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  1. #1
    Ok I'm curious to what cutting area suits people best.? Obviously we'd all like the largest cutting area possible but the reality is most of us have limited workshop space. So what I'm really asking is what cutting area suits your needs and space best.?

    This can be either a Router or Mill type machine. So here's a few questions.

    #1 Machine type, Mill or Router (no lathes)
    #2 Cutting area X, Y, Z
    #3 Ideal overall footprint size W,D,H (or space to fit into)
    #4 Floor standing or benchtop.
    #5 Material most likely to be cut.

    Thanks.

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  3. #2
    #1 Machine type, Mill
    #2 Cutting area X 300min, Y 200 min, Z 300min
    #3 Ideal overall footprint no greater than an 8 foot cube (Like the mix of metric for small & imperial for big? I really do think that way :D )
    #4 Floor standing
    #5 Material most likely to be cut, Stainless, Titanium, Tool Steels and Aluminium with a side of Engineering Plastics and Composites ;-)
    You think that's too expensive? You're not a Model Engineer are you? :D

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  5. #3
    #1 Router
    #2 X,Y As much as will practically fit onto #3. Z 60mm max.
    #3 1m x 1.3m
    #4 Benchtop (I'll need to move it a long way soon-ish)
    #4 Plywood, hardwood, some acrylic
    An optimist says the glass is half full, a pessimist says the glass is half empty, an engineer says you're using the wrong sized glass.

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  7. #4
    Two areas of interest:

    Mechanical
    #1 Mill
    #2 X,Y, Z : 500x200x150
    #3 1m x 0.8M x Z=?? (fit in the shed)
    #4 Bench-top
    #4 Ali, brass, mild steel

    Electrical (PCB, etc)
    #1 Router : High speed spindle.
    #2 300 x 300 x 50
    #3 0.8M x 0.8M x Z=? (fit into shed)
    #4 Benchtop
    #4 FR4, 35um copper cladding, enclosures - ali, plastics

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  9. #5
    Like Doddy, two areas of interest:

    Chunky stuff
    #1 Mill/machining centre /whatever
    #2 X,Y, Z : 500x250x200
    #3 0.9m x 0.8M x Z=??
    #4 Bench-top
    #5 Ali, brass, mild steel. composites
    (nearly finished woohoo!)

    Sheet stuff
    #1 Router
    #2 X,Y, Z : 2400x1200x150
    #3 3m x 1m-ish x tall as necessary
    #4 floor standing, vertical format
    #4 MDF, plywood, ali, composites, plastics

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  11. #6
    #1 heavy built router
    #2 ~800x450x150
    #3 ~1200x800x400(height not critical)
    #4 bench top
    #5 aluminium bias (speed feed) with suboptimal for wood

    My needs are a bit odd. Need to cut fairly large sheets of liteply for model making
    Also fairly small sized pieces of aluminium with good finish and accuracy.

    Good luck with what I guess you are planning. Maybe a well made 6040 size machine would prove popular.
    Building a CNC machine to make a better one since 2010 . . .
    MK1 (1st photo), MK2, MK3, MK4

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  13. #7
    Router, everyone wants bigger right?

    I want a 3m*2m

    My machine, If I rebuilt it now I would make sure I have 1.8m travel * 0.9m, but I actually have 1.2m * 0.7m, 0.8m if I convert to belt drive.

    Height 5cm seems good I gave myself 9cm and now am adding 3.6cm of MDF to reduce the travel.
    http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/10880...60cm-work-area My first CNC build WIP 120cm*80cm

    If you didn't buy it from China the company you bought it from did ;)

  14. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by routercnc View Post
    My needs are a bit odd. Need to cut fairly large sheets of liteply for model making
    Also fairly small sized pieces of aluminium with good finish and accuracy.
    Not so Odd actually, I get asked for this often, usually by model makers or RC guys.

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  16. #9
    BDH's Avatar
    Lives in Mansfield, United Kingdom. Last Activity: 30-05-2021 Has been a member for 3-4 years. Has a total post count of 26. Received thanks 3 times, giving thanks to others 22 times.
    That would be the ideal size for me; does such a machine exist? and yes, I'm a model engineer so needs to be cheap!
    Brian

  17. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by BDH View Post
    That would be the ideal size for me; does such a machine exist? and yes, I'm a model engineer so needs to be cheap!
    Brian
    Not sure which size your referring to but please look at the first post and answer the questions. This would help me greatly because you are the perfect person to answer because your brand new to CNC.

    Oh and to answer your "Does it exist" question then it probably does but if not then we can make it exist, that's what we do best.!

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