Hello Bill and Tamra and all other forum members.
Many thanks for posting and all interesting to read different points of view reference the CNC fors and againsts.
If I can refer you all back to a post and photos I posted March 21 then this may put my own personal prospective on CNC milling.
A simple profile milling operation of 2 halves of a lathe steady, simple by CNC standards but a very difficult job if you were to approach
this project if by using manual mill techniques.
Yes it was some challenge to convert my Weiss mill to full on 4 axis milling, but well worth the effort on the front end to achieve?
the results at the end of the project.
Personally i feel that any type of mill be it a proffesional Bridgeport or a simple mini bench mill can be convertetd to CNC, it?is just?
a matter of where?s there is a will then there is always a way.
I was inspired by Richard UK Sieg type mill CNC conversion, a brilliant concept and well thought out.
His approach to the Sieg Z axis CNC drive was first class, and I am sure he would assist in answering any forum member questions.
A quick add up of cash I needed to convert my mill was about $600, approximate as follows a DDCNC controler ,? $150,? a MPG $50 ,?
4 stepper motors and 4 drivers. 3 power supply boxes $250? and miscelaneous bits and pieces making up the remainder.
Naturally I already had a Weiss manual mini mill with a fixed column and X Y Z axis screws.?
My initial intention to convert my mill was not based on CNC but to take the drudgery of winding back and forth the X axis when manual milling,
so by fitting a power feed to end of the X table, this at least was a start. Then I power fed the Z axis, manually winding the head upwards was always
a struggle for me, me being short and the handwheel at the top of the mill and winding up the full weight of the head.
This all done, it was a simple case of mounting another stepper to the Y axis, buying a CNC controller and took it from there.
I like to use Tamra?s phrase "tinkering" and it?s what us hobbyists do, so yes after 5 months of tinkering I did manage to do the full conversion.
Naturally it is necessary to understand CNC machining techniques, CAD/CAM , gcode language, but as we say here Poco Poco ( bit at a time)?
and there is good amount of information available from the internet and of course this forum which luckily we have some very good engineers on board.
Please note, wherever possible in posts, use the hashtags, if not a relevant one available then ask me or the moderators and we will sort it out.
This avoids posts going into the abyss, and keeps things tidy.
Many thanks
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John Lindo
John Lindo