Bruce Naylor
Senior Heliman
Location: Swindon, Wiltshire, UK
| For simple one-off heli bits, you can get away with a cheap lathe/mill, add some servos/steppers with a suitable controller, and hand write G code to feed it. EBay is your friend here.
My first router was built from scrap extruded office partition section, not super ridged, and not super fast, but it cuts out G10 sidefames and the like to a resonable tollerance. DeskCNC drives the steppers and accepts G-Code, or DXF from a 2nd hand copy of TurboCAD - a cheap 2D/3D package. Total investment less than $500. Lots of fun, lots of dust, lots of satisfaction when you lift off into the hover with your own bits in the air!
My next machine was an old scrap hobby lathe/mill - add some TLC, and bolt on the same steppers (made all the supports on the router and lathe!) and hey presto - cheap CNC lathe/mill for cutting metal!
I agree that if you want semi-pro/pro solutions, you need lots of cash, but we're modellers right? We want to produce a couple of parts for ourselves and our mates, not a couple of thousand!
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"If you know what you're doing, you're not learning much" |
