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  1. #1
    Looking for a small CNC mill capable of machining 7075 to make one off mountain bike components.

    Background:
    I’m a CNC Newb. I got a manual mini lathe last summer and have made a few little parts on this but I have got to the point now where I need to do some milling, so first looked at getting a small manual mill but then I came across some small CNC Mills online Boxford etc and they seem like a good idea as I use 3D cad at work every day (Solidworks/CATIA) so hopefully learning curve will be mostly on the programing/setup…

    Questions:
    What would be a good mill for my requirements?
    What range of milling tools should I be looking for? (Starter set – small budget)
    4th axis this would be quite useful for machining splines etc is it possible to fit this to a Boxford type machine? How?
    What CAM software do people use/recommend?
    Ethernet smooth steppers are they needed?
    Lubrication/clip blower is this needed?
    Auto tool changer? (I’m not fussed on having this as i'm not in a rush)

    Examples please? Looking online there seems to be quite a bit of info on setup and conversion of these machines but not a lot of images/videos of people actually milling much more than simple geometry on them maybe I’m looking in the wrong places… or maybe it can’t be done? So if anyone’s got some good examples of what can be done on them, please point me in the right direction. Or if there are machine limitations that I should be aware of Please let me know.
    Is there any requirements I have missed? (CNC Mill, Milling tools, Machine interface (Mach3), CAM (path generator?) CAD (Solidworks))

    So at the moment I’m thinking of getting something like a Denford or Boxford already converted to work with Mach3 (preferably with a PC running CAM and Mach3. Does anyone have one looking for a good home?

    Probably worth noting my budget is small! so anything new is going to be a no...

    Any help answering my questions much appreciated.

  2. #2
    Hi.you have not said what you wish to mill

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by terry1956 View Post
    Hi.you have not said what you wish to mill
    It's In the title. Parts for my mountain bike in 7075.
    To give more detail short term projects would be a pf30 bottom bracket (the shells made of T6 7075 aluminium) I would like turn most of it on my lathe then mill a set of notches to except a splined tool to tighten the to cups together. But beyond this project I would like to make front and rear hubs, pedels, rear shock, frame components, disc brakes etc (ambitions possibly I know...) so far I have made a top cap and some bar end caps but I'm in no rush if I make 1 or to components a year for the next I'll be happy it's just for fun and something to add to the cv.

  4. #4
    yes I read that, but it could be a number of any parts on a bike. if you are looking to machine just a number of notches something like a sieg mini mill would so the job. anything larger out of steel would take an age on a small milling machine. to buy a larger cnc machine would cost more the the bike in the end.

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