Cnc mill endeavor

AHall said:
Learned a lot of info today. Typical cost for machine and tooling, unexpected expenses, software, to expect to work 7 days a week 18 hours a day, etc. Also learned my father in law was a machinist for 18 years and taught classes at the local college in the cad/cam programs. His buddy still runs the manufacturing dept so we're gonna go down later this week to go through the Cnc machines. Also learn mechanical mills and lathes over a couple evenings. A guy falls into luck every now and again!
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Several years ago i bought some new programming software called BobCadCam or something. They were having a special on it and I bought it but never installed it. Let me know if it would work with what you are looking at. I think it's a 2.5 axis mill(no 3d contouring) package. Might have lathe as well, I honestly never checked. I get emails trying to get me to go to training seminars every once in a while. My old system still works fine for me(circa 1985 runs on dos).:hehe:
RonA
 
RonA said:
Several years ago i bought some new programming software called BobCadCam or something. They were having a special on it and I bought it but never installed it. Let me know if it would work with what you are looking at. I think it's a 2.5 axis mill(no 3d contouring) package. Might have lathe as well, I honestly never checked. I get emails trying to get me to go to training seminars every once in a while. My old system still works fine for me(circa 1985 runs on dos).:hehe:
RonA
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Holy chit I downloaded a free trial and they will not leave me alone about buying something.I keep telling them that I will not buy anything till the machine is running.
 
Another option is Autodesk's Fusion 360 for CAD/CAM. If you're under the $100k/year as a startup or just a hobbiest, the software is free. It took me ~45 evenings to go from concept to finished product including buying/building a small CNC.

Forgot to mention- Ron, the NC post processors are great for converting into any machine format imaginable, including the DOS machines.
 
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I went down to talk with the machining professor and told him my interest. I enrolled in a class to wrap my head around the cad/cam side of things. If nothing else a little extra education never hurt anyone.
 
I've been a toolmaker for over 26 years, love the trade.. wish it paid more though. I have several machine tools in my shop that I just use for my hobbies and occasionally do work for people. It's an expensive business to get into as far as overhead, cutters, software, tooling, a shop to work in, 3 phase or equivalent power source, measurement tools, before you even make a part. Then there's knowing how to machine on top of it all. I'd love to do my own work, but getting the work or coming up with it is the hardest part to me.

If you have the passion, that will be the driving force to do what you want. On the machining side of it, learning the basics first is always the best by far. Learning to run manual machines and getting the feel for removing material, keeping tooling sharp, proper work holding, are some of the building blocks to becoming a great machinist. I've met and worked with guys over the years, that skipped over those basics and really couldn't do anything but operate one cnc machine. Like anything, it takes time.

As far as machine tools go, Haas is a good choice, not the best and not the worst, but probably the best support, hands down, in the industry. There is a reason they own over half the market in vertical mills.

If you need help with anything, I would be glad to answer questions or offer advice. I wish you luck on your adventures. $.02
 
After a class of using FeatureCam, I can say it is a skill set I would love to explore. Even if only used as a hobbyist. Now I'm trying to find the best path for long term software. Very strange sitting in a classroom after being away for the last decade.
 
Interested in this.

Would love to get into this as a hobby. Have some old equipment that I have been making things with that belongs to my grandfather and I have been really enjoying it.

Small mill/lathe combo and an large industrial lathe. I have been fabricating with hand tools and torch/plasma cutter/welder for years but would like to expand my skill set.
 
AHall said:
Has anyone bought a Cnc mill for learning on and making parts? I was interested in buying something that could maybe someday allow me enough work to become self employed. I've been looking at Haas vertical machines.

This could be a fun hobby or a nice career path. I would imagine if a guy could find some niche parts the machine would eventually pay for itself and maybe pay the bills as well.

Any advice or experiences are appreciated.
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If you can swing a new Haas that would be awesome, next would be a Haas you could buy in newer condition and maybe have somebody in the know take a look and ask questions. Like somebody said earlier, they're not the best and they're not the worst, but they are everywhere. They're not year after year 24/7 hard production machines, but that's not what you want, or need to pay for right now.

The problem with older age CNC mills is you will get a grab bag of problems that you may or may not be able to fix or get parts for depending on brand.
 
I dread having to buy another machine. I figure I'll have to replace my Excel at some point. Trying to find a machine with box ways on all 3 axis is getting harder and harder to do without spending big money.
RonA
 
It seems there is a lot of initial expense in these machines. A new one is another mortgage.
 
I couldn't agree more with starting with the basics. When I started taking machine tool classes the first semester we had to make parts with a band saw, drill press and a file. 2nd semester we finally got to use the manual mills and lathes. My final for the 1st year was Milling and drilling a 1-2-3 block and leaving .01 on all surfaces, taking it to the teacher to buy off on it and then having to file the block down to size and have it square, perpendicular and flat within .002. It was horrible but you sure knew how to use a file in the end. We didn't turn on cncs till the 3rd year on a 4 year part time program.

Running a CNC is cake, programming a part is cake once your learn the software. Knowing how to run the part is the hard part. How are you going to hold it, what speeds and feeds, planing out your operations. And everyday is different unless your just blasting some holes in plate steel.

With that being said if you are mechanically inclined and have good problem solving skills that alone will take you a long way and you will eventually pick up the rest.

If I was you and had an in for work I would go for it. I would buy a used Hurco for less than 15k-20k and another 5k in tooling. The hurcos have built in programming on the control so no need to spend money on cam software. Then after you get your own bugs worked out and established the kind of work you will be doing then I would be looking into new equipment and tailor that to your needs. hell you might even decide this isn't your thing and sell everything. The used machine wont depreciate much compared to the new one if things don't work out.

Dont forget that the hass warranty wont help you when the spindle dives into the vise because you missed something. Last time i had to replace a milling spindle it was a $1000 per 1000 rpm so a 15k rpm spindle can run you the price of the used hurco.
 
Ran my program on the first part today. Man I'm hooked!

Very stressful knowing if I crash the machine, I fail the class. Not a big deal to the kid classmates still living at home, but knowing an oops just cost me a grand makes me much more careful.
 
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