CNC Machines

[rahilm]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

LOL I thought of the idea of making a CNC machine out of plywood to make the parts for a second CNC machine (stripping the motors and stuff off the old one) and repeating the process as necessary and making the final one out of high quality plastic or something. Well would you say that if it were to be bigger, it would be an essential tool during the build season?

Yeah, I think a larger Haas or Fadal would be pretty useful and a lathe to go with it would be great. At the same time, though, I think it would be far more effective to go either of these routes:

a)Get a manual mill. It teaches students to actually pay attention to measurements and understand tolerances. Also, it is far more cost effective for FIRST purposes.

b)Get machine shops in the community to provide support. If you can get 3 or 4 shops to give you support, and you can depend on them to deliver parts in a timely manner, this would be far better. You don't have to spend time on fabricating, except small parts. Also, you can expect much more precision.