Small CNC Mill - any interest in having it in the space?

#1

Hey everyone,

I have had this small, Sieg KX1 CNC mill for a good few years now. It remains one of those most expensive and as it turns out, stupid purchases of my life; almost immediately after buying it, I started a life in London where it seemed like I was never going to be able to have it nearby (its in Scotland!).

Someone recently approached me with a semi-reasonable offer and so now I either let it go… or find a way of using it!

I still don’t have the environment for it in my home, but I’m really enjoying being a member of the space and was wondering if there is any interest to have it there? I’m not sure I could donate it and have worries about untrained use etc… but I thought I’d just post and see what the interest was, if any… I see some tools in the space are listed as ‘indefinite loan’ etc. Maybe that could be an option or try it out for a while? But I dunno… maybe it’s not different enough from the existing desktop cnc? :man_shrugging:.

David.

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#2

That CNC is made for metal materials and I think it would be a very good addition to the space personally. We can machine some soft metals on the desktop CNC but I think a lot of people struggle with that as it is. This Sieg machine looks like it can machine steel parts and I can think of a few names that can benefit from that.

If you plan to loan it for a significant time, we could get safety/induction process done with it maybe, it looks like it uses its own software interface but there are some vague mentions online that suggest it can be used with other interfaces. If we can get it to run with VCarve then maybe it can be an extension to the desktop CNC induction instead. The biggest complaint seems to be setting it up for the first time but I’m sure we have the brains to get that done. An enclosure and running coolant would need to be arranged too.

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#3

Hi David,

That’s a very generous offer if you’re willing to do a long term loan!

It’s a much more capable machine than the existing small CNC. At my university, you had to demonstrate a good working knowledge of manual machining before you were given cnc mill access and I’d imagine we’d do the same. The challenge will be finding a spot for it, but I’m sure we can manage! We’re getting a couple new lathes in soon, it would be a great complement.

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#4

I like the idea of a metal CNC in the space for more complex metal parts. I think it would need definitely more detail conversation from the cnc tech / metal tech overlap.

Maybe I’m mistaken but not sure if Vcarve is the right tool in a metal material context. So it would probably be a whole separate induction to the wood working CNC machines we have.

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#5

I assume we’re generating Gcode for this, so vcarve would work fine, freecad, fusion360 etc.

Could have the other desktop cnc as a prerequisite.

#6

I’m not sure vcarve is well suited for ferrous metal machining.

I think folks will need a real sense of evaluating how well cuts are going instead of just pluging in existing cutting data. It’s much more “real machining” for lack of a better term.

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#7

@davidN - sounds great, we would love to have it on indefinite loan and will find a spot for it if that sounds good!

Thanks for offering!
Cheers,
Andy

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#8

Cool, well this sounds positive. I’m on my way back to Scotland and will probably bring the machine back with me.

Im thinking ‘long term’ would mean as long as I’m in London and I’ve been here for 7 years with only vague plans to buy a house which ain’t happening in this economy :smile:.

I ripped out the usb controller it came with and am planning to replace it with a UC300, which also runs off Mach 3. Im with Kyle, VCarve would certainly work, but I think Fusion is more appropriate.

Usage by users who can use the big cnc seems reasonable… I’d really want to feel people knew what they were doing, know a bit about machining and the particular material they want to use.

Alu has always been my jam. I’ve never done steel on it, it’s a whole other level :smile:.

There is a bunch of improvements I’d like to do such an enclosure and a fog buster-like coolant system…. Many more.

Would nice to get together with one of the metal or CNC techs next time I’m around to discuss + anyone else who is interested. I’ll be back next weekend.

#9

Sounds awesome, bring it along and I am sure we can make it work! For reference here are the donating / loaning guidelines. It doesn’t specifically mention long term timelines, but in my view we don’t want to invest time / effort into something that will be around less than a year or 2, obviously your circumstances may change, but as long as that is the plan, we should be good.

Don’t worry about the wish list - as you can see, it is a desired item!

Thanks!
Andy

#10

Happy to say two years or more. I brought it back with me! Anyone around to help unload today? And is there some sort of wheeled thing that can be used once it’s out of the car?

#11

Nice! There should be people there!

There is a homemade skateboard type thing in the back of Arch 2 somewhere that can be used to wheel it around, stick it in the new metal area somewhere!

#12

I’ll be around in the afternoon to help if needed

#13

Great, thank you! I’ll update with a more specific time later. Maybe try and aim for about 3.

#14

@davidN any luck setting up this CNC mill? We will have a PC coming out of the Laser area if it is of use for this? Let me know!

Thanks,
Andy

#15

Would love to play with that! I’ve been loosely speaking wanting to buy one to repair some of my antique boxes that have inlayed brass on wood. I’ve been collecting for a numbers of years so have an amount of it :slight_smile:

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#16

Cool - Brass and wood you can already do on the desktop CNC machine we already have! This one will allow harder materials like steel…

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#17

Very interested in this machine and happy to lend a hand getting it operational if it’s any help.

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#18

Still having some trouble with the new controller and the wiring. Got the axes moving with Romans help. I was trying to get the spindle going yesterday with no luck. By default the controller outputs an analogue 0 - 10v signal, but the drive in the machine needs PWM. The controller manual says it’s possible, but it’s very vague about how.

Another pair of eyes would help maybe, especially ones that have used Mach 3 befor.

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#19

Cool!

@Oddstag want to take a look it?

@davidN What PC did you use?

Thanks!!

#20

The Mac that runs windows has Mach 3.