Anyone have experience of ready made machines

It now looks like I just might be purchasing a CNC mill to fit into my manual shop.

But the main problem is, which one?

I have already had good advice from John S, but it is always nice to see if other people have used the same machine I am looking to get, or even it's main competitors for a comparison.

This is the one I am looking at, and that cost figure is fairly rigid, so no suggesting anything costing a lot more. R8 spindle is the only type to be considered.

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalo...Hobby-CNC-Mill

I don't have the time or inclination to build one myself, even though it would most probably be a fairly easy exercise for me to convert a machine, so please, no pokes in that direction. The one I get will be ready to run, no matter what.

No rush, this will not happen until after the Harrogate show in May. But any comments or comparisons will be gladly taken on board and very rigidly considered.

Bogs

Well it looks like no one uses ready made machines.

But anyway, things have changed dramatically over the last couple of weeks, health wise. So it looks like I won't be able to get into CNC after all.

No problems, I like the atmosphere here, so if you don't mind, I will just hang about a bit. I might not be able to do anything with CNC, but if my knowledge of normal manual engineering can help out at any time, then I will try my best to assist for as long as I am able.

Bogs

John,

Sorry to hear about your health issues and we all hope this is but a temporary setback. Please stay around, your experience brings a lot of value to the site. CNC is great, when it works, but knowing how to do it manually and having your insight into alternative approaches is argueably more valuable.

Irving...

Irving,

My health is not that bad (most of the time), but because CNC was going to be used to help with small production contracts, and my health now precludes me from taking on contracts with time deadlines (some days, or even weeks, I can't make it into the shop) then the need for CNC is no longer there.

I would have loved to be able to 'have a go', but it just isn't a viable economic exercise any more.

I have just landed my perfect contract, working to produce prototypes for a designer, no time deadlines, just get it to a working stage, roughly to his design or idea, with my own input to get around production problems.

Methinks that will do for me. On the days I can't get into the shop, I can troll around, sticking my nose in, attempting to help a few people on the mechanical side of things.

John

a pointer in another direction, a boxford 260 or denford triac would be less than half the cost of the sieg, and that's converted to mach3.

Sorry to hear about your health problems, hope things improve.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing which in most cases comes to late to the party, in my case what started put as an exercise in producing a cnc small mill has ended up costing much more than the KX1 does now.
In may case I doubt if I would have started if Iknew how much it was going to cost but if you have the paying work for it then that is another ball game altogether! But as mine is only for hobby use and learning, the route I took certainly had more learning to it than a straight purchase would have been!
Peter

Peter,

Up to 10 months ago, everything was looking very rosy, I had landed some nice little continuous contracts to be getting on with, not massive, but enough to keep the workshop paying for itself and a little left over for a relatively large purchase every now and again if I saved my pennies up.

Then things went absolutely pear shaped, not just with me, but the health of another member of the family as well. Everything came to a head a couple of weeks ago, and I have had to change direction completely.

If anyone had said a year ago that this would all happen, I just wouldn't have believed them.

I now take every day as it comes, good or bad. As long as I am still breathing when I wake up in the morning, it is a good day.

If there is no breathing, then I suppose my worries are over and someone else's problem then.

John

John,
Best thing is to take last nights paper to bed with you.
When you wake up in the morning, check the obituary's, if you are not listed, carry on breathing and get up.

John S.

Good one John, saves getting too morbid.

John,

I know all too well about health issues. In the process of fixing one problem a whole shooting match of problems have come up and they didn't do the best of jobs fixing the first one (got the cancer but also damaged a major nerve and took out something we had talked in depth about the importance of leaving in). So now i work for myself building musical instruments and working on a contract to build some for a distribution firm.

I will strongly second Irvings statement that you years of experience in the manual side of the house will be greatly appreciated as well as you understanding of the mechanics of the machines.

I wish the best to you health wise and keep on kicking.