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Unread 07-03-2004, 23:41
sanddrag sanddrag is offline
On to my 16th year in FRC
FRC #0696 (Circuit Breakers)
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Re: To CNC? Or not to CNC?

Well, to have a cnc you would need many thousands of dollars. The absolute cheapest one I have found is this http://www.maxnc.com/page3.html and it is extremely small. You couldn't make very big stuff with it. Plus, there is no automatic tool change or coolant or anything like that. You'd be better off getting yourself a nice set of manual machining tools.

The advantages of CNC are:

Very precise and accurate
Quick
Numerous parts of the same are easy
Can make very complex shapes and large cutouts and bores

Disadvantages of CNC:

Cost
Programming time/expertise needed

For your machining needs, see if there is a college nearby that is willing to help you out. That's what we did and they give us full support of a half dozen manual mills and lathes, 3 CNC mills (one of them is 710 ipm 30 hp vector drive) and a CNC lathe plus several other tools. We only have to pay the class fee of $24 dollars per student per semester.

CNC mills can be made from manual mills but the cost vs. benefit may not be worth it. Here are a couple links of people who have done it.

http://www.bmumford.com/cncmill/
http://www.embeddedtronics.com/metalworking.html
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Teacher/Engineer/Machinist - Team 696 Circuit Breakers, 2011 - Present
Mentor/Engineer/Machinist, Team 968 RAWC, 2007-2010
Technical Mentor, Team 696 Circuit Breakers, 2005-2007
Student Mechanical Leader and Driver, Team 696 Circuit Breakers, 2002-2004
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