Home CNC Gunsmithing/One-Offs

>>32047498
>How much do you really have to know about machining to effectively use modern CNC machines?

If you have to ask...

>>32047505
I don't think it's *that* stupid of a question. 3D printers don't require the user to understand much beyond how to use CAD software, automatic transmissions don't require the user to understand gear ratios, etc.

>>32047554
>3D printers don't require the user to understand much beyond how to use CAD software
to make stupid little sculptures or scanned copies of PLASTIC parts that will be substantially weaker than 90% of their injection molded counterparts

>automatic transmissions don't require the user to understand gear ratios
>user
you bet your stupid ass the guy that DESIGNED the transmission understood gear ratios, heat, pressure, and cutting tolerances of metals and whether or not to use HSS bits or carbide bits on aluminum. sure you could get a machine and learn a cad program, and buy said program to take all that into account for you, but are you cool with having something worth two lamborghinis in your poorfag garage?

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>>32047554

3d printers build shit up from nothing. CNC machines carve an object out of a block of metal. This is an important and fundamental difference which cannot be emphasized enough.

3d printers do not need to worry about ramming the fucking extruder into anything but the printbed because by the very nature of the 3d printer, there simply won't be anything in the way until the printer puts it there, and the z axis only goes upward during the print. A computer can generate a toolpath for a 3d printer because it is a fairly trivial problem

In a CNC machine, however, if the tool is rammed into the metal, the part will be ruined, the tool will break, and if it is a halfway decent machine, not inconsiderable energy will be involved in this fuckery, potentially enough to send shit flying across the room with the force to maim somebody. The motions of the cnc machine must be carefully planned such that the space the tool is moved through is occupied by only as much metal as the tool can cut away at any given time, and that it never crosses any part of what will become the finished object.

I'm sure there have been some forays at automating the generation of toolpaths for proper CNC machines, after all, machinists are expensive. However, to the best of my knowledge, all production cnc programming is still done by humans. It's not all rote work, either. You gotta be creative to make setups. There are many ways to hold a part while you make it, and many ways to make the same part. You must know how fast the spindle should spin with a given tool, how fast to move the tool through the part, and how deep to cut. While guidelines exist, and are easily found, some of that shit you need to know just by ear. All sorts of factors can create excess vibration, necessitating more conservative settings than your training or the manufacturer recommend.

So basically: no, we are not at a stage where you can drop an STL file into your CNC mill and have it carve you out a widget yet.

>>32047498
>CNC
Do you even know what that means?

>>32047820
>3d printers build shit up from nothing.
literally false you still need to feed them and in some models they need to fill their environment with material and dust the unused stuff away

>
3d printers do not need to worry about ramming the fucking extruder into anything but the printbed because by the very nature of the 3d printer, there simply won't be anything in the way until the printer puts it there,
wrong, as i just said, the "filament" is put before the laser or other curing device

>not inconsiderable energy will be involved in this fuckery, potentially enough to send shit flying across the room with the force to maim somebody.
wrong, even modern hand-used tools have safeties that will shut them off if they detect something amiss, let along CNC machinery in sealed booths

>I'm sure there have been some forays at automating the generation of toolpaths for proper CNC machines,
stopped reading there, "automating the generation of toolpaths" is literally what CNC machines are for

>>32047855
you dont actually DO anything related to fabrication do you? because everything you just said, was a rather misin formed attempt to refute common knowledge

>>32047820
Thank you, anon. That's exactly the kind of explanation I was hoping for. My armchair gunsmithing ideas will have to be put on hold for now.

And thanks for not being a dick, too.

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>>32047855
>literally false you still need to feed them and in some models they need to fill their environment with material and dust the unused stuff away

Oh shit, you got me with your clever pedantry. Yes, there are more types of 3d printer than FDM machines. And they don't build from nothing, they have some sort of feedstock

The point is, there's no risk of collision under normal circumstances, because it's additive manufacturing.

>wrong, even modern hand-used tools have safeties that will shut them off if they detect something amiss, let along CNC machinery in sealed booths
Let me just walk ten feet to the giant fucking CNC mill behind me and show you how much of a fucking retard you are. Pic related

>stopped reading there, "automating the generation of toolpaths" is literally what CNC machines are for
Do you even know what the hell a toolpath is, kid?

