Did you recently buy a computer numeric controlled (CNC) machine? Perhaps you don’t know too much about it, but you like the way it works, and you might be thinking about starting your own CNC milling service. However, unless you have a lot of shop experience and understand how milling works, you could run into some problems. Before you take such a large leap of faith, consider these helpful tips.
Shop Tools
You will need some good end mills or milling cutters. These tools are an important part of your business, so don’t buy some cheap tools to save on costs. Go with a trusted brand and consider high-speed steel. It’s cheaper than carbide or carbide tipped cutters, and they’ll do a good job. Eventually, you may need harder tools like carbide, but they will cost more.
Be Prepared for Problems
Your CNC milling service may not be wildly successful at first. In fact, you’ll probably end up breaking a few cutters. Make sure you have plenty of extras and buy several of the most commonly used sizes. In fact, you may want to buy a few adjustable end mills. They can handle many different sizes.
Keep it Simple
Don’t try to do difficult work at the start and don’t try materials like plastic or titanium. In fact, you want to stick to steel for some time, and then add aluminum alloys and maybe stainless steel.
Learn from the Best
You don’t have to go it alone, and you may want to start by outsourcing your work to a trusted machine shop. You can visit them and learn a great deal about a CNC milling service. They can handle most of the work, and you can gradually take over small jobs. In fact, you might want to outsource most of your work, to save time, money, and resources.
