And by "modern" I mean with most features and cutting speeds that a 2009 WEDM would have. Also desirable would be less seperate components....annoying to have water, generator, control, wire basket, chiller...all as seperate components to be wired/plumbed in.

I guess the ideal would be something like the Charmilles Robofil 310...but 3/4 that physical size...and with more reliable auto wire feed and cheaper parts and maintenance prices.

Budget max $35K, but only for very impressive and low hour machine. Prefer to stay less than $25K really.

Except for the seperate water tank, would a mid 90's Fanuc -0B fit the bill ?

===============

Speaking of small Fanuc's, what the heck is the difference in an Alpha 0A, 0B and 0C ? Until just now I assumed the OB was the updated version of the OA with AWF..and that the OA was dicontinued about 1994......but I clicked on an ad at Machinetools.com and was surprised to find a 1996 OA with AWF for sale.

http://www.machinetools.com/us/machines/view/65058

To further confuse matters, the one in the photo appears to be an OC, so that sorta calls into question the ad copy being correct or not as well.

=============================

And then there is the -OiA-S/AWF...what is the "i" and "S" all about and when was it introduced ?

Milacron,

Cutting speeds have tripled in the last 5 years.
You're not going to be able to touch anything in that price range unless it fell off the truck.

The 310 you mentioned is a decent machine, but is non-submersed.
Maybe you've seen my opinion on that.
I love the "cube" design...
Smaller footprint with just a bit more hieght.
Maybe you've also seen the machine I'm looking for.
330F...
There were only a hundred and a half of those made though...
For the price you and I are looking to spend I think it's the most bang for our buck.
I call dibs on the first one on the market...
Please...

I can't say the difference between all of the Fanucs, but I will say those little dudes can take a beating.
Pretty sure they are a lot slower than the same year in Charmilles or Mits.
Of course that doesn't really matter if everything you're going to cut will be under two inches thick.
Got an idea of what your typical job will be?

Re speeds tripling...I didn't realize that...any idea how they have achieved that increase ? Most of my jobs would be under 2 inches thick and speed would not be paramount really...I was mostly thinking in terms of reliable AWF and ease of maintenance.

Something to do with the generators...
Sorry I can not be more specific.
I would be way I out line if I said I knew.

New generators are now also able to cut Ti with out "bluing".
I believe that had to do with DC instead of AC.

The Fanucs I have run all had fairly reliable threaders.
So do Mits and Charmilles.
Unfortunately they all require maintenance.
If you just suck it up and do it once a week your fine.
I personally always had problems with Agies.
I'm sure it was something that I was doing wrong (get that out there before the firestorm of Agie guys comes down upon me).
I believe easiest machine to maintain the guides and threading system is the newer Makino.
I didn't get to play with it much , but the idea of hitting a button and having the guides split and open up for cleaning is awesome.
No squaring the wire after is very appealing...
Unfortunately we aren't touching one of those for the price we're hoping to spend.

Jay,

Was there really only 150 330f made, i looked for one for awhile before buying may Agie Challenge, heck i think there is 10 330F within 1 hour of me. Edm wirecraft has 2 and he was in the ads for charmilles back when the machines were released. Later Jason.

Milacron,

Your question can be more intelligently answered if you can provide some more information. What is your main purpose for this machine? What type of work are you looking to do, and how much work do you have for it? I don't think you will be able to afford a machine with "recent technology" according to your stated price range. A lot depends on what you expect from the machine, your particular application, and how competitive you want to be in the market.

-Brian

demoj21,

Actually the number stated to me by a gent who is very motivated to find me one is "125 made".
There is a shop South of me that is hording them up as well.
They have 11...
I need to go knock on thier door and see if I can steal their worst one.

The 0A never had a threader and had a smaller casting and work envelope than the 0B. Most 0B's have a threader but their are some out there that were non threader. The early 0C's were very much like the 0B before with some exemptions to cutting technology and almost all 0C's have a threader. The later 0C's had a high-speed (for their time) threader and new style upper and lower heads. All machines had a 16-w Fanuc control.

There was never a '96 0A....Ad is false

The i stood for the new version of control (18i-W) in the case of a 0iA. The S has always stood for "submerge". As an example a 0C-S/AWF is a 0 size C machine that is submerged with an AWF.

As for your original question. A mid '90's B machine will not only have a seperate water tank but will also have an Ebbco filter system and chiller. Same goes for a C machine.

Hope this helps.

Interesting info EDMjeep. Do you know if OB or OC had the wire annealing feature for AWF without draining the tank ?

I've got a Methods Fanuc WEDM brochure that has no date code, but it seems like about 1998. It shows Fanuc 0iA-S/AWF and 1iA-S/AWF machines.

So was the 0A discontinued for a few years but then sort of revived in these new "i" versions ?

Seems so odd that they wouldn't have named them 0iC-S/AWF instead...

Yes both a 0B and 0C machines have the capability of threading the wire without draining the tank.

As far as the 0A to 0iA confusion. The iA was released in early '99. Not sure why they did not just continue the model numbers.

Don, if you ever find the machine you're looking for, be sure to fill us in on the details. I'm looking for something very similar to what you're describing. It will only be burning aluminum, , the tolerances aren't tight, the speed isn't very important, and it needs to auto wire thread. I don't want some raggedy old eyesore in my shop that needs to be fixed everytime it needs to run though.

Hey Don, what do you think of this 10 year old Sodick?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sodick-A530D-199...item3ca46a02bc

What say you, EDM gurus? Raggedy old junk, or good deal?

Hi Joe:
I have its baby brother an A320 D.
It's a plain vanilla machine, good for the toolroom work I do, but it's certainly no split-tenths Agie.
Its strength is in its simