CNC routers

[rawbutter]

I've been making a lot of parts over the last few years on my mini mill, and I'm starting to wonder if it would be worth it to buy a small CNC router. All my parts are small (like 1"x1"x1/2" small), so I don't need a big machine. I don't need them to be super precise either (within a few thousandths is fine). I just need the rough shape hogged out of aluminum, and then I can do everything else on my mill. My problem right now is that it can take me 2 or 3 hours to make one blank part, and it would be great if I could automate that.

Mostly I'm wondering how hard it is to actually code and program the thing. I'm fairly tech savvy, but I know nothing about coding. Is this something that I can pick up through some YouTube videos, or do I really need to take classes? I don't want to bite off more than I can chew, and I'm just wondering if someone could share their experience of buying and using one of these things.

(I could have sworn there was a thread about this before, but I couldn't find it. Maybe that was before the Hack.)

[flyweightnate]

Code is easy but tedious. CAM is expensive but a real time- saver. I'm sure the price has dropped on basic CAM packages, but it can easily run 4 figures.

In high school, I programmed a small desktop router with straight G code and it wasn't bad. Using a simple CAM was a million times faster, though.

Either way, if you can use Excel, you can probably program a router. And it's awesome making that first part after writing the code!

[rawbutter]

That's good to hear. I mostly want to only make one part, so I don't mind fiddling with the code for a while. It's possible that if it goes well, I might branch out into other things, but we can cross that bridge later.

[ReconSWS]

There are routers designed specifically for ar-15 lowers so I must assume they can do aluminum and stainless / hardened stuff. The proportions would match your limits and if it's not like limited in some way to doing just it's designed purpose, then it's probably a sick mill. (I'm sure there are better hobbiest mills out there tho).

Anyway - if you have mass production needs i.e. 50+ units then I can refer a machinist local to me for 'friend' pricing.

[rawbutter]

Thanks for the offer. I've thought about getting a machinist to do the job, but so far I've only sold about a 20 units in two years. Not sure I'm ready to order 50. Not yet anyway. We'll see.

[XEMON]

Ive been interested in CNC mill/router for small aluminum too ...
The only CNC machining experience i have is with my Emco lathe, and its all M/G-Code entered by hand one line at teh time, not too bad once you get the idea, but its a lathe ...

Any models you are looking at?

[BrickHaus]

I will say this, the G and M code are pretty easy once you get the lingo. But a side note if you can find one. I used to work for a company called Milltronics. They are (were) an American made mill with a pretty intuitative conversational programming software. The new ones have a lot of cool software features, but imo are a lower quality machine to the old US made ones.

They can run on Fanuc generic G code for the most part, but the bread and butter is the conversational. Got a bolt hole pattern? 3 pages of input data like " bolt hole center, bolt hole diameter, number of holes, and angle to the furst hole,"and bam. No trig needed. Need to mill a pocket? Give pocket center, X dimension, Y dimension, depth, depth of first cut, plunge method, and depth per cut. BAM. You have a pocket routine.

Id say if you can find an ebay special with an older Milltronics mill with a Centurion 6 or centurion 7 controller on it for cheap, snag it. With cent 6. See if you can see the control inside, and see if its single boarded. The old cent 6s were 486, 586 motherboards, and when I worked there 3 years ago, the real time chips were dieing in a lot of them. People usually dump em off rather than have them singleboarded. Its a 3k upgrade through Milltronics, but 8f its already done, its a nice retro controller. I would be happy to try to explain the conversational programming as its really nice for just programming at your mill, and being able to safely preview the tool pathbefore hitting start.

That being said, if any MCBers end up with a Milltronics. I may be losing the knowledge, but I still onow a ton qbout em, so feel free to ask me bout em.

[flyweightnate]

My previous employer had an old Milltronics. Slow compared to the new Mazaks, but still trucking after 30+ years.

[rawbutter]

That conversional thing sounds amazing, but I'm looking for something much smaller than a full size mill. I'm hoping to eventually go that route, but first I gotta move into a house with a bigger garage. I don't have the space for anything bigger than a desktop model.

[rawbutter]

Ive been interested in CNC mill/router for small aluminum too ...
The only CNC machining experience i have is with my Emco lathe, and its all M/G-Code entered by hand one line at teh time, not too bad once you get the idea, but its a lathe ...

Any models you are looking at?

I have no idea what model I should buy. That's a whole other thread I'm sure.

I've known about CNC routers for a long time, but the first time I seriously thought about them was about a year ago when I saw a Tested review of the Bantam desktop milling machine. Obviously that's a top-of-the-line model. Not sure I'm ready to drop $4k on something that I don't even know how to use. But I don't want to buy the cheapest thing I can find either. I want something middle of the road that can produce a decent surface finish, and even though the parts I'm making are super small, I do want the router to be big enough to have some room to grow. I do have ideas for a single-trigger Automag frame, so it would be nice if the router could also make prototypes for that.

This Stepcraft model caught my eye when I was doing some searching last night. It certainly looks good enough on paper, and the working space is large enough to do what I want. But again, I have absolutely no idea if it's a good machine or not.

[Rainmaker]

I'm looking pretty seriously at the Comgrow one:

https://www.comgrow.com/products/comgrow-robo-cnc-router-carving-milling-laser-machine?variant=39423701549099

[russc]

I think routers make a ton of sense if you're going to mess around with wood or plastic, but a Taig is hard to beat for the price if you want to do metal.

[KMDPB]

Why not convert your mill to cnc? I just finished my conversion and it's awesome! Run programs or go in semiautomatic mode and cut like you normally would by using arrow keys instead of turning hand wheels and you get a DRO on your monitor. Also fusion360s cam is very intuitive and is also free, making there no need to code. Linuxcnc which is what I used for controller is not so much.

[rawbutter]

I'd have to get a better milling machine to add CNC. Mine is pretty basic and small. It vibrates too much. The spindle can't be trammed. It struggles even with aluminum. But that's definitely an idea to think about.

[Rainmaker]

Well, had a beer and let my inhibition down just enough... CNC router en route.

[KMDPB]

Oooo whad ya get?!

[Rainmaker]

Here it is. The el-cheapo, hobby grade (or lower) Comgrow ROBO CNC! After assembly and a little trial and error, I was able to run the sample Gcode with decent success.

[Rainmaker]

It's not terrible. I've been able to run a couple hole boring routines exported straight from Fusion 360, so that's really encouraging. I have a specific task in mind that is giving me some issues, particularly i'm already a little disappointed in the amount of Z-height that i have to work with. But I have an idea or two to work around it for now.

[devilzcall]

Tbh that machine does not look like it will handle aluminium, but it might just be a matter of upgrading the spindle.

[XEMON]

The common upgrade seam to put a 300w or 500w spindle and it appears it can make light pass in aluminum ... But I tend to not trust random internet "finding" ... That's how you get 100 shot per 12g 🤣