Vertical Machining Center Info

hi guys looking at buying a vertical machining center and just wondered if anyone could tell me which way to go gearbox or not
i know it depends on what your doing just need info as the gearbox option is more money but is it worth the extra cash

are you looking at a specific machine

We have been looking at the leadwell V30i which has a gearbox and the V42i has no gearbox but is a bigger machine

a bit big for me to help, sorry.

Hi

I have two Hurcos (a VM1 & a VM10) as well as a Haas mini mill, to be honest the Haas is a bit of a sowing machine but it has a place for our small work. I can't fault the Hurcos - the VM range is the entry level machines without a gear box but we have tapped upto M30 x 3.5mm threads in steel - the only problem being the tap slipping in the collet chuck..................I'm sure hurco wouldn't approve but it has been possible. If your after high metal removal rates and want to take large cuts to achieve it most lighter weight VMC's may struggle a bit but to get around this we use Seco and WNT high feed milling cutters, the depth of cut varies from 0.5mm to 1.5mm but we've had feed rates up to 6500mm/min!!!:cool: These cutters have saved us no end of time, in some cases halved the running times on the programs

Here's a video of one of our Hurcos running the high feed cutters ~ http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/media....details&mid=62

What sort of work are you wanting to do?

We are looking to tap M16 thread through 40mm deep holes in SUPER DUPLEX ASTM A182 F55.

been looking at the Hurco VMX30T no gear box but high torque at low speed spindle instead would this be any good at working on the tougher materials

I'd have thought so, you need the torque to give the drive at lower speeds which tougher materials generally will be run at due to the lower surface speeds. The rep for Hurco is a guy called colin brice - nice bloke, would be worth while having a chat to him. The programming system is excellent too, vedry very easy and quick to program