Maybe you can help me out.
I’m looking for a small (I don’t need anything bigger then 12in I believe even 6in would be ok and even just 2-3 in in z would be fine) CNC machine capable of milling up to steel. Preferable enclosed with some sort of self lubricating system.
Please point me in right direction
Taig or Sherline?
@David_Kirtley I don’t follow?
I have a Sherline that I upgraded to CNC. I gave up on it because of backlash; it doesn’t have enough space to install a low-backlash lead screw. I suspect Taig has the same problem.
Milling steel with a Sherline is dicey. The lack of rigidity particularly on the z axis means bits tend to skate, then grab, which is difficult. (don’t z-plunge, in other words, ramp in instead.) There are enclosures for it, but no self-lubrication system I’ve ever heard of.
The Taig and Sherline machines are in that size range and can do some work in steel. I didn’t mention the little Proxxon as it is a bit small and lighter duty. There are some of the small Chinese cnc machines but they are not very impressive as far as spindles. Enclosures and such would be on your own. Check out Luiz Ally on Youtube and you can see what he has done for lubrication, backlash adjustment, and such on the Sherline machines.Impressive workmanship.
When I mean lubrication I’m talking like oil on the router head
Mist and spray are likely going to be something you have to add on your own.
Ok how about a CNC that can go up to bronze are there table top machines that are somewhat decent?
Sherline can handle bronze, no problem. There aren’t a lot of machines in the 60x20x20cm range. Lots somewhat bigger (Jet does some that appear to be okay) and some smaller, like the Sherline and Taig. But even the larger mills don’t come with coolant or enclosures. They’re all intended primarily as manual machines, that we retrofit. If you want stock enclosure/coolant you pretty much end up looking at vertical machining centers, like Tormach – which certainly handles steel, has an enclosure, has mist or flood lubrication, and costs as much as a used car. Or Haas, which is even nicer and costs another 5-20x more.
To have the kind of mass you need to mill steel effectively makes for large machinery. That’s just how it works. Otherwise you’re fighting out of your weight class. That large mass gains you rigidity, and vibration damping qualities needed to mill ferrous metals. Or you just have a lightweight bit breaking chatterbox on your hands.
This is probably oversimplified but I feel like to cut steel you need a machine made of steel (or cast iron.) An aluminum machine does fine cutting aluminum, and a plywood machine does fine cutting plywood.
@John_Bump
iron damps better than steel does. Or maybe iron is just cheaper, so that’s why large machinery is made out of it? But I’ve heard iron actually has better properties for machinery framework than steel. Which is why iron is the material of choice for heavy machinery.
Milling ferrous metals is the big leagues compared to working with softer materials. There you’re practically fighting mano a mano with your tool material, and work material. So there’s not much margin for BS then.
It’s both. Cast iron is cheap (because it melts at a much lower temp than steel) and has a high damping capacity (because it’s nonhomogeneous.) People say if you bolt your lathe to concrete or fill your mill column with concrete it’ll do far better work, because of the added mass and damping capacity. It also helped that cast iron is so much easier to machine than steel, while still having roughly the same modulus of elasticity.
@John_Bump
yeah I have a round column mill/drill, and the column on it is very springy. I don’t think filling it would help that machine out much though. It has other issues.
Which model? I’m looking hard to upgrade from my Sherline and at least I can know what to avoid.
@John_Bump
oh my mill is still an upgrade from a Sherline. I have a mainland RF-32 clone. http://i.imgur.com/jXSFT.jpg
If you have the money it’s hard to go wrong with the Tormach 440:
http://www.tormach.com/store/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=35681
@Eclsnowman I was looking at that but Doni need the whole bundle or can injsut control it with my pc
You should be able to control it from your PC and get the basic unit. Pathpilot I believe is just a nicely skinned version of LinuxCNC.
