to buy Precision Matthews mill originally, but they have nothing in stock until May, literally, which is a deal breaker.

I am relatively new to this industry and would appreciate any suggestions of vendors that make/assemble higher quality mills with better QC. My budget is $3000 and I will be doing CNC conversion with LinuxCNC for it, electronics is already on hand.

I tried to check Grizzly but it looks like their quality is very mediocre and they build their machines aiming at bottom line, at least that applies to their "budget" line of mills for 2-3k (much cheaper motors, gear drives instead of belt etc). PM offers a much better value, only if they actually had the product

So yeah, I am quite lost now. Also if anyone could help me produce tiny (~10 OD) gears in USA for reasonable price, please let me know. I could get a couple or 100pcs, depending on cost. Most important is timing actually. Even checked alibaba suppliers, prices are great but delivery times are way too much and no piece of mind about quality.

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[burbingus]

What size mill are you looking for, and what are you going to be cutting? Do you already have the motors for the conversion?

If the timeframe and quality are that critical for you, I would seriously think about returning your electronics and getting a used CNC machine or something small/cheap like a Tormach 440. It seems like you will be spending a good bit of time setting up your new mill and chasing down issues before you're ready to build. Further, if you're buying a mill and doing a conversion, generally you'll need ballscrews and conversion kits which will be another 1k or so.

Based on the prices you've mentioned, I'm assuming you're looking at smaller mills. If you're still set on doing a conversion, I would recommend looking at Little Machine Shop. They also import the Sieg mills, and I think they have a good relationship with the manufacturer. They also have CNC conversion kits for their mills as well.

Good luck!

Micah

[z05]

Thanks for a response, I know that all already. I don't need a kit for something I can easily do myself, especially if that can save me 70% of kit cost. I designed and 3D Printed "conversion kit" in several hours and $20 in plastic costs, temporary of course, but I can later machine the same thing once CNC is up and running. I am not looking to buy anything used either, never know what you are getting there and why overpay so much. those machines are way overrated. A good CNC mill even used will be $50K+, why bother with cheapest used ones? Doesn't makes sense to me. I didn't know Little Machine Shop had mills there, I'll have a look now. Thanks!

[CL_MotoTech]

I can't be much help, but I was down at PM the other day (I live in Pittsburgh) and they are empty as can be. I bought one of their last lathes and it was a broken crate lathe, sold as is (it works fine). This in mind, maybe ask them if they have open/broken crate mills? Otherwise you are looking at finding used stuff. Everybody is waiting on boats, me included.

This in mind, $3k isn't going to get you far. I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy, but by the time you do tooling and get it all going you'll likely be over that.

That said, send me some info on your gears. I make these all of the time. Making gears on a mill without a hob has some challenges, it just depends on dimensions.

[burbingus]

What size mill did you say you were looking for? That could give us some more ideas on where to look...

[z05]

27x7 mill is more than enough for me actually. I only need it for rapid prototyping as I have a professional supplier for production. But prototyping with them is very slow and every time I waste 2-3 weeks doing that + money of course. I'd rather pay some more for a smaller but higher quality mill, vs larger one. The reason why I was considering a larger one is mainly for rigidity and not for bed size. Most of the parts I prototype are under 10x10mm size anyways. And 90% will be aluminum 6061 or 7075, I am a simple man haha.

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Bondt...dp/B07DGLMYKR/ these are roughly the gears I need to make, but mines are without middle section, only 7mm tall, with 6mm ID.

AFA mill quality goes, I am not that picky actually, as I said it is for rapid prototyping for now. If I can keep part within 0.04mm accuracy I am happy with that.

Just stumbled upon this machine: https://www.harborfreight.com/vertic...+Catalog+sales

Looks very interesting for the money, but also a huge wait up to 17 weeks...

[Jim Dawson]

Here is one you might look at. https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/...280639820.html The EMCO machines are very high quality.

[z05]

Thanks, I am in Florida tho Already purchased the one from Harbor Freight, the red knee mill. I think that will do all I need and then some more The real question now is how much time it will take before it will be delivered. eBay junk mill goes back to it's seller. Also grabbed a mini-lathe from Harbor Freight when I went there on Friday and a nice low noise compressor. My mesa board has arrived now and meanwhile I will probably start messing with installing LinuxCNC and making it all work together. It's gonna take me a while to figure that all out anyways.