Would a small CNC mill be of any use?

autogateman

autogateman

Rod Braud
Joined
Jan 6, 2017
Messages
180
I used to design and manufacture engine parts for mud boat engines used in duck hunting/fishing. I have a CNC converted Grizzly mill that I used to mill out all of my parts, but everything was made out of 6061 aluminum and I know that it is not powerful enough to mill tool steel. The PC crashed right after I got out of the parts business and I never got another one. For less than a grand I could have this thing back up and running, but I cant think of any real uses in the knifemaking industry not having the ability to mill pockets/fullers/lanyard holes etc. Can anyone think of something I can make for knives that make it worth it to put back in service? Otherwise I may sell it and get a surface grinder.
This is the mill
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Mill-Drill/G0463?utm_campaign=zPage&utm_source=grizzly.com
 
I would think you could use that for making slots in guards and such...

Of course I'm not a machinist or anything, so I could be way wrong.
 
I don't see why you couldn't mill steel with that. It's just going to require high RPM and low depth of cut. Guards, liners, fullers. However if it would cost nearly $1,000 to get it operational as CNC but you could convert it back to manual for free, I would do that and spend the money elsewhere.
 
kuraki said:
I don't see why you couldn't mill steel with that. It's just going to require high RPM and low depth of cut. Guards, liners, fullers. However if it would cost nearly $1,000 to get it operational as CNC but you could convert it back to manual for free, I would do that and spend the money elsewhere.
Click to expand...

I’ve tried milling steel with it before and the little motor that’s on it would allow extremely light passes at a time. If I knew where all of the parts were to convert it back I’d sell the Cnc retrofit to someone.
 
That's a NICE mill you've linked to. I've got the G0619 mill which I find VERY useful for knifemaking and general shop work. While I'd LOVE to CNC my mill, I've not. I've got a small 3040 CNC mill and find it useful, not to mill metal parts, lacks too much rigidity. Since you've worked with CNC before I'd guess you're comfortable with gcode? That is a requirement for sure with CNC - I use the free LinuxCNC program which provides all the functions needed.

What parts are needed to put your mill back running to cost '$1000?
 
Ken H> said:
That's a NICE mill you've linked to. I've got the G0619 mill which I find VERY useful for knifemaking and general shop work. While I'd LOVE to CNC my mill, I've not. I've got a small 3040 CNC mill and find it useful, not to mill metal parts, lacks too much rigidity. Since you've worked with CNC before I'd guess you're comfortable with gcode? That is a requirement for sure with CNC - I use the free LinuxCNC program which provides all the functions needed.

What parts are needed to put your mill back running to cost '$1000?
Click to expand...
Just a new PC with the new software. The software only cost a few hundred dollars.
 
You must be using Mach4? That's a good program, but LinuxCNC does most of what it does..... and it's FREE!!! with a good spport group.
 
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