Looking for small cnc mill/drill

I hate to be a grumpy old cuss, but I am good at it, so here goes.

You do realize that we can't give you any advice without good information about you needs, right?

Are we supposed to type out a whole book to cover what you might be interested in? Is it not worth your time to give some good info so you can get some good advice?

Here's a start. How much room do you have? How much money do you want to spend? What kind of power is available? How will you program it? Is this prototype stuff, or production? Table mount, or floor?

Benchtop for space, 110v, programming=?, 25 or so pieces at a time, but every one has some minor differences, i.e.

1234567890 vs 098765432C or similar, 1 place

Are you talking about 2.5D text engraving, not milling?

Mostly. Tho i wouldn't complain if if some 3d were possible:)

I don't think that there are too many small CNC mills that can manage 9" Y travel, at least in the budget range for most small shops or hobbyists. Tormach and Industrial Hobbies are a couple that come to mind. I've got a Tormach and if you don't mind spending $7K or more it might suit you.

Mike

Since it seems the OP primarily wants to engrave plastic, one of the small CNC routers that various people build and sell would probably do the job for less than $2k.

Look on

for some examples of these small CNC routers. Typical travels of around 12 x 18 x 4 and usually a trim router for a spindle.

Plenty of info available to build your own and a number of people build and sell variants on these pretty cheap. They aren't capable of milling steel, but people do get away with light cuts on aluminum and they are very capable of engraving work.

Mike, are you same Mike Henry that used to be a Sherline dealer?

Excellent reply, Dave. Truth be known, he probably has no conception of what CNC is really like.

Bob,

Nope, though I still have the Sherline lathe and mill bought 10 years ago or so. I hope he doesn't owe you money or product .

Mike