>>32047870
>literally no actual refutations
Do YOU do anything related to fabrication? Do you have even a single source that refutes anything I said?

Fucking underage piece of shit.

Do you even know what CNC stands for? You've already gone one post and one samefag without answering it.

>>32047893
nigger, nobody replied to my first post

>>32047891
>The point is, there's no risk of collision under normal circumstances,
Nor is there in a CNC. Fuckwit.

>LE LEMME JUS GO 2 MUH SCHOOL + SHOW U SUM SAFETY SIGNS

Dont reach into a 3d printer either, fuckwit.

Do you even know what CNC stands for?

>>32047903
Mate, most manual machines will not stop if you fuck something up

Most CNC machines will not stop if you fuck something up

Both can sent shit flying if something goes wrong

A 3d printer at most will try to burn itself

> not including multi-million dollar machines

>>32047929
>Mate, most manual machines will not stop if you fuck something up
literally incorrect

>>32047903
>Nor is there in a CNC. Fuckwit.
You're absolutely wrong. CNC machines are dumb as hell. All they do is follow G-Code. It's not really changed all that much since the 1950s. If you tell it to ram a 3/4" end mill spinning 10000 RPM straight down into the vise at full rapid, it'll absolutely fucking do it, and the results won't be pretty.

While the Haas machines I use will probably throw alarms and stop (after the damage is done), other machines may well lack such finesse.

The software you use to write the G-code might object, if it's smart. It might not, either. They tend to put a lot of trust into the user, since most users are professionals.

The safety is called "Not Fucking Up", and you are advised to mind it at all times.

3d Printers, are techincally CNC machines, and the basic bitch hobby grade FDM machines even run a lightly customized set of G-codes. If you put an object on the bed under the head and manually tell it something like G00 G91 Z-1000., it's gonna crash. Same thing will happen in a $200,000 VMC, but it will be much more exciting.

>>32047931
Go on and stick your arm under a chop saw and try to have it off then.

>>32047929
>Mate, most manual machines will not stop if you fuck something up
sorry you're from the third world, noguns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTUOhYcw4ZY

>>32047940
>Go on and stick your arm under a chop saw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiYoBbEZwlk&t=63s

sorry you're from the third world

>>32047940
>CNC machines are dumb as hell.
much like yourself. you still haven't even attempted to prove that you know what a CNC machine is.

PROTIP: 3d printers are not Star Trek replicators and do not make something from nothing, and CNC machinery is still smart enough to not catch fire if it's fed a stupid set of instructions.

>>32047940
>If you tell it to ram a 3/4" end mill spinning 10000 RPM straight down into the vise at full rapid,
it will turn itself off because the year is not 1959. In fact, most code that those things are fed is automatically generated from plans using known materials and known bits in the machine, so it's all calculated for you.

I'm sure some moron (i.e. (You)) fed a CNC something dumb during one of your college labs last week, but that is not representative of actual assembly lines.

>>32047942
because a table saw is relevant

Also, the day a mill/drill/lathe/grinder (etc) that a normal person can buy, stops when someone decided to ram a tool/bit/cutter into his work at full speed will be the day I stop fucking yo mother

Seriously, find a link to a drill press you can buy that will do this and I will be amazed

> also nobody cares about your fingers (unless your a faggot) you care about your machine, tool and your work

>>32047961
>G-GO JAM UR HAND IN A SAW ;___;
>"actually a modern table saw has an automatic stop for that."
>A-A SAW IS NOT RELEVANT ;_______;

Just admit that you don't know shit. Go back to your slam bangs.

>>32047929
>Mate, most manual machines will not stop if you fuck something up
most modern machines have a differential in them so that they dont catch fire if you jam them into something they can't dig into, or electronic systems to achieve the same effect

sorry you're literally so dumb you managed to be such a bad machinist that you made a drill press catch fire. maybe build parties arent for you, my man.

>>32047950
>much like yourself. you still haven't even attempted to prove that you know what a CNC machine is.
You're arguing with at least two dudes, you'd not yet asked me that question.

It means Computer Numerical Control. That's fucking it. It's controlled by a computer. With fucking numbers. In practically all cases, this means it reads G-code and moves the axes around exactly as ordered.

