Good morning.

[Mad Gnome]

Thank you so much for your message, much appreciated. Can you tell me what are the dimensions of the letters, and what sort of mill was used ? This looks like the direction that I need to go in. What was the cutting language, or program used, and was a primary drawing created for the cutting process? I am aware of the problems of backlash, this is why my assumption is that I should find a machine with ballscrews. I would like to work from .stl files, if only because of the fact that I have turned my drawings into solids and exported them as .stl's. This was because my first direction was to have the parts built up in wax for investment. As I said in my introduction this method has nasty flaws, I have inserted a photograph of an inlet manifold and a supercharger casing, and you can see the problems with the surface finish.



The manifold is approx 40mm long. Also I should add the fact that this is the first time I have used a forum, I truly am learning how it all works as I go along and I am trying very hard not to lose anything. I hope the photograph arrives okay.

Back to the machinery. When you suggest a mini mill, are you talking of the types of mill one sees at emporiums such as Axminster Power Tools? I have talked with a few model makers in the past and they were for the most part using cnc for only the most basic of machining, and as you can see my ambition is to be able to perhaps create parts on a small, very rigid, 4 axis mill.

The manifold is the sort of thing where I have ended up fabricating in brass, using complex jigs, silver soldering, and then finishing by eye with a host of small files and scrapers, most of which I made or modified myself. 16BA tapping is the norm for this sort of model making, and the last models I made, a 1959 and a 1960 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa sports racing cars, had steering boxes with hand filed worm and gear inside. This was when I realised that there had to be a better way.

Once again many thanks for your reply.