Made in America - once upon a ..

vtcnc said:
I think it is the other way around?
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You DO know what time it is Bryan . I haven't woken up yet , or gone to sleep yet , or whatever way I'm heading . :big grin:
 
Not surprising.

CNC means faster, cheaper, repeatable manufacturing, so thats the way companies chasing profit go. These machines are often outside a hobbiests available cash limits or space limits since companies will pay the big bucks to get the equipment meet production/profit targets.

The decent “hobbiest” sized lathes of yesteryear don’t bring in the cash rewards for retailers that they used to, so anything in this category gets “cheapened” to produce more profit when sold.

Sadly, this is the way of the world with most things: when first released, things are exclusive and expensive, then they become “mainstream” and somewhat more affordable, then as whatever it is matures it gets skewed into professional grades and consumer grades. Consumer grades are almost always crap, due to trying to extract maximum profit at minimum costs.
 
Oddly enough my vehicles, while ranging from 8 to 18 years old, were all bought new. Tractor and excavator fall in that category too. But I like working on the older lathes. I've ended up with three Monarchs but some of that is just following a brand once started, as well as a couple of old surface grinders that need some TLC. I'm slowly bringing them back to quality specs. I guess for me the vehicles need to work as they are day to day essentials. The machining stuff is a hobby, although that is becoming integrated with everything else.
 
great white said:
Not surprising.

CNC means faster, cheaper, repeatable manufacturing, so thats the way companies chasing profit go. These machines are often outside a hobbiests available cash limits or space limits since companies will pay the big bucks to get the equipment meet production/profit targets.
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I recently bought a Taig 2019CR millimg machine. Taig is located inChandler, AZ, and manufactures their machine tools right here. The MSRP for this mill is$1211, and I plan to "build it out" to full CNC, including a Centroid Acorn controller. I'll re-use an old PC enclosure for the electronics and build a machine enclosure out of 8020 extrusions and Lexan panels. My budget comes out to just a bit above $2700. Not too bad for a home shop size, but very stout and accurate CNC mill.

great white said:
The decent “hobbiest” sized lathes of yesteryear don’t bring in the cash rewards for retailers that they used to, so anything in this category gets “cheapened” to produce more profit when sold.
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Taig makes some nice small lathes, as well as mini mills www.taigtools.com
great white said:
Sadly, this is the way of the world with most things: when first released, things are exclusive and expensive, then they become “mainstream” and somewhat more affordable, then as whatever it is matures it gets skewed into professional grades and consumer grades. Consumer grades are almost always crap, due to trying to extract maximum profit at minimum costs.
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hman said:
I recently bought a Taig 2019CR millimg machine. Taig is located inChandler, AZ, and manufactures their machine tools right here. The MSRP for this mill is$1211, and I plan to "build it out" to full CNC, including a Centroid Acorn controller. I'll re-use an old PC enclosure for the electronics and build a machine enclosure out of 8020 extrusions and Lexan panels. My budget comes out to just a bit above $2700. Not too bad for a home shop size, but very stout and accurate CNC mill.



Taig makes some nice small lathes, as well as mini mills www.taigtools.com
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This exchange and overall discussion is one of the reasons I'm drawn to hobby machining. You could go out and buy a used Rong Fu and upgrade it for about $3000 if you are the real DIY type. Serves as a mid size mill for hobbyist, can do small parts and occasionally hog out some stainless to a certain degree.

The next guy will do what hman did for the same money, doesn't have the capacity, speed or rigidity of the mid-size upgraded Rong Fu, but he does have a sweet tabletop sized CNC machine that works extremely well for his application of small part machining.

Same price, different value. It is one of those subtle differences that makes our hobby so interesting.
 
Hand made in the USA ~3hrs work +1/2hr clean up. I was wondering if Mr. Hanson, or another CNC guru could tell me after programing what would the run time be for this on a CNC machine? It's a niche market, and I've sold 70-80 in a year in my local market, so a CNC might be un profitable. :)

 
Aukai said:
Hand made in the USA ~3hrs work +1/2hr clean up. I was wondering if Mr. Hanson, or another CNC guru could tell me after programing what would the run time be for this on a CNC machine? It's a niche market, and I've sold 70-80 in a year in my local market, so a CNC might be un profitable. :)
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What is it?
 
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