>PROTIP: 3d printers are not Star Trek replicators and do not make something from nothing

They take a file and whatever plastic, goop, or powder they need and turn out a part with no further human intervention beyond pressing the button. If they're calibrated right. It's pretty foolproof. There's a bit of nuance with FDM type machines when printing parts with overhanging structures and whatnot, but it's hardly rocket science. Most people could figure it out.

>CNC machinery is still smart enough to not catch fire if it's fed a stupid set of instructions.

Nope. Maybe some high end stuff double checks for entry level retardation by comparing tool length offsets and Z position to the known height of the table, and some REALLY high end stuff actually has cameras inside to watch what's going on and can figure out somehow if you've fucked up based on some kind of internal simulation, but the kind of machines that actually get used for 99% of machining work just follow orders full stop.

>>32047956
Assembly line stuff will be dumb as fuck as it's just the same proccess/part the machine is doing, no risk

>>32047950
CNC machines a Computer Numericly Controlled, anything from that $5k Chinese mill to that $5m enclosed modern dodad

Most machines most people have access to outside a commercial or industrial environment will be almost fully reliant that the user has the right bit in the machine, has clamped the work down correctly and has programmed the machine correctly

>>32047976
>>CNC machinery is still smart enough to not catch fire if it's fed a stupid set of instructions.
>Nope.
you're literally wrong though.

>>32047979
>CNC machines a Computer Numericly Controlled,
holy fuck it only took you like an hour and a half to look it up. were you sifting through your notes from school, sonny?

>>32047971
The only thing you would use a table saw in gun manufacturing would be in making furniture

>>32047973
Why would anything catch fire?

And I have never seen any machines in any form of workshop with a 'differential' in them that magically stops if it dectects something I'm not sure you could detect..

> how would you detect that your drilling into a clamp anyhow?

>>32047498
This entire thread:
>BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

How about an actual answer you autistic fags? Which CNC machine should someone buy and how should they train to use it? No more fag-blabbering.

>>32047982
You never asked me, someone else back at the start

>>32047996
Just get a Chinese manual mill, $5-$10k in NZ so once your tooled up maybe $7-$12k?

Then you can learn how to do stuff, without a massive investment

>>32047996
>Which CNC machine should someone buy
Buy a proper milling machine, not some kind of wood router like in OP's picture, for starters.
Remember to buy tooling for it worth at least as much as the machine on top of that.

> and how should they train to use it?
Go to a 2 year college for it, or go work at a machine shop as an assistant or something until you pick up some basics through osmosis

>>32048002
https://www.topmaq.co.nz/item/view/PLATINUM-ZAY7032FG1-GH-Mill-Drill-32mm-~?sku=MEMI1600
Link related would be fine, I'm sure America has better cm access to cheap machines that here in NZ

wow, at first I thought OP was the faggot, but this >>32047982
willfully ignorant asshole is the true faggot. He literally literally literally has no idea who he's talking to and is arguing semantics over actual knowledge. traps and gents, strive to not be like this fag

>>32047947
(not him) this shit may be a thing in 10/20 years but for something as basic as a table saw everyone is still using his grandpa's one, and if you go to your nearest carpenter and ram your fist in a running blade i'm 95% sure it won't stop.

>>32048002
>>32048012
not bad advice, ive lurked around the practical machinist forums and the consensus seems to be is that the best [long-term] starting point would be a milling lathe, and drill press that can swap chucks and has a two axis sled. both need variable frequency drives to adjust speed, for gods sake don't use a jacobs chuck to cross mill, dont get bother with cheapo chink combo mill/drills or lathe/drill/mills because the top arm comes loose and is innaccurate as all hell. theres probably more i'm forgetting, but its 3 am, and im going to bed

also, fuck this guy>>32047950

It seems my question about the feasibility of fabricating novelty guns with no machining experience has devolved into an argument about the safety and "smart" capabilities of assembly line CNC machines...

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>>32048049

>the best [long-term] starting point would be a milling lathe

Like one of those chinese combo-machines, pic related?

Or a mill-turn machine? Because while I'd certainly agree that a mill-turn machine would be an excellent long-term start, the first one I see on ebay runs 80 grand, with four years on it.

Also pic related combo machine appears to literally just be a sieg X2 mini mill bolted to the side of their 9x20 mini lathe

>>32047498
While the image you posted is hilarious and basically useless, the real barrier to this would be making the barrel, i.e. taking the stock, reaming it out, cutting the chamber, and crowning it. Everything else could be done on a real CNC.

