CNC Milling Machine

[tuyere]

I got a Taig micro lathe, even has a milling attachment for small items. I am planning to add a motorized lead screw to help with surface finish and to able to cut threads... the current rack and pinion is not the smoothest. Used it in my old lab for implant abutments and stuff... nowadays is mostly collecting dust, still useful for small projects and parts.
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Ugh, I've had a Taig lathe on my wishlist for a decade, haven't ever been quite able to justify buying one. Lee Valley used to sell them at an OK price but I missed the boat on that and getting one imported to Canada pushes the cost up painfully. Making chips on a lathe is a ton of fun and even a Taig-scale lathe is extremely useful for hobbyist turning, I keep wishing I had a way to chuck a little something up and turn it concentric or face off the end of some stock or just cut some O-ring grooves into a pre-existing fitting, or, whatever, lathes are stupid useful.

 

[tuyere]

For hobbyist work where I'm not doing any real production, I like using human-powered tools where I can get them, they're quiet and offer wonderful tactile feedback and will never be more tool than you want for a task. I hang shelves at 2 AM in my apartment without bothering the neighbours because I use a brace drill. And a Taig is ideal in scale and capacity for, say, grafting to an old Singer treadle table where the sewing machine's already been ripped out, give it a nice second life that's more honourable than how they usually end up, somewhere in the region of "becoming a quirky curio table with the treadle assembly as well as sewing machine ripped out".


Gosh, that'd be the ticket...

 

[mmbh]

I had thought about it, sourcing the parts works out to be more expensive then buying a ready made one Plus putting it together and setting it up would take a lot of time, which I don't have.
I am thinking to buy a kit for my home shop eventually... just a 3 axis, non-dental one. Built a cheapo, sub $200, 3 axis mill some years ago to learn grbl and writing posts... it was fun to keep me busy for the long winter nights, but too small/weak to be useful.
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You sure your name isn't Dr Kreiger?