I am new to this forum and am in the process of selecting equipment for gunsmithing and gun making. Here are my questions:
1. I am looking seriously at getting a syil cnc mill. Is that a good choice? If so, what size table and what travel would be necessary?
2. Is a cnc lathe worth spending the extra money on? If so, what size and manufacturers would you recommend?
3. If a manual lathe is suitable are the ones from grizzly okay?
4. Do I need a band saw, surface grinder, welder?
5. How much additional expense will I incur on tools for the lathe and mill?
Thanks
Jimd4au
Welcome to the forum, Jim!
1. The size depends on what you plan to make. Obviously, go as large as your budget can afford, but keep in mind tooling will often run just as much as the mill if not more and it is ALWAYS growing (the tooling collection).
2. CNC is not necessary but it will speed up production if you plan to run batches of parts as MM mentioned above. You can get creative with tooling and cut basically anything with a manual lathe though.
3. I have a G0602 lathe from Grizzly and I have had a great experience with it so far. I am used to larger machines but this one is perfect for my little space I have at home. Just make sure to clean everything real well and adjust the gibs accordingly and you should be good to go.
4. They aren't absolutely necessary but they do come in very very handy and more often than not you will wish you had them.
5. See number 1. It is very easy to spend a lot of money on tooling. Quick Change Tool Post, tool holders, collets, Vice, rotary table, endmills, drills, parallels, angle blocks, inspection equipment... The list goes on and on and on.
Lurk the forum a bit and check out what others are using to get a better idea of what is necessary and what isn't. A lot of the threads on here tell about what machines are being used and what tooling is being used as well.
Do you have a rough estimate on your budget?