If you want to make shit at home on the cheap, buy a mill and git gud, 3D printing is fucking stupid and while CNCs are amazing, you cannot afford one.

>>32047976
>If they're calibrated right
I guarantee you would fuck up the feed rate and temperature the first 10 times you used a 3D printer. Although I will admit the only 3D printer I've used was a piece of shit. The only thing they're good for is making jigs and guides so I don't have to freehand complex objects on whatever other cutting implement I'm using to make something that isn't made out of weak as fuck plastic.

I have "used" and industrial CNC machine and it was fucking awesome. The piece was really simple, and I had a machinist watching me, but it was fucking great. The piece was a mount for a gear ratio I was putting together.

>It drills the holes
>It taps that shit for you too
>It removes what excess you have leaving sexy cuts that clean up nicely


10/10 would use again.

>>32048139
>The only thing they're good for is making jigs and guides so I don't have to freehand complex objects on whatever other cutting implement I'm using to make something that isn't made out of weak as fuck plastic.

They're shit, yes, but they're easy. And I think that, if you recognize their limitations and don't expect them to live up to the meme, you can accomplish some pretty cool stuff with the technology. Granted, as far as /k/ is concerned, it's pretty useless, aside from making 80% jigs or ghetto-rigging a maglight to your raifu.

>I guarantee you would fuck up the feed rate and temperature the first 10 times you used a 3D printer.
A lot more than 10 times.

A lot.

Granted it was fucking 2011

>>32047498
>How much do you really have to know about machining to effectively use modern CNC machines?

A bunch. Otherwise you are just going to:

A) Break tool bits left and right.
B) Break the damn machine itself.
C) hurt yourself

I work with CNC machines every day and three axis programming takes some time to get used to and I use probably the most user friendly software out there.

>>32047855
>wrong, even modern hand-used tools have safeties that will shut them off if they detect something amiss, let along CNC machinery in sealed booths

CNC's can crash, and do crash all the time.

The only safeties that are usually on them is if the motor can not turn and the encoder detects this. The motor will keep putting out more power until there is no movement and then throw an error.


So yes, there might be a safety, but that'll only kick in after you might have done who knows how much damage.


Then there is the fact that if you over load it you are still going to break the tooling. It doesn't take much to snap a half in endmill in twain when you over load it.


Buy hey what do I know, I only program and run CNC mills every god damn day at work.

>>32047940
>Omni GT-75 doesn't even know if the door is shut

>>32047903

I work in a large manufacturing plant with a bunch of retard cnc operators/programmers. There is probably on average one building-shaking machine crash each day.

So yes, ya dingus, there is plenty or risk of collision in a cnc.

>>32047820
I do this everyday- I'm a machinist and this guy is right. If you dont know what you're doing you'll probably end up damaging your machine. If you don't get a really expensive machine you'll be replacing it instead of spending thousands of to fix it. This is best case, you can very easily hurt yourself; machining is only safe because the people doing it know what they are doing.

-The guy saying the machine makes the tool path is full of shit. Go buy a mastercam license for $10,000 and it can help (not do) make your tool paths.

Well that escalated quickly...

>>32048790
This. Unless your machine has a conversationally programmable controller (very convenient by the way for one off things), programming at the machine is just using notepad with a more inconvenient keyboard (unless you plug a normal keyboard in I guess). Well, I guess you can simulate and/or dry run then and there without having to move programs around, but as far as I know, most built in simulators are pretty basic. You won't get 3D or anything like Mastercam's simulator will do. Even with CAM programs like Mastercam, there's still stuff for you to do and modify to make the tool path actually good.

Frankly, there's a lot to know about machining and a lot of hidden pitfalls. It is also not terribly safe to do so unsupervised as a beginner. There is a lot of power moving in a metal cutting NC mill (unlike the toy in OP's pic, which would struggle with baby cuts in aluminum) and a lot of ways to fling a part, explode tools into shrapnel, crush various appendages, etc. I would, as someone else suggested, take a year or two of machining classes at your local CC or something. Remember, typically, when you are taking those classes, you have free access to your school's shop. This alone is a very valuable resource.

