PM-45 or PM-932 for eventual cnc?

[Dan_S]

I'm getting pretty close to having the funds I need to finally get a mill (Feb or Mar). I plan to eventually cnc it, but that will be a while down the road, as I want to get a larger lathe first (got an 8x14 currently). When it comes time to cnc it, I'm going to geek out and go dual closed loop with servos, and maybe even spindle positioning.

Thus I want to start with a good manual mill since it's going to take time to build up the funds to do what I want. Thus I'm considering the PM-45M-PDF (with power feed) or the PM-932M-PDF, since the price difference is only $200. Can anyone see anything in the specs that makes one machine better than the other for future cnc conversion?

I know the PM-45M-CNC comes with hardened ways, does anyone know if that's an option for the PM-45M-PDF?

Anyone heard anything about the benchtop mills from Taiwan Matt is working on?

 

[mattthemuppet2]

I read a long and interesting thread on here by Jumps (something) who CNC'd an equivalent mill from Wholesale Tools. Might be worth checking it out and posting this in the CNC forum, you'll probably get more traction there. As far as I can see (and this is purely armchair engineering) most of this class mill/ drill are basically the same, with the differences coming down to QC and various add-ons. Given that you'll be stripping it down to the bare bones to CNC it, as long as the fundamentals fit your bill then you should be good with any of them.

 

[Ray C]

You might want to give Matt a call because, I believe you can just buy the CNC mill w/o the electronics and you can build-it-up at your own pace.

Ray

I'm getting pretty close to having the funds I need to finally get a mill (Feb or Mar). I plan to eventually cnc it, but that will be a while down the road, as I want to get a larger lathe first (got an 8x14 currently). When it comes time to cnc it, I'm going to geek out and go dual closed loop with servos, and maybe even spindle positioning.

Thus I want to start with a good manual mill since it's going to take time to build up the funds to do what I want. Thus I'm considering the PM-45M-PDF (with power feed) or the PM-932M-PDF, since the price difference is only $200. Can anyone see anything in the specs that makes one machine better than the other for future cnc conversion?

I know the PM-45M-CNC comes with hardened ways, does anyone know if that's an option for the PM-45M-PDF?

Anyone heard anything about the benchtop mills from Taiwan Matt is working on?

 

[Dan_S]

I've considered that, but I know he is a busy man, and I didn't want to bother him until I had the funds in hand.

You might want to give Matt a call because, I believe you can just buy the CNC mill w/o the electronics and you can build-it-up at your own pace.

Ray

 

[Ray C]

I'll see what I can find-out...


Ray

I've considered that, but I know he is a busy man, and I didn't want to bother him until I had the funds in hand.

 

[coolidge]

My advice is don't even start down this road, buy a REAL used CNC mill that was designed to be a CNC mill. You can get a used Haas CNC mill for under $10k. The same $10k (and you can absolutely sink $10k into one of these) will buy you a LOUD Z axis sticking backlash infested joke 1 tool at a time lost my Z reference wanna-be CNC mill/drill fiasco. How's that for not sugar coating my experience.

 

[Dan_S]

That would be great if I had the space and was ok with the weight of the machine. I work in an industry where people move around a lot, no way am I moving something like a Hass or even a BP several hundreds of miles. I owned the predecessor to the Millritre for a while, and even that was a pain in the butt to deal with at 1500lbs.

My advice is don't even start down this road, buy a REAL used CNC mill that was designed to be a CNC mill. You can get a used Haas CNC mill for under $10k. The same $10k (and you can absolutely sink $10k into one of these) will buy you a LOUD Z axis sticking backlash infested joke 1 tool at a time lost my Z reference wanna-be CNC mill/drill fiasco. How's that for not sugar coating my experience.

 

[Senna]

A CNC'd PM45 will weigh 1200#+ and a CNC'd PM932 will weigh 1500#+.

Doesn't seem to be much weight savings over the Millrite you had.

If your particular circumstances dictate a small benchtop mill then so be it but be under no illusion that this type of a machine can give as long-lived or as accurate service as a true industrial quality CNC mill.

 

[Ray C]

For a brief time, I thought of buying a used Haas or Mazak. Yes, you can get them on eBay and other places ranging in cost from 15 to 20 grand (give or take depend on condition). The ones I found in those price ranges were at the low end of the spectrum and were stripped down of most of the useful components. The cost of getting those things replaced would add another 2-5 grand.

---But the real show-stopper is the software. In some cases, you need to transfer ownership of the software. -And that's another 2-5 grand and if you want maintenance on the software, add another 4 grand a year. If the machine does not come with software and you want to purchase a license for what it originally came with, prepare to spend another 12 grand...

I purchased the PM 45 CNC -and one of these days, I'll go get it and tell you all about it. Here you go, check it out. The one I got is fully tricked-out... 7 grand and it's plug & play. Just add CAM software (it comes with Mach III control software). http://www.machinetoolonline.com/PM-45M-CNC.html

Ray

 

[Dan_S]

A CNC'd PM45 will weigh 1200#+ and a CNC'd PM932 will weigh 1500#+.

Doesn't seem to be much weight savings over the Millrite you had.

If your particular circumstances dictate a small benchtop mill then so be it but be under no illusion that this type of a machine can give as long-lived or as accurate service as a true industrial quality CNC mill.

This is what I used to have, and apparently I disliked moving it so much that I blocked out that it was 1800 lbs. The benefit of the benchtop machines imo is that they can be quickly be broken down into sub-components that can be handle by 2 people. I'm well aware of the limitations of a cnc conversion.