Hey k I'm training to be a machinist with the hope of becoming

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>>31853512
>>>/diy/
Not being a douche, they just know a hell of a lot more about metalwork, tools, technique than /k/

Honestly a good cnc mill is maybe $28k (at least the ones I use at my University) and work (slowly) with most harder steel

If you're doing any kind of repeat production of parts, CNC will save you your sanity

>>31853512
You'll make more money as a machinist than y ou ever would as a gunsmith. IT'S hard to make a livable wage as a gunsmith alone.

>>31853512
It's a bit impractical, but I'd rather go looking for an older Alliant or Bridgeport mill and a South Bend lathe.

That's just my personal preference. But it's better to spend more now than it is to need something heavier duty set up down the road

Other thing, try not to buy Chinese machines (Grizzly).

>>31853715
So much this. Believe us that this job sucks. Keep it as a hobby. Buy good used machinery and not sone chink shit.
You could become a CNC technician and have a high-earning job.

>>31853678
>Not being a douche, they just know a hell of a lot more about metalwork, tools, technique than /k/
Machinist here. They do not, all the professional ones are on /k/. /diy/ is just people circlejerking about their $500 cnc they made in the basement.

>>31853512
No, that thing is chink trash. If you want something new made that will actually hold +-.0005 or better you're looking at at least $8000 for each a mill and lathe. Tooling will be another $1000 and inspection equipment will be another $5000 easily if you want to do everything the correct way.

>>31853512
Working asa gunsmith sucks, you will struggle to even make a living unless you are some prodigy with connections.

It's kinda like trying to make a living out of playing sports or becoming a rock star, it's only for the best of the best.

>>31853715
No reason you can't do both. Im in the same boat as OP. Machinist classes are practically mandatory, cnc is useful if you plan on mass production, but neither will teach you to properly fit a stock, or make repairs or springs.

iirc, grizzly and jet the the same chink manufacturer and are harbor freight level quality. you def dont want a combo mill/lathe from them, as combo's tend to do several things not very well
what you want is an american or at the very least taiwan made variable frequency drive speed lathe. you can get away without a mill for alot of things if you have a good lathe. there are plenty of machinist forums with your exact question, search for those and you will find better answers

>>31853715
>>31853754
>>31853792

how could being a gunsmith be hard money ? so much easy work to be done. A lot of it you don't even need to fabricate parts just need to do assembly and basic modifications. Hell you could make a shitload just doing assault weapon ban compliance work.

>>31853950
This voids the warranty

>>31853950
If you're prepared to get haggled to death on already low rates, get bitched at constantly for work not being done instantly, and generally come to hate everyone that owns guns and brings you work because it always turns into a pain in the ass, then yes, gunsmithing might be for you.

For every customer that's happy to spend $200 for you to rebarrel a Rem 700, there's going to be 50 customers that complain that it isn't $50 for you to de-mil and assemble an AK from a fucked up parts kit.

Sad but true.

>>31853512
Grizzly imports gud stuff but don't get a 3n1 machine they're half ass. Just save up and buy a good lathe and mill separately.

>>31854057
luckily my market is extremely noncompetitive. like your 2nd situation wouldn't even happen because no one in my area sells AK's let alone parts kits. Running a full retail setup would be just as hellish as any other retail I would bet. I would probably just do mail order and have an office for people to fill out paper work and drop stuff off. No showroom or anything.

>>31853512
Im have a machining degree and going for my gunsmithing as we speak. Grizzly is not that good of a brand, we have a couple here at school and they suck. 2, stay far fucking away from that dual mill/lathe. They have no rigidity and are not that accurate. Get a mill and a lathe, look out for them used. Most shops dont use them till they die, or if they do you wont be getting accurate enough too need it. Get a Mill, Lathe, sander, bench grinder those are 4 machines you will need.

>>31853512
there is a reason why US has an embargo ob exporting CNC machines to China and that means that chinese are inferior to US when it comes to precision manufacturing