Even after that, you will probably still mess up pretty badly occasionally. But at least, you can take precautions to not maim yourself or the machine.

>>32048096
No man. Those things are pathetic, and everything will be in everything's way. Unfortunately, it takes a decent amount of weight to make a competent machine. There is no real way around it.

>>32048958
>typically, when you are taking those classes, you have free access to your school's shop.

Fucking this, this more than anything. Fuck the classes, some of it is useful, but getting actual time on CNCs to make shit you actually want to make is absolutely invaluable.

>>32048967
Your better bet would be to buy a separate mill and lathe and learn from there. Those combo machines are generally a 'eh' quality lathe and a retarded mill. I'd say learn the basics on full manual machines so you don't just jump directly into the deep end of the pool and shit yourself.

As far as OP's question you certainly could build a one off firearm with machine tools, John Browning built all of his tool room prototypes with hand tools and machines that would be considered archaic at best by modern standards.

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>>32049176
>As far as OP's question you certainly could build a one off firearm with machine tools

How

Do

You

Barrel

>>32049200
Buy one?

>>32049360
Did you even read a single word of the fucking thread?

>>32049376
Did you?
Who said you cant buy a barrel?

>>32049399
We are talking about MAKING GUNS. A barrel is part of a gun, and the biggest limit to truly home built firearms. I could make every part of an AK but the barrel, and AKs are actually fairly complex. Being able to ream, crown, and form the chamber is the hardest part of the process, and cannot be done without big, expensive, specialized equipment.

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>>32047820
>Having to write the toolpaths out by hand
Holy shit really? I own a Roland MDX-40A and I must have been doing it wrong all this time, what the fuck. I better go and spend entire days writing out error-filled code instead of generating them within seconds from an STL.

Completely different noob here interested in taking CAD and machining classes. If I want to make parts for a rifle (like a picatinny rail), how do you accurately measure the rifle for a tight fit even if it contains unknown arcs?

>>32049623
What do you mean by unknown arcs?

>>32047947
You fucking idiot he said a chop saw/miter saw not a cabinet saw. You hit a fucking miter saw you're having a real bad day.

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>>32049650

I have this reciever for an AUG M1. However, I'm hoping to design a rail reminicent of the discontinued A3 SA or CQC models. Those ones had a flat top while this one has a built in swivel mount and completely different screw positions. The custom rail would have to go over it, and maybe even could have something that goes into the swivel mount as a 4th attachment point.

>>32047931
Very wrong. Maybe your newer stuff, but not everyone has those. Drill presses and band saws I used won't shut off until you shut them off. Table and chop saws I have sure as fuck won't. Ditto for all of my other power tools.

>>32047982
Again, maybe new stuff. The shit we used, well... Lets just say I'm glad I wear glasses because the machinist fucked up when setting up the CNC. Came in way to fucking fast, shit started flying, something hit my glasses hard enough to knock them off my face and gouge the lens pretty bad.

>>32047996
Milling machine would be superior for what you want to do. If you absolutely must get a CNC, get the Ghost Gunner 2. It's $1500 and you can program it yourself and there are files already made for it. All open source.

>>32048090
That's because you want to do something that takes a decent amount of training and practice. So safety is a pretty big concern. If you came in and said "Hey guys, I'm a practiced machinist used to running mill, lathes, and presses. Looking to get experience with a CNC, which would be the best for beginners?" you would get vastly different responses.

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>>32049752

Most classes I'm looking to take don't seem to teach reverse engineering, as far as I'm aware. Just how to model and machine something when you already have exact specifications.

>>32049758
>If you absolutely must get a CNC, get the Ghost Gunner 2. It's $1500 and you can program it yourself

It's also a piece of shit, and the fact that you can "program it yourself" is not a fucking feature.

>>32049768
Calipers and testicles son.

Really big testicles. And good dial calipers, digital can fuck right off.

>>32049460
Not really, it can be done easily on a home lathe that isn't completely rattled out and the rifling can be cut in a very time consuming way with the same lathe. The problem is that it is much more involved and probably not worth it to add corrosion resistant coatings.

It's not technically hard, the concepts of machining are the same the problem is if you needed to arm entire nations or get money for the amount of work you put in

>inb4 it's not cold hammer forged
No one cares.

