Re: Yes, here in the back of the room. I have a question...

Jasson,
I am not an expert, but a year or so ago I was in exactly
the same spot as you and can give you one man's experience.
I had my 5400 mill for a about a year and wanted to get
into CNC. I found this group early on, and really learned
everything either from it or the many links that are
referenced. (Thanks Bill, heard any good blond jokes lately?)
I bought Dan Maunch's 2 Amp driver kit. It's very
high quality and easy to assemble. Then got the Sherline
stepper motors and stepper mount kit. Again first class
quality. Based on the posts on this list, got Yeagers
CNCPro software. (I had downloaded the demo, and had
written it off as a loser). But the advice on this list
has so far been right on!
As far as a power supply, Dan
says 12 - 18 VDC. So an old PC 200 watt will do just fine
and cost next to nothing, if you don't already have one.
If you choose to make your own, a 24 vac xfmr and a
low cost bridge rectifer and a 10000 to 15000 mf large
aluminun electrolytic cap would be even better. Will give
you better speeds which you will want as you go<g>.
Since this exceeds Dan's specs you will need to limit the
voltage to the 5 volt regulator, otherwise, no problems
and you will get more than enough speed for the Sherline.
As far as the computer, I don't know, I had a Micron
P133 running windoz 95 and it works just fine. I do
know that my new computer, a Dell 1ghz machine with
windoz ME isn't worth crap when trying to use DOS
based apps. Won't even properly boot from a DOS boot
disk. Oh, well, so much for the old 20th century
technology.
And yes you are right, you can do so much more with
CNC that it opens a whole new aspect for us hobby
types that seemed unheard of until now.
Of course, in order to use the new toy, we have to
write a series of commands in G-code. Not to worry,
if you have ever been past Gee Whizz Basic, there
are only a half dozen or so statements that you need
to know to to 90% of what you will want do do right off
and it is bone simple. Soon however you will get tired
of hand coding, calculating the center of radius, etc.,
and will want to use a CAD which makes life much
simpler<g> That is a whole other topic, which you can
find much info from previous posts on this list.
The bottom line, search this list for items of interest.
The list has served me well, and so far I believe
that I have the best system for the dollar that I
could put together for my needs.
I am sure that you will get more responses from more
knoweleable folks than me, but this is my experience.

Good luck
Al

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., excalibur_215@y... wrote:
> I am not sure if I am ready for this or not, so here goes.
>
> I found this group through the Sherline group down the hall. I am
a
> true hobbist beginner at machining. I am 31 and have no machining
> experience. I have a standard #2000 mill, and have made a few
things
> so far. I do a fair amount of woodworking, and thought I would
enjoy
> working with metal. The main reason I got the mill was to mill on
> paintball gun bodies and make small parts. I have done a few for
> myself and friends.
>
> I have quickly learned that having CNC capacity would be better for
> the end result I am looking for, BUT I know very little about
> machining and even less about CNC. I am no dummy, but act like one
> most of the time. I would like to know what I would need to look
> into to get started. Drives? Computer requirements? Software? I
> don't expect you to get me going tomorrow, just point me in the
right
> direction. I know that would save me a lot of time, and also let
me
> know if I can handle it or not.
>
> I am sure questions like these come by all the time, but I went
> through several posts and could not find any.
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> Jasson Thomley