Gamble97
15+ Year Contributor
- 2,642
- 63
- Jan 3, 2006
-
small town,
Illinois
So I finally had time to give the cnc plasma a rest for a night and fine tune the cnc router. Got her up and cutting after much difficulty. Spit out this 1/2" 6061 Jpipe flange last night. Took it to a belt sander to clean it up. It's not perfect but I am still very impressed with my inexperience. It's nice to stop breaking bits for once
Keep in mind this is not a cnc mill so the finish and quality isn't up there. But it's still pretty good. I think I'm going to draw up a water pump block off plate next just for some practice. But what types of things do you think I should make that would sell?
And for those wondering. Why am I doing it on a router and not the cnc plasma. Easy. The cnc plasma will do a decent cut up to 1/4" aluminum. But it also requires clean up and I haven't had much luck with anything thicker than 1/4". And to be honest the 1/4" is hit or miss sometimes. Sure it only takes 30 seconds vs the router taking 30+ minutes but there are advantages to both.
Going forward onto the lathe. A CNC lathe has always been something I have wanted. And well it almost seems as one is about to fall into my lap. It's not a high end industrial one but it's a known brand that was converted to cnc lathe. Still needs manual tool changes but for the price it's getting pretty hard to pass it up. It's by far going to be my biggest investment to date and I need to bust my ass to make it pay for itself. What types of things would you guys like to see made? Mainly trying to stick with aluminum.
Keep in mind this is not a cnc mill so the finish and quality isn't up there. But it's still pretty good. I think I'm going to draw up a water pump block off plate next just for some practice. But what types of things do you think I should make that would sell?
And for those wondering. Why am I doing it on a router and not the cnc plasma. Easy. The cnc plasma will do a decent cut up to 1/4" aluminum. But it also requires clean up and I haven't had much luck with anything thicker than 1/4". And to be honest the 1/4" is hit or miss sometimes. Sure it only takes 30 seconds vs the router taking 30+ minutes but there are advantages to both.
Going forward onto the lathe. A CNC lathe has always been something I have wanted. And well it almost seems as one is about to fall into my lap. It's not a high end industrial one but it's a known brand that was converted to cnc lathe. Still needs manual tool changes but for the price it's getting pretty hard to pass it up. It's by far going to be my biggest investment to date and I need to bust my ass to make it pay for itself. What types of things would you guys like to see made? Mainly trying to stick with aluminum.