Hi swamp dweller:
I have this machine's more advanced big brother; a 1996 vintage MS4 Foreman.
Here's my experience with it:
First, the good:
- It burns nicely and I can do decent but not spectacular work with it.
- It's easy to set up and easy to program, using a proprietary coding language that's sort of conversational.
- Service from Arrow EDM has been first-rate.
Here's the not-so-good:
- Its accuracy is not great; I can work conveniently to +/- 0.0005" but tenths are pretty much out of the question on this machine without a terrific amount of farting about.
- It's basically a manual machine with motion control; in other words you must explicitly tell it the power settings you want to use and adjust the orbit to get your target size and finish.
Modern controls by contrast ask you to input your desired outcome and then figure out their own way to get there, adjusting on the fly to keep the burn going efficiently.
- It has rather poor arc sensing ability and no strategy to mitigate those kinds of problems.
- Ram speed is not great; ramping up the servo response during fine burns (with tiny spark gaps) risks crashing the trode because it's just not capable of sensing the gap fast enough, never mind slowing the Z axis motor down fast enough.
So pulse flushing is OK but not great; nothing even remotely close to a linear motor Sodick for example.
- It's very limited in what sort of orbit patterns are available, and the most useful of them all (spherical orbit) is not among them.
- It's a tiny machine with a tiny payload and a tiny trode weight limit.
Your machine frame is the same as mine, so you'll have the same limitations I do.
Another important point; a ZNC sinker is awfully limited.
The ability to do sideways burns and vectored burns is SUPER useful, and a ZNC machine can't do that.
So if you want to do basic sinker work it'll be a decent fit.
If you want to do sophisticated work like moldmaking, you won't be competitive.
Cheers
Marcus
Implant Mechanix • Design & Innovation > HOME
www.vancouverwireedm.com
