New member in the East Midlands

[Anchor]

Hello All, been browsing for information about CNC machines and it brought up this forum. Have to say, the friendliness really did it for me, so here I am half an hour later, registered!

I've got to admit, I have zero experience and even less knowledge about CNC, but just starting a business and I think it will be sensible to bring this sort of work in-house. I'm looking to learn, but also tight for time as we're expecting a job in very soon. Obviously no time to build one, although I fully appreciate that by doing so I'd known the unit inside out. Have browsed eBay for kit etc. Looking to cut thin aluminium into shapes, and engrave it too. Occasional milling would be an advantage which we'd use too. Budget is not huge, we're a small going concern. So there we have it, just looking for a magic wand really...anyone have one? :)

[Clive S]

just looking for a magic wand really...anyone have one? :)


No and we don't have any crystal balls either. But welcome to the forum. With a cnc machine you will have to learn cad and cam and it can be daunting. Stick with it and ask as many question as you like and they will get answered some with humour and some not.

What size machine are you thinking about in cutting area etc. Budget!!. Be very careful with kits as they are not always as good as the makers claim.

What do context do you mean by milling ie steel or ali? Before you buy anything run it by the forum and see what comes up.

Good luck.

[Anchor]

Many thanks for the welcome and reply! Size I suppose would need to be able to handle work up to 500x1000. Milling would be aluminium too. Budget, well I really am only at the start of learning about this side of things (I'm fine with CAD but not done CAM yet), but perhaps £2-3000.

[Desertboy]

Hello from Leicester ;) Reading your requirements the first thing that jumps to mind is plasma cutter!

http://www.thefabricator.com/article/plasmacutting/dont-rule-out-plasma-for-cutting-aluminum

You lose the ability to mill but you gain massively in productivity as the plasma can cut a lot quicker.

Cheap Plasma cutters don't cut aluminium well so you need to invest in a decent machine and gases for the cutter but plasma bed's are easy to build and I'm sure quite a few people on here would build you a plasma bed at a reasonable price.

If this is a large run of the same parts cut from flat thin aluminium sheets the better way of doing this is not in house! You would have them stamped out instead which means have a custom cutter built this will cost at least £1k but how much depends on the size of the cutters.

I can link you to someone who would do this but you need to have high volume to be worth it.