I have a small lab in my house, basically an office with an Ultimaker S7 3D printer and I am looking at adding the Pcnc 440 for prototyping of aluminum enclosures. Is there any reason I should not set this up in my home?
Do you have a wife? Do you like metal chips in bed?
If you answered yes or no to either of these questions then you should not put it in the house.
I had a Sherline mill in my apartment in Hong Kong and metal chips get out of the enclosure no matter what. I have an 1100mx in a separate shop (20 feet from the house) in my back yard now and I still find metal chips on the magnet strips by the house door. I also find them in the robot vacuum in the house.
That said. I am sure there is someone out there that has one right next to their bed and has never found a chip outside the enclosure.
John Saunders (NYC CNC/ Saunders machine works) famously started his empire with a TEG in his bedroom that he shared with his wife.
Garage or basement all day long.
My 440 landed in the garage for a couple weeks and was moved to the basement. The chips can be a problem.
Are you going to cut dry? Mist or coolant are recommended. I wouldn’t want either operating in an office room that’s contiguous with my “house”.
Can you afford and/or fit a 770? Either that, or fit sliding doors (several people have hacked them). Opening the 440 doors outward (which don’t slide) is IMHO a large part of what causes chips to find their way out of the enclosure…
finding a partner who would share a bedroom with a CNC mill is probably the odds of 1 in 1 billion…
Thank you all for your replies. Sound was my only concern and I never considered the swarf/chips. The detached garage is uninsulated and I live in Minnesota, so insulation and a heat source will have to come first.