5-Axis machine - Opinions please!

[JAZZCNC]

If you guys honestly believe it possible and 'better' to build my own truly Aluminium (and possibly harder material) capable machine then I am totally all-ears.

But for the sake of argument, what sort of machines would I be looking at - if you could provide names or links to pages that would be chuffing excellent. Im all about the research and the more data I have to go on, the more I can get stuck into it :D

Yes it's more than possible to built your own machine capable of cutting aluminium and mild steel but it's not an easy or cheap task and something I wouldn't encourage a new person to under take.

The main issue is you really need another machine to build the next machine to achieve the accurecy and strength required. Then you have the Cost.!!
The cost of a spindle alone capable of cutting steels correctly and still be fast enough for aluminium will start around £2000 -2500 upto 4-5K. So hopefully you can see some of what your up against.

Now if you lower your sights and stick with Aluminium/brass being the upper limit then with the right design and choosing the correct components then it's possible to build a very nice machine with £3K. Cutting Steels really does take you into another zone.!!

Converting a Mill is an option but IME if mostly cutting aluminium then they are not always ideal. Again it's the spindle speeds.!! Upgrading the spindle isn't always possible and if it is then it won't be cheap upgrade to do correctly.

I have seen German made Wabeco Mills that have High speed spindles but they have all been very expensive.!

[Christian Knuell]

Hi,

As another opinion, what do you reckon to this? (for Alu, not Mild)...

https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-miscellaneous-goods/desktop-cnc-icp-2015-milling-machine/1133751010

honestly very hard to tell because you can't see the guides. Considering the price I doubt it to be suitable for aluminum - I wouldn't risk it.

If you really want to machine steel for as little money as possible maybe an "BF20" clone (something like this http://www.ebay.de/bhp/optimum-bf20 but there are many more companies with very similar machines) converted to CNC ist the best choice.
Those machines are small, cost quite some money until they are converted to CNC and are still far from a "serious" machine for steel machining - but at least they get the job done.


Christian

[JAZZCNC]

What you actually want is 3+2 which Like Christian points out is way different to true 5 axis machining.

But anything done with 3+2 setup can be done with just 3 axis and fixtures/vises. 3+2 is just easier.

Forget those Ebay offerings for anything but learning because they just are not strong enough for cutting anything harder than frozen Mars Bar's.
The Linear components match the electronics on quality or lack of.! Structeral Design is very poor which would result in more chatter more than naked Ozzy in Artic snow storm.!!

In all honesty you'll need minimum of £3K to even build any half decent machine with 3+2 capabilty's able to cut steel's. You'll need at least double this to buy any pre built machine worth having, if you can even find one.!!