First CNC Machine

Hi everyone, just a quick newby question if anyone can help, we run a turbocharger repair shop and have been manually machining/profiling compressor covers and turbine housings for larger wheels for over 20 years. Being so busy and not being able to find good workers, we were thinking of buying a CNC machine to help with the work load. As most of the turbocharger housings are smallish we don't need a big machine but really not sure what to purchase. We have been told by our local tool shop to purchase this machine http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Print?Code=M905&All but we really don't know. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Why would you buy a mill for round parts? I have turned compressor housings usually in a lathe.
For what you intend to do you dont need too many tools me thinks.
You need to calculate also the training to the overall cost.

Marko

Procharge-

Not the answer your looking for, but I am going to offer anyway. Get out to a couple CNC machine shops and see how these things work. It will help give you an idea of some of the restrictions and benefits of different machines. I did that years ago when buying my first. I went used machine shopping with a dealer and as I went to each shop I narrowed down my choices...what I thought was best would not have suited me well.

Funny, all the work I have done on turbos have been turning operations, I was not expecting to see a mill pop up.


As to the brand...sorry, it is not one I have heard of to comment on....but that really never stops me.

Whichever brand you buy, make sure you can get support for it.

Lots of crap in these machines that can go wrong, its nice to be able to make a call and have someone walk you through a fix, whether a program error, software glitch or a stuck proximity sensor. Nice to be able to buy stocked parts without having them shipped in from overseas...

Hey Marko, Thank You for your reply, I can also purchase a CNC lath but with many different compressor cover designs it is sometimes hard to hold the part. I have seen other turbocharger manufactures using CNC mills to do there profiling, maybe I am wrong??

Thanks mate for your reply, very true (mill) I though the same thing as I have only every used lathes for machining housings on turbochargers, I saw a performance turbocharger manufacture showing how they "machine" there housings and they used a CNC mill which I though strange, the only reason I thought they did it that way fo holding the part. Thanks again mate, it's all about learning!!

Depends on what portion of the housing you need to machine. I use my mill to profile the turbine inlet/wastegate port and the compressor outlet port.

A manufacturer of high performance turbos might choose to do it all on a 4 or 5 axis mill to avoid moving the part between two different machines.

Thanks Vancbiker, at the moment we use a mill to do the same areas, i mainly need it to do the profile for larger wheels. Having done some more research I think you are correct as why they use a mill type cnc.

I know y'all do weird stuff down there standing on your head...

But to me that is what I lump into the "Sir Mills A-Lot" category..

A randomly branded fuck all machine that comes from god knows where and that you will
never get any support for in 2 years.. Wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

Post a thread here... "Who has a Opti-Mill - Optimum CNC
Milling Machine (415V)" And if you don't have 12 responses within
12 hours, DO NOT BUY IT.

Those damn things aren't free, and even worse, they don't fix themselves, you need an entire support
network behind you that wants to see that piece of shit keep running. Parts and support is what scares
me on that machine.

The industry turns the blanks them mills them. That's just how it was started but mill turn has exceeded that. I know its silly but you could buy an old Mazak lathe for $15K, an automatic bandsaw for $10K, an older Fadal with a trunnion for $25K then get an updated control for it for $15K or a Haas mini mill with a 5 axis trunion and you could make your props for $50K minus tooling, programming, rigging, air supply...ect.

Well if it's bigger wheels you want inside the housing I would go with a lathe first. You can hold many type housings from the intake or the exhaust, and if not there's always some kind of jig you can rigg up.
Or other choise would be a mill with millturn capable fourth axis.

More easy to turn the inducer and exducer on a housing than mill it don't you think?
Its 3d milling or a proper radius cutter in my mind.

Name brand machine with support, even a used one over an unknown brand new machine any day.

Marko

Procharge said:

We have been told by our local tool shop to purchase this machine http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Print?Code=M905&All but we really don't know. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Click to expand...

I'm kind of dirty on the down-under marketing of that. German Designed & Engineered, Optimum Maschinen Germany. Yada yada.

The machines Chinese. Yangzhou Euro Brother Machines and Tool Co. make it. I'd agree there's been a Euro involvement in its development. It carries a Seimens 808D control. And as far as Chinese machines go, it seems to be finished off better than most. Its higher end, as far as a $35,990 AUD CNC mills go. (That's $27k USD at today's exchange rate). It competes with Tormach down here.

I'd worry about H & F's abilities to support it. Every thing else they have has Fanuc controls. You have the CNC Design agency supporting Seimens, but it doesn't matter to them if you have an 808Digital on a $36k Chinese mill, or a 840D on a Trumpf laser or Index MS52 six spindle in excess of a $mil each. They are $160-$200 hour plus.

Which State are you in? You just missed the Austech exhibition two weeks back. There was an Optimum lathe on display.

What does it tell you when H & F calls it am M905, but any of the pictures or Optimum sites list that machine as an Opti-Mill F80??

Regards Phil.

The Quantum/Optimum machines are widely used here in Germany and they are all made in China. I have two of their small machines, a lathe and a mill, both in the sub-€1500 price range and both good for what they cost. But are they "professional" machines? No. Do they do what I ask of them? Yes! It is possible to get spare parts for them here in Germany which is a big plus in the Chinese machine tool world but I very much doubt if there is any service, which means you have to install the spare parts yourself. Still, the fact that a parts warehouse and all exists in Germany is a big plus and I would consider buying one of their medium sized analog lathes if I were in the market for such a machine.

I would think long and hard before I spent the kind of money you're talking about on the Optimum CMC mill. Do they have service techs who can come to your shop to repair and service the machine? I have never seen the mill you are looking at in person, so I can't make a firm judgement on the quality.

I do have two Haas CNC milling machines, a TM-1 and an older Mini Mill. Both are fantastic. It sounds to me like you should look at Haas TM-1, perhaps even try and find a good 2005-6 TM-1 without an enclosure if money is too tight. I mill steel, titanium, plastics and alu all the time and bought the TM-1 new in 2005. It shows zero wear. True, you cannot run a 10mm chip in stainless steel with that machine, but I very much doubt the Optimum will do that either.

With Haas, you have excellent service and support and the machines hold their value very well. I suggest you talk to your local Haas dealer and see what they can offer.