Help with new machine

[Xenophya]

That is a beautiful workspace and some beautiful work you are doing, sorry I can't help with the cnc problem but I can do a bit of free spell checking:

Conferance Facility - Our meeting room space, (with our artwork on the walls)

Should be Conference

LOL Thanks very much, sorted it now!

[Xenophya]

Hi Mark, sorry to hear of your tale of woe with regard to EMACH. I'm pleased to hear your are not going to lose money over the deal, how on earth did they release money without checking?

With regard to the lower Z you will certainly increase the number of possible machines available, but I do think it still likely to be a used machine rather than new.

Do you think that the leasing company would be prepared to allow used purchase, if so would there be an age limit? G.

I don't see any reason why they wouldn't finance a second hand machine as long as it came from an established company who can provide a proper invoice. At the same time as taking on the CNC router we took on a second hand Stiefelmayer System B surface plate and CMM (which was delivered and installed).

[Musht]

Cripes is there something about CNC that`s attracting shady operators, rhetorical question suppose :-(

Does your proposed 12K include software, full fat Artcam and the like will eat 2K easily enough with a bit of support.

Even with training , practice helps ,even with a designers 3D mindset some concepts take some adjustment to CNC world, where`s zero....

So figure in some time and eaten material for research,training and practice purposes before the machine becomes productive.

AXYZ have been around longer than 5 minutes and S/H might fit in your budget, been a couple for sale here over the years;

CNC Router CNC Laser CNC Plasma CNC Knife Systems - AXYZ International

Dunno if Frog have UK dealers but they are notable for making 10" cutters

FROG3D | Home

[grace chen]

Hello,

I am new to the forum.

We are an industrial design company specialising in the design and development of motorcycles and power sports vehicles. We regularly make full scale Prototype models from auto styling clay, model board (Ureol) mdf, sla sls etc

We are looking to purchase a CNC router for cutting model board, styrofoam, wood, MDF and perhaps plastic. Primarily we want to cut female tools from Polyurethane model board (Renishape, Ureol etc) so that we can make GRP and Carbon parts. We have a fair bit of work coming up that will mean we will need to cut GRP female mould tools from Ureol model board or mdf. We could farm it out but the amount we will need to do means we could be better off investing in our own machine. Don't really have a budget as yet but would ideally be looking to spend no more than say 12k. I'm guessing a 4ft x 4ft by say 400mm would do for the sort of work we will be doing (mostly bike panels). As well as creating female mould tools for GRP parts we will also cut model parts for things like engine casings or headlight reflectors. Obviously we could make tools in sections and dowel and pin them together so make parts that are larger than the bed size.

I am looking for any help or advice that you can offer.

Many thanks in advance
Mark

Hello mark

We are manufacturer of cnc routers in China. For your requirements,here are two kinds of cnc routers for your choice.

One with below specification(picture attached)

working size:1300*2500*400mm
servo motors and drivers
DSP handle /NC studio control system
table facet:vacuum suction or T-slot

And the other is professional mould making cnc router,which Z axis height can be highed up to 600mm.

If you are interested,please feel free to contact with me at [email protected].

More details and pictures will be sent to you.

Regards.
grace

[andrewbond]

Blow the budget and go 5 axis .....

5-axis CNC Router

Ideal for what your intending to do I think!

[GEOFFREY]

Hi Mark, that large machine from China certainly looks like it woul be well suited for your needs. It would be interesting to get a full specification and post it on the forum and I feel certain you would get some really helpful comments. Please take note of the post made by Musht, having a super machine sitting in your workshop will not be much good unless you have someone that can properly program it. Operating cnc machines is not rocket science, but to learn to draw the components in 3d and then machine them will certainly take some time and will probably result in a few headaches!!! It would be worth asking if there is one of these machines in the UK for you to visit and discuss. Some people "knock" Chinese goods, but some of the quality from "C" nowadays is very good, even the UK self builders usually end up with some components from there. G.

[Xenophya]

Hi Mark, that large machine from China certainly looks like it woul be well suited for your needs. It would be interesting to get a full specification and post it on the forum and I feel certain you would get some really helpful comments. Please take note of the post made by Musht, having a super machine sitting in your workshop will not be much good unless you have someone that can properly program it. Operating cnc machines is not rocket science, but to learn to draw the components in 3d and then machine them will certainly take some time and will probably result in a few headaches!!! It would be worth asking if there is one of these machines in the UK for you to visit and discuss. Some people "knock" Chinese goods, but some of the quality from "C" nowadays is very good, even the UK self builders usually end up with some components from there. G.

Hello Geoffrey,

I'm one step ahead of you. I have already emailed Grace and her exactly that. I will post her response.

Cheers Mark

[Xenophya]

Hello, yes training is very necessary for us. We can use Rhino well and have two CMM machines but have never used Cam software before. I'm also after support for the machine itself. What happens if somthing goes wrong a week before a deadline, I want to be able get it sorted ASAP. At the moment I can push the supplier or take the job else where, can't really do that when we have our own machine.

[D.C.]

Before you get too excited about 5-axis machines you might want to look at the cost of 5-axis cam, it's not cheap. Pricing List | VisualMILL for SolidWorks®
You also might be interest in the training links on that page. There is a feature comparison list here from the UK suppliers RhinoCAM 2.0 CNC for Rhino CNC Inside Rhino Software

[Xenophya]

Hello Chaps,

Grace has sent me a spec. Seems very good value for money, although they don't have a UK distributor or rep. I have replied asking if they have ever sold a machine to a company here in the UK. Let me know what you think.