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Post by stevew on May 23, 2020 7:35:49 GMT
Who has a milling machine then? I did a 2 course at Axminster in 2019 and one of the benefits was 10% discount on anything I bought... so I got an SX2 Mini mill which is more than adequate for the work I'm doing at the moment.
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Post by trevorg on May 25, 2020 15:18:50 GMT
I have an old CVA No79 Mill. Needed a lot of tlc when I bought it second hand. It was built as a 3-phase machine so I replaced the 3-phase motor with a 1HP single phase motor. Subsequently I bought a 3-phase inverter that allowed the original 3-phase motor to be reused. So now I have a variable speed drive. I also have a 1HP single phase motor for sale! Last year I found that the small CNC routers were on the market for a very low price. Obviously for such a low price expectations should not be to high. However, despite that it was a complete system and an ideal introduction to CNC. Unfortunately the motor supplied was only good enough for soft woods and plastic. So I purchased more powerfull motor and have been able to mill brass and aluminium. While clearly not a precision milling machine it is surprising what can be done.
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Post by mcooper on Jun 5, 2020 11:25:55 GMT
I have a Clarke CMD300 Milling Machine which I think is the same as the SX2. I purchased it last year from Machine Mart in Edmonton when they were doing a VAT free offer so made a nice saving. I've done a couple of mods to it, namely, fitting a gas strut from a car tailgate to make the lifting of the milling head easier and adding digital readout bars with remote displays to all 3 axis, this mod is highly recommended as you can forget about backlash and get really accurate milling/drilling, got them from Arceuro.
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Post by kprusling on Jun 12, 2020 21:20:16 GMT
Hi Gents I’ve been looking a milling machines for some time , last time I used them was when I was apprentice at British aerospace 40 odd years ago, so I would need relearn the techniques again but have just bought a CNC 3018 router with a 5500 mw laser add on. I’ve got used model ship that was built in 1983 , looks like a Billings kit, however the plastics used on the super structure have warped badly. I want to reproduce those parts by cutting out new panels using the laser and/or Router depending on the material used. It would be great if CNC milling machines were cheaper now that I’m getting the hang of CAD software. There has been occasions reproducing some complex parts in metal than In plastic. I’ve just got a basic hang of Fusion 360 cad software and have been reproducing missing parts on my 3D printer from a second hand 1/24 scale Perkasa MTB by scaling up the parts from a 1/72 Tamiya kit. See pics The Anti aircraft gun was a challenge due to detailed small parts are tricky to print on filament printers with 0.4 mm resolution. Unless I bought resin printer , they are slowly coming down in price but dealing with liquids with only one useful had would be a hassle. What’s the most useful parts you have managed to make on the mailing machine? cheers Kelvin
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Post by stevew on Jun 16, 2020 8:21:30 GMT
Hi Kelvin. I made some hose connectors for my RAF Firefloat Mk2, a.k.a RAF Crash Tender, (46" version) using 16mm dam brass rod. Turned on the lathe to get the profiles, then milled slots at 90 degrees for the filter unit. Can't attach pics in the reply section, I'll post them into my Crash tender posts in the scale section.
I think having a variety of tools / machinery to hand to make parts out of the appropriate materials is great. Timescale is always a big factor for me as I want to make things quickly, which doesn't always mean they look great, but if it's a steering wheel inside a cabin, it's not going to be seen much!
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Post by trevorg on Jun 23, 2020 14:24:22 GMT
Hi Kelvin, The CNC milling machine I have is also the CNC3018. No laser head at present. The 775 motor provided is OK for soft woods but not enough power for metals. The 775 off load had a speed of 8500rpm on load it rapidly slows down and even if it does not stall you can’t expect a speed of more than 6000rpm.
So I fitted mine with a 500W 12000rpm brushless motor. The motor came with an ESC and PSU. As a bonus there is an o/p that can be fed to a tacho. However, at 500W I suspect the motor would tear the machine apart before it stalls. Took a while find decent cutters. Most of the ones on ebay are only suitable for wood.
Fitting the new motor required replacement of the existing motor mount with a new one that I 3D printed.
The manufacturing app in Fusion360 can then be used. Works well once you have sorted out the POST settings.
So far the most ambitious project has been an aluminium rudder mount for my fastest Fast Electric.
Trevor
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