I (and I’m sure @Takumo) would like a decent milling machine.
CNC would be nice, but I don’t think it’s necessary and a worthy commitment at this stage. A nice manually operated machine would be a great addition to the space - I can think of many examples where milling a piece of material would be useful in a project.
The current thinking is a Warco WM-14, as they are nice, they are local, and they give us a discount.
If anyone else is interested in this, pledge your funds below! Please note that usual SHM funding rules apply, although those have not been defined yet*
(* The funding rules will basically be along the lines of: "you are pledging to help SHM buy this equipment. This does not give you any ownership in the equipment, or special rights or priviledges to it’s use. You are, in essence, giving free money to SHM and we’ll only use it to buy this equipment. No money is required before funding is complete. You can pull out any time before funding is complete, but please don’t pull out afterwards!")
Oh how much I’d like us to have one of those… but @Jagmills is right, we can’t fit that in our space, and it’d be dangerously heavy to put upstairs, if we even managed to get it there in the first place.
I think the Warco WM14 would be the ideal machine for us to start with, as it should serve most of the parts we need, plus they’re a local company which is always nice to support.
So I’m doing a cost analysis of a milling machine for the space.
There are two realistic options for us - the WM-14, and WM-16 mills.
WM-14:
Cost: £835 (inc VAT)
Table size: 500x120mm
Weight: 60kg
Dimensions: 600 x 460 x 800mm
Motor power: 500w
WM-16:
Cost: £998 (inc VAT)
Table size: 700x180mm
Weight: 113kg
Dimensions: 950 x 590 x 930mm
Motor power: 750w
The WM-16 is of course a more capable machine, but I (personally) am unsure of the justification of cost. We don’t necessarily need a bigger, heavier machine - especially with a smaller space with limited access.
The other side to consider is that we’ll need some additional accessories for operation; and then there’s a few accessories that could be considered initially to expand the usability.
Probably mandatory accessories:
End mills (£26 from Warco, can be sourced elsewhere) - probably essential. These are sundries, you break one you buy a new one.
Milling vice (£58 from Warco) - for holding something to mill.
Probably optional accessories:
Clamp Kit (£39 from Warco) - useful for bigger things.
Rotary table (£56 from Warco) - handy for making round things, expands the usability of the mill.
Personally I think the difference in cost between the WM-14 and WM-16 makes the WM-16 far better value, when you consider the 50% power increase on the motor, and the significantly larger work area.
The Endmills and vice are definately essential, and the clamp kit is really worth having, it will make a lot of things easier!
Wiggler - £9.50 from Warco - let’s you find edges and also trace layouts and hold a dial in the spindle to center over holes. Plus the name is amusing. Not really essential but at the price it does give you a lot more precision when following layouts.
A grand suggestion. I’ve spoken to Warco and they have very kindly offered us a nice discount, however I will enquire if this is extended to open day deals too.
