Hi, I’m looking into getting into cnc/milling aluminium bike parts for my business ,however I have no clue where to start.
Any advice on videos to watch or information/advice you could pass on, would be much appreciated
Kind regards
Henry
A couple of useful threads here:
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Perhaps I am taking this topic a bit sideways but it is actually a bit of an interesting question/discussion point.
There are piles of ‘how to’ videos but not so much info on the ‘business of machining’ as a small business and ‘should I go down the CNC path?’ discussion.
How have small businesses taken to CNCs to enhance their businesses and what are the advantages/pitfalls of doing so?
On the forum here guys like @Savant_PCs seem to have gotten over the hump and made CNC products their own and successfully integrated into their busines and there seems to be a plethora of sign maker types about. On the other hand I have seen people struggle to cope with the work effort/ramp up of getting things going/learning CAD/CAM and basically jumping in rather expecting a minimum of effort to start pumping out product.
For myself where its a combo business tool/hobby product I get the advantage of purchasing and learning learning CNC as a hobby and then defraying the cost by doing prototype work.
I guess if I had one piece of advice to give to someone in the same boat is:
Be prepared to budget significant time to get set up and over the learning curve for both hardware and software. You will probably not be punching out perfect parts in a few hours. Like any craft it takes time to master.
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Hi Phil and Will I’ll look into them and take that onboard thankyou
For the business stuff, Bob Warfield of CNC Cookbook as some articles:
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First of all thank you for the recognition it makes me feel good about all that I am trying to accomplish 
There definitely will be a significant learning curve entering into CNC. I have met quite a few people in the PC modding community that have attempted to get a CNC and start doing things themselves but have quickly realized how much more difficult it is to learn than just a plug and play solution. For me I have always approached a new subject in the same crazy way: eat, sleep and breathe the subject in a very obsessive way. I do not recommend it, lol, but you figure your going to not only have to learn CAD but also CAM. Your going to have to figure out what your machine’s tolerances are and how well squared the gantry is and how much chatter will be generated depending on the material and chip clearance. Then there are a plethora of different end mills to learn as well as spindle runout. 
Long story short, don’t do what I did in trying to push production out of a CNC with no experience in the first week.
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Hi thanks ,I found that very useful ,and appreciate hearing your journey and what to expect.
Kind regards
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My pleasure. I have had mine for almost a year and a half now and I still get intimidated with learning new end mills alone with different materials so don’t feel bad if you mess up a few pieces here and there which is something I still do. There are a ton of misconceptions to a CNC in thinking its an end all tool but it is just that, a tool. I also don’t recommend leaving the area while its running and keep your safety goggles on to really analyze the device to get a feel for what its doing, how it sounds when cuts turn out good and how it sounds when cuts turn out jagged. Then you can get a good brain mapping of what your machine can do and what may need adjustment to make it improve.
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