DIY CNC anyone?

[RC30fan]

What did you do to stiffen the column? I've thought about converting mine, but it flexes and chatters so much, I didn't think it would be worth it.

For cutting aluminum the column is fine as long as you're careful with your feeds and speeds. As you can see in the second video my 4 flute cutter is only doing 1mm depth and 50% stepover at a very conservative feedrate. As soon as the feeds get too aggressive you can hear the chatter so I always start slow and gradually go faster. After a while you get an idea where the best numbers are so setup gets easier.

I actually used this as a vertical lathe to cut a bunch of pitbull front stand pins and it worked brilliantly. I had ceramic lathe tooling and once I found the right speeds I cut each one with no chatter at all. It was one of the few jobs I actually made money on.

 

[byke]

I built one of these ages ago to make flying wings. That was a good time.

 

[dmaxAl]

Also found this googling around, very very cool.

[youtube]RnIvhlKT7SY[/youtube]

 

[Junkie]

I have a cheap Chinese mini lathe, I wonder if I could manage to mill lowers on it. Should certainly be better than using a drill press, which some people do.

 

[Junkie]

I've got an early 60s Cincinatti ToolMaster mill, that I've been told, would make a good base for a retrofit, its bigger than a Bridgeport and everything works, but needs a quill spring, the quill handle doesn't spring back up when drilling holes, but I never felt a need to replace it. $1000 and its yours.

If I had the room for it I'd seriously consider this, but the garage is way too full already

 

[corndog67]

If I had the room for it I'd seriously consider this, but the garage is way too full already

Get rid of some stuff. I need room for a Haas. As for doing a lower receiver, I'd do a blank piece of aluminum, I probably have one if you need it, since you're in SLO, but do a blank just to make sure you don't dust a good receiver.

 

[Junkie]

I share the garage with a couple other guys, and while a fair amount of stuff is mine I don't think I can make room for a mill.

 

[Hooli]

This thread rules.

IWUDT.

 

[dmaxAl]

Damn some projects take ages and I am only about ready to start really playing around with my contraption, the 'Al-O-FukkinMatic'. tadaaaa:

Close up of the tool carriage. The little makita router fits 'snugly' and should be good enough to spin on wood.

And one of all power supplies, stepper motor drivers, relays, guts.

Fun part starts now, I need to learn to drive the cad software properly, and calibrate everything. First project Im thinking some 1911 grips...

 

[wilit]

Very cool!

 

[Dubbington]

Drool! The bad ass things that can be made out of wood and metal is crazy with one of these. I need more land, more space, and big workshop and more money too!

 

[ScorpioVI]

So does this mean you can do wood risers now?

 

[Charles R]

That's really cool! Now I want to make one!

Are you still looking to offload that mill corndog?

 

[MikeL]

I want to make one now too. Damn this forum.

 

[900ss]

Damn some projects take ages and I am only about ready to start really playing around with my contraption, the 'Al-O-FukkinMatic'. tadaaaa:

Fun part starts now, I need to learn to drive the cad software properly, and calibrate everything. First project Im thinking some 1911 grips...

What CadCam software are you using?

 

[dmaxAl]

Very cool!

Told the wife it was done, she walked in and said 'All that work for one red button?' (The Estop)..

Drool! The bad ass things that can be made out of wood and metal is crazy with one of these. I need more land, more space, and big workshop and more money too!

Once I get the router working I'm going to start on the plasma torch tool holder and controller. Let the sparks fly.. haha.

That's really cool! Now I want to make one!

Are you still looking to offload that mill corndog?

Yeah Robert you got any pics of that mill? I'm so gonna do a full size mill conversion once I get the room.

I want to make one now too. Damn this forum.

Head over to Non Moto for loads of other great ways of spending money and killing time

So does this mean you can do wood risers now?

Thats the plan scorp. I'm going to add x plane tilt and rotation so I can turn the risers including the ILF pockets in one pass. eventually.

What CadCam software are you using?

Bought vcarvepro from Vectric for the basic wood designs. I'm liking it so far, but I'm a bit of a noob. I wanted to buy Autocad.. They wanted $5000.

 

[dmaxAl]

Wee clip for youse bollocks. enjoy. sorry sound is effed up, its pretty noisy with the shopvac and router running.

[youtube]SvaiwTu_l10[/youtube]

 

[Hoho]

Your vid is marked private. Can't see...

 

[dmaxAl]

urgh think I fixed it..

 

[Hoho]

urgh think I fixed it..

Yup. That is cool!!!