Newbie: Direct into CNC or learn Manual first

[DMS]

I started with a "cheap" 7x14 minilathe. Wanted to get my feet wet, and see if I really liked machining, or if it was just something that "sounded" fun. Turns out it stuck. I have since parted with my first lathe, and have upgraded to a larger manual lathe, and a knee mill which I have converted to CNC. I think that I would have been lost if I had jumped straight into CNC. Down the road, if you decide you want to move on to CNC, you can either convert your machines, or re-sell them to somebody else in your situation. IIRC, I sold my minilathe for a bit more than I got it for (well, I through in a bit of kit with it), not bad for a tool that I learned on for 3 years, and completed dozens of projects with. Machines (especially smaller, hobbyist machines), tend to have good resale value, especially if you treat them right.

 

[Rbeckett]

CW,
Looks like several of the members all gave you great advice and I agree with them all so I really do not have much to add. You can take a look at MrPete222 on you tube for his Tubal Cain videos. He has done a bunch of them and one or two of his better ones are all about sharpening the HSS bits for small lathes. He sells a giant sized wooden copy to help understand all the different angles and where exactly the are on each bit. Once you get pretty good at hand sharpening you can keep a couple of different grit diamond faced hones handy and touch them up very quickly and get a near perfect surface finish much more quickly. Ebay has the inexpensive diamond hones that look like jumbo fingernail files with handles in sets and separately. I would suggest a dedicated grinder for tooling with one wheel reserved for tungstens if you weld and the other side for shaping and sharpening HSS bits. Keep a good stone truing and dressing tool handy because a clean sharp stone will cut much faster and keep the bits much cooler. I always hold the bit in my bare hands and if it becomes too hot to hold I drop it in the quench tray to cool off completely before I proceed. You should practice the grind, dip, grind dip method to help keep the heat down too. Good luck and don't hesitate to ask questions if you have any. Look into Arc Euro trading I think they sell a lot of machines in Australia and on the continent.

Bob

 

[Mid Day Machining]

Don't even mess with the tiny light weight desk yop machines. Spend a little more money and buy yourself a Tormach PCNC770.

You're probably gonna spend about $14,000.00 on a machine, but if you muy one of thode light weight machines for $4,000.00, then you buy the Tormach, then you'll have $18,000.00 in your benchtop mill and you'll probably never use the light weight machine again.

I had 2 Dyna-Mite 2400 mills and I bought a Tormach PCNC 1100 Series II a little over 2 years ago. I didn't run the Dyna-Mites once after I bought my Tormach, and I sold them about 3 or 4 months ago and I wasn't a bit sorry to see them go. I gained a lot of bench space so now I can work on my remote control hobbies

 

[cweber]

Don't even mess with the tiny light weight desk yop machines. Spend a little more money and buy yourself a Tormach PCNC770.

You're probably gonna spend about $14,000.00 on a machine, but if you muy one of thode light weight machines for $4,000.00, then you buy the Tormach, then you'll have $18,000.00 in your benchtop mill and you'll probably never use the light weight machine again.

Hi Steve,

I did look at that option but it means that I can only get one machine. I wanted to learn the lathe also, and as I have some beginner experience figure that I could come up to speed quicker on a lathe first; that plus the other confirmations from his forum confirmed this for me.

i guess this is why the suggestion to get second hand first...

 

[Bill Gruby]

I've watched this thread for a bit now so here is my nickels worth. If you wish to do nothing but production by all means CNC is the way to go. If you wish to learn machining fundamentals then there is only one way to go -- Manual Machines. I prefer the Manual approach.

Start with a good lathe, then move to a mill.

"Billy G"

 

[jumps4]

hi
I have a bad back and can't stand for long periods of time so I use cnc for most everything. I have a different opinion about cnc being only for production I use it for most everything. once you "learn" cnc you can draw a part and produce it faster than changing jigs and fixtures and working a rotary table. there is far less tooling to purchase in the long run with cnc. I don't actually draw the entire part, I draw the surfaces I want machined and their locations most of the time, set to cut inside or outside, set the depth of cut and hit go.
but that said the best way to start in my opinion is manual. learn the machine, the feeds and speeds and the feel for working with different materials.
Then if you don't like to stand and turn cranks for long periods of time consider cnc to help your back. As far as a cnc lathe I have one but most of the time I make the parts manual unless there is complex curves and threads then I use my cnc lathe. It is faster than radius tools and changing gears on my lathe.
I started with sherlines and my advice would to start with the largest machines that will fit your needs and budget.
steve

 

[astjp2]

One thing about CNC, if you are the operator, you are just installing the material and pushing the button. This is an industrial setting. If you are talking about learning from scratch, then you need to know programming for each type of material because feed rates change based on what you machine. Being a good programmer is an art in itself. If you just want to cut metal, learning on a manual, you can see what your feed rate does for finish and quality. Tooling also changes how you program, two, three and four flute bits change with material and feed rates. So consider what you want to do and what makes the most sense for your situation. Tim

 

[dogbed]

1 Vote for manual first. Then you can do a CNC conversion as a project.