>>32049781
Really? I never used it. Only heard a couple reviews and they were positive. They were also only using it to mill out 80% AR15 lowers. Figured it sounded perfect for OP. Relatively cheap, plans (supposedly) are available, and he can program it himself if absolutely must be a special snowflake.

>>32049752
I honestly have no idea what you're saying and the picture doesn't help. I guess you could contact the manufacturer as a to-be third-party manufacturer and ask for specifications. Alternatively you can just machine out a bunch of gauges at different radii and see which one fits, if your problem is determining what radius the curved portion is. If the manufacturer isn't fucking with potential reverse engineers it has to be some sort of rational curve (good luck, there's about a hundred of them).

>>32049768
Most nations are in your same boat technical packages are fucking massive and expensive if they aren't already classified.

The advantage as a home gamer is you don't have to give a shit about small things like finishing jig no.3994 to carve out the radius of a coffee smudge that an aged to get into the final prints.

Just knowing the basic concepts of how the gun works and a lot of hand fitting will get you close enough.

It'll probably be heavier and weird looking but it'll be good enough and a way to learn.

>>32047498
I have researched this for a long time as I plan on doing it.
I wanted 5 axis, in my opinion the minimum you'll need is around $20k. You need the Tormach 1100pcnc.
For light mill cuts on steel work you want a mill near 1000 lbs or more. Maybe $2k

>>32047498

There is just a shitload of asshurt here OP.

The reason everyone is SO EXCITED about 3D printing isn't because it can necessarily make something that nothing else ever could, but because it can do it pretty cheaply. A CNC machine costs tens of thousands of dollars for a not very good one, professional tools can cost hundreds of thousands, easily. A single carbide tool (the thing that does the cutting) can cost hundreds of dollars, just for one tool. A machine shop would have dozens of these tools in all shapes and sizes and of all materials. Not to mention additional things like lathes, grinders, presses.

It's really very difficult to create a firearm. Even very easy to make guns like a Sten based gun would require probably 10-20 thousand dollars in equipment.

>>32049821
>They were also only using it to mill out 80% AR15 lowers.
Because that is literally all it is good for. I could mill out 80% lowers with a drill press after downing a fifth of whiskey.

They took a shitty CNC machine, modified it, gave it a cool name, and sold it for a profit. If you have money to burn, and want to be a "ghost gunner" then go for it.

For 1500 dollars you can get a old shitty FUNCTIONING INDUSTRIAL MILL

And then you can git gud and actually make shit with it.

>>32049901
>Even very easy to make guns like a Sten based gun would require probably 10-20 thousand dollars in equipment.
I wouldn't go that far. Ghetto guns can be made with nothing more than hand tools.

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>>32049853

Basically, I'm trying to imitate this, but imagine the rail with a cutout where the swivel mount from my reciever goes. The rail I already have only goes behind the swivel mount.

Also, Steyr is likely to never give that info away, especially after being asshurt when MSAR clones were being made.

>>32049956
"can be"

Stens were pretty ghetto, but they were generally made in actual shops with decent equipment.

OP is talking about one offs though, and for that, CNCs are merely a convenience, not a necessity. A mill will do the same thing just with more time needed and more user skill needed.

>inb4 muh 5 axis

Yeah, they're cool, but you can reclamp the workpiece you know.

Also a lathe, you'll need a lathe, and all the miscellaneous power tools like a drill press and belt sanders and shit, and bits and everything. but those are really rounding errors with the costs we're looking at.

>>32049933
>mill for 1500
Maybe I'm looking the wrong places but I haven't seen any that cheap.

>>32049956
Depends on the quality you want. You're right that a ghetto blaster made with hand tools can be made pretty damn easy. However it won't be as reliable as one made on proper equipment, which at the low end is still expensive.

>>32050036
>Maybe I'm looking the wrong places but I haven't seen any that cheap.
Think absolute ghetto ass beat to shit mill
Thats what the local FSAE team got one of theirs for.
It's not nice, but it works.
>yfw they have three mills
REEEE

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>>32047766
>the guy that DESIGNED the transmission understood gear ratios, heat, pressure, and cutting tolerances of metals
For most of the time guns have been around, designs were designed before engineering was a formal field. And most prototypes were BrowningsBrowningsBrownings-tier guns.

