From: jeffrey mcwhinney (slideleft@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Oct 16 2002 - 18:19:13 EEST
Group, and all who responded to my initial post.
First, thanks for all responses and advice. It was very helpful.
Well I ended up buying a Benchman 4000 CNC mill from Craig Crump at CGI.
Thanks Craig. I just got it and have not yet installed, so can't report
about it, but I'm sure it will work well for my jewelry designs. Regarding
Benchman (for those with interest), the company seems a bit flakey on the
phone (or severely understaffed), the software interface is very basic, and
to buy new seems excessively expensive (especially if you get any options).
But, that said, it does seem like a very nice machine. It is well built, has
good numbers regarding precision, and is right sized for my needs (I want to
operate out of my home and it is 110V).
In my real job business with 3M as a diamond turning machinist, I'm used to
a very high level of precision so most hobby oriented desktops seemed
inadequate. Unfortunately, it appears there are primarily just two classes
of desktops (other than educational)- hobbyist and small part industrial.
The hobbyist ones are very affordable if they'll do the job, and the
industrial ones are very expensive (I suppose it is an economies of scale
thing). There seems no in between. It seems that if precision is important
and you have the space, the best value is with a full sized mill.
Now, time to create.
Thanks again for all your help.
Jeff McWhinney
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