[TheKisho]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd R /img/forum/go_quote.gif With the crappy economy it should be real easy to find some cheap machines from shops that have closed down.

Or a couple for spare parts ;P I love the old WWII ones or ones a bit after that (for lathes), I'm not so particular with my milling machines. I wish I had room in the garage and 240V out there now. Should see if any of the old school shop machines have made it to the region auctions yet. They are nice machines (or where at one point (abused by too many dumb students (shame))) but if you get any machines from a school shop make sure you get at least 3 machine, one good one and 2 more parts.

 

[ford2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd R /img/forum/go_quote.gif And don't forget a saw to cut the bulk metal (most stock comes in 12 ft lengths), disk sander to debur rough edges, files and other finishing tools, cutting tool coolant, vices, clamps and other work holding fixtures, etc... Seriously, for $1000 what kind of machine will you have? Very limited horsepower and capabilities I'm sure. You probably won't be able to drop tool paths from CAD into the machine, so you'll most likely need to learn how to manually program and punch in G code by hand. That takes a lot of knowledge and is very prone to mistakes that cause crashes (flying metal ) I'm an ex machinist and current CAD designer so believe me when I tell you that this will be much too expensive to be a hobby. It's better that you design your parts and then contract a shop to do the machining for you. That being said, if you really have your heart set on doing this you could get nome used manual machines and do it by hand. A Bridgeport mill and a 12-15" lathe should be enough to do the size work you're interested in. People made good looking precise parts this way for many years before computer control came around, and many shops still do for small orders. Just my 2¢

We have an old Bridgeport Mill at work,still rock solid and a pleasure to use.
The bed has a digital readout fitted to it,makes life a bit easier.

 

[Habaneroholic]

I run a machine shop for a living(no CNC)

To do the bigger pieces some of you might want reguires a large miller. You need both travel, and rigidity.

Theres very little that can'r be done on a manual mill or lathe, it just takes some thinking and setup time. I farm out any CNC that can't be avoided, because I don't want to have to take in competitive priced jobs just to pay the mortgage on a CNC.

You should be able to get a decent manual mill, and a good assortment of tooling for about $10k if you wanted to get started.

John C.