Quote:
Originally Posted by nobrakes8
If I were your mentor out in Cali I'd probably tell you to start by contacting this company http://www.permach.com and see what they have for used equipment and some ball park prices so you can set some targets for fundraising. I'd use that information to setup a priority list and you can share that with potential sponsors and see what they can do to help you out. I don't think it's unrealistic to find a few companies that will fork over 3-5k to help buy a machine. |
I wold definitely contact them. We have worked extensively with Performance Machine Tools to purchase a bunch of machines and tooling over the last year and have been very satisfied with their prices and service. Ask for Bob and tell him Bellarmine Robotics referred you. We referred 5924 to them and I believe they purchased a lathe and were looking at some other equipment as well.
For the OP, unless this is a one time only expenditure opportunity I would start small and get a solid base built up of manual machine tools and support equipment (sanders, drill press, band saws, shear, brake, etc). Once you have a group of mentors/students who are competent with that stuff you'll be better equipped to move up to CNC. If you're starting from scratch without people that have a deep knowledge of machining/fabrication it's easy to end up with the wrong stuff or with something that sits for years because you don't know how to take advantage of it.