If you read the whole article, this is specifically designed to mill and drill the lower receivers of AR15, from a piece of aluminum stock called the "80 percent stock", which is a non-functional metal part that is only missing a few holes.
If you have grand ideas about bike accessories and other metal objects, you can buy a proper CNC mill which is a bit more expensive than this. Or pay for CNC machining service at your local machine shop. It's not super expensive.
I've been thinking about getting into milling (wood, or freaky candles) for a while now, but I can't tell if my lack of familiarity with CAD software is going to mean I stink at it forever. How hard was it to get into? Do you have special training from a trade or anything, or did you just pick this up as a hobby?
"A bit" being the operative phrase. Something like a Sherline with the CNC options wouldn't set you back much more than that (depending on how many axes you need, bed size and height, of course). Not pretty, not overly fast, and takes some manual setup, but it'll keep you well south of the $10K-ish you could otherwise pay for a slick turnkey.
If you read the whole article, this is specifically designed to mill and drill the lower receivers of AR15, from a piece of aluminum stock called the "80 percent stock", which is a non-functional metal part that is only missing a few holes.
If you have grand ideas about bike accessories and other metal objects, you can buy a proper CNC mill which is a bit more expensive than this. Or pay for CNC machining service at your local machine shop. It's not super expensive.