To me a CNC helps when you want to make multiples of parts but on just 1 part convetional will work just fine. Just my 2 cents worth.
Hi doc,
there are some things that should be mentioned about how useful is cnc.
Obviously its useful to make multiples, but for one offs there are some advantages too.
On a lathe, CNC will enable to do some things easily, You can't do on a conventional. Complicated contours, tapers without time consuming setup. You can turn any radius on a part or even a ball contour. Making a tapered thread.
But in general, CNC on a lathe has not too much value for model builders with just 1 part to make.
IMO CNC on a mill is much more important and useful. There are a lot of situations where a CNC is important for a model builder.
Complicated surfaces like turbine blades are impossible with a conventional mill.
A lot of radii have to be machined for typical model engines. Instead of using a rotary table using CNC control is convenient, time-saving and gives higher precision.
Circular milling is a procedure to machine precise large holes without time-consuming use of boring bars/heads. While precision is lower, circular milling saves time and is easier than setting a boring bar to exact diameter.
Me personally, I have two conventional mills, but I'm still looking for a CNC mill. I'm not going to buy a CNC lathe as I don't consider it as really useful for my builds.
Mike