I am looking for a little guidance from all you experts out there. With all the knowledge here at cnczone I was able to build a CNC router machine and now that I have had a taste, I am looking for more. I am looking to spend around 2K for either a Mill or Lathe. The router I built is great but the rigidity isnt there for doing precise metal work. You can see the router here: Engineering Geek.com | Get Inspired and Dream Big | Engineering Geek.com
The mental struggle I am having is what to buy? I could go with a used Bridgeport and convert it to CNC, maybe even add a fourth axis (Lathe Substitute?). Although there has been many occasions where a lathe would have come in handy. Grizzly has a nice lathe for 3K (G0728) but that is 1K more that I planned on spending. I think I could get more bang for my buck if I buy used or would I be buying more problems than a novice can handle.
As for the lathe, I am a complete newb. I have never operated a lathe before, but before I built my router, I had never operated a CNC machine either.
Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated, maybe someday I will graduate from novice status.
Thanks,
~Nick
The mental struggle I am having is what to buy? I could go with a used Bridgeport and convert it to CNC, maybe even add a fourth axis (Lathe Substitute?). Although there has been many occasions where a lathe would have come in handy. Grizzly has a nice lathe for 3K (G0728) but that is 1K more that I planned on spending. I think I could get more bang for my buck if I buy used or would I be buying more problems than a novice can handle.
As for the lathe, I am a complete newb. I have never operated a lathe before, but before I built my router, I had never operated a CNC machine either.
Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated, maybe someday I will graduate from novice status.
Thanks,
~Nick