>sure you could get a machine and learn a cad program, and buy said program to take all that into account for you, but are you cool with having something worth two lamborghinis in your poorfag garage?
Who the fuck buys an industrial scale cnc machine for their garage?


>>32047498
>How feasible would it be to produce prototype/one-off firearm designs on a home (not industrial) CNC machine?
Very. But it would be easier to wait another 10 years for 5 axis enthustiast machines to be mainstream.

>How much do you really have to know about machining to effectively use modern CNC machines?
If your comfortable with failures and wasting time/money, just enough to not hurt yourself or the mill/lathe/edm.

>I've long thought it would be neat to be able to design and manufacturer small, low power (.22 to .32acp), experimental/novelty guns for fun in my garage.
Good goal.

>Is this something worth looking into?
That's based on your level of income.

>do you really need to be an experienced and/or formally trained machinist to attempt something like this?
It's a trade, you can learn it well enough in your spare time.

>>32050007
Does the swivel mount actually do anything? Can't you just massively cutout the portion and just secure it using the screws? Otherwise as the other guy said, do a lot of filing to fit.

>>32047498
Hello friend.

Be aware that the skillset required to operate and program a CNC Machine will take a great deal of time and puts it far out of hobby range.

You will require a few things to do what you're thinking of:

Cam software - A program that generates toolpaths based on an STL (or what have you). It does not work like magic, you must specify things like Feeds/speeds/ramp angles/depth of cut/etc as well as the overall strategy of engagement (Area clear, constant z, raster cutting, etc). This data can usually be found or derived from a formula but actually operating these softwares are usually tougher than you'd imagine. MasterCam is popular due to the fact you can draw in it and it's easy to pirate.

A Machine - You will not build something that achieves useful tolerance. Building a machine is a trade in and of its self. There are some small off the shelf models which may work for you (Novakon, etc come to mind ) but are going to run you 10k for the base machine + controller let alone tooling. http://novakon.myshopify.com/ is my example. A powerful and versatile machine it is not.

Tooling : Between work holding, collets/chucks and actual cutters you are likely to spend another 5k before a single chip has been made.

For reference because this thread is full of experts : I do nothing but program all day on PowerMill and make weird one off components for robots/gauges/fixtures. I am obligated to train new programmers in the use of the software most of the time and it takes a brand new guy about a 6 months of 50 hours a week to get "good enough" with the software that I don't have to check everything he does before it gets sent to the operators. It is a commitment beyond hobby level.

If you want to do gunsmithing at home a desktop milling machine from Grizzly is a good place to start. You'll need to clean and calibrate it as well as figure out how to true everything up like any manual mill but it's an attainable goal

>>32050145
>and make weird one off components for robots/gauges/fixtures.
As someone who orders weird one off components, you're doing god's work anon. Being able to actually order something and have it be made to spec and not have to be redone or fucked with in any way is like magic.

>>32049858
>>32050128

I'll probably just do the cutout and filing, the mount itself isn't necessary. I was just hoping there was a way to measure it for a flush fit, just so it doesn't look ugly with gaps and stuff.

>>32048227

Totally off topic, but how did you get into CNC machining? I'm looking at going to a trade school to become a CNC machinist.

>>32049853
Uhh, radius gauges are a thing. And aren't even expensive. Most of the fillets and such are not going to be critical anyway, and are there for ergonomic/stress concentrator avoidance/increase strength of cutting tool corners. A ballpark radius would be fine for most of them.

>>32050575
>going to trade school to become CNC machinist
Community colleges can also offer courses. Might be able to snag an apprenticeship but I haven't heard of anyone taking apprenticeships for CNC.

>>32047498

To answer your question while everyone else balks at it:

YES - Industrial ($100,000 range) CNC machine

PROBABLY NOT - home CNC machine

But even with an industrial machine you will still need to buy Gun Barrels and its best if the types of guns you're trying to manufacture have the least number of homogenous pieces (the kind of gun that is heavy on assembly).

>>32052524

(cont'd) Gun barrels also need to be made out of steel that can withstand about 650,000 psi, this is the brittle hard steel that snaps rather than bends, also known as tool steel.

Its like the hard steel that accompanies the soft but equally strong steel, folded together in a Katana.

Also if you were going to CNC guns, if you could do it once you could do it 5000 times. This is the kinda thing you wanna keep quiet and talk to your local MILITIA about.