1. How much time and money does a CNC mill retrofit like this take to complete?

Not including the price of the mill, a conversion like this can be completed for a roughly $2000.00. A complete breakdown of this price can be obtained from the design pages. This took about 150 hours to complete, however, when I started this project I was still quite new at machining. If you already have experience with machining, you could probably complete yours in half the time.

2. I can't afford that; any way to make it cheaper?

There are some ways. All parts for my machine were purchased new as I wanted to be able offer plans that others could follow. Some of the most expensive components are the servos and the ball screws. If you hunt around on Ebay or in local salvage yards and manage to find these components, you could save yourself up to $1000.

3. What software on your computer is used to control this?

I use a program called Mach 2 CNC available here. The machine is controlled using the digital signals from the parallel port (printer port) on a computer. The code inputted to the machine is called G-Code and can be easily written by hand or created using a CAD package of your choice.

4. Can this still be operated manually?

This question comes up a lot. First off, the jog controls on the Mach 2 software allow the mill to be driven just like a manual mill only much faster and more accurate so the only time a manual control would be desired is when you need to "feel" the cut you are making. My z-axis design allows the fine and coarse downfeed to be fully operated manually as desired. While I made threaded handwheel mounts on the ballscrews for the x and y axes, putting them on would serve little purpose. Since the stock acme screws were replaced with ball screws, one turn of the handwheel does not move the table 0.1", it moves it 13/64". Because this is a non-sensical dimension, moving the table 1.000" by hand would be nearly impossible and hence I saw no reason to mount handwheels. If you wish to "feel" the cut or edge find, the servos can be temporarily disabled and the pulleys can be driven by hand.

5. If I was to complete a conversion like this, what special tools would I need?

A small lathe and the mill you are converting will be necessary to make the mounts. Apart from that, all you need is simple hand tools. The parts that require machining are available for purchase if you don't wish to do this yourself.

6. What's with the weird donut power supply (how is it powered)?

A bridge rectified toroidal power supply is one of the cheapest ways to power CNC controls like these. That 35 lb. transformer can supply 2 kW continously to the servos. An equivalent regulated power supply that can handle 2 kW would probably cost near $1000. Fortunately, CNC motors do not require a "very clean" input power so a bridge rectified transformer works just fine. The Gecko drives, however, do require a clean 5 volt source so a much smaller regulated supply is used to provide the logic power.

7. In additions to plans and parts, do you offer complete CNC machines for sale?

Unfortunately, this is something I cannot do right now. I don't have the space or time to fully convert the machines for you.

8. I am electrically challenged. Is this a problem if I want to do a conversion?

Electronics knowledge is certainly preferred, but you will not need to know how build your own circuit. If you can follow a simple wiring diagram, you will be just fine. Due to the high voltages involved, caution should be taken when powering this stuff for the first time, but so long as you stand at a safe distance and test this outside, there is no danger whatsoever.

9. I have a mill made by "xxxxx" that looks similar to yours. Will your plans be compatible with my mill?

Literally hundreds of US companies import the same Chinese mills and sell them under their own name. The difference from machine to machine are usually quite minor (like color or motor size) and do not change the conversion designs at all. Generally the table lengths vary a bit, but the mounting points are still identical. The x or y ballscrew length is the only thing that will change. I have converted three mills now and have used the same design for all three. If it looks similar, it will probably mount up just fine. There are some ways to check if you go to the designs page.