Help in setting up a robot / router

[motomaxinc]

HELP IN SETTING UP A ROBOT / ROUTER


Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and CNC world.

I have a small scale parts factory and we make custom body parts for automobiles. I am always looking out to make products precise and better quality.

I am looking for suggestions on making an all-purpose robot (since I can not afford separate robots and we will not be using it regularly) which can fit a waterjet cutting head to cut 4mm fiberglass parts and metal, laser cutting head to cut 2-3mm MS/SS/aluminum sheets, tig welding torch (not necessary), milling tool for wooden/foam patterns and 3D printing in plastic for patterns with work area approximately 1 cubic meter or more. If everything is not possible or proves to be very expensive, only milling and laser cutting heads will be ok for me as these will be used regularly.

Or if I can do this with a CNC router, let me know what will be the best options for me. 5 Axis minimum is required for my products.

What will be the total setup cost if I go with used / new machinery? Router / Robot.

Please let me know which will be the most economical robot for our purpose and head attachments for different work mentioned above. Where can I find used machines and used heads? What do I need to check for before buying a robot? What all comes with the machine?

I can find a CNC operator here in India who can operate the machine.

I'd be very grateful for any suggestions and help.

Looking forward for reply.

Thank you and Best Wishes from India

[Desertboy]

The biggest issue with a robot is control, 2nd hand robot's are not so hard to find but how are you going to control who is going to set it up and generate the gcode? One of my friends was looking at a 2nd hand robot and in the end it was cheaper to buy a new one at over £200k than the work needed getting a 2nd hand one working given they had contracts to run it 24/7.

A quick google brings up quite a few robot's
https://www.machines4u.com.au/view/advert/M-16i-R-J3-FANUC-Robot-System/358337/

A robot is only as good as it's software.

A 5 axis router might do everything you need and be a lot simpler solution software wise but try finding a decent one in your price bracket.

One thing going for you is your in India and you have a lot of smart computer guys that might be able to get this working for you at a reasonable price in the UK if you were paying the £100 an hour rates this would get old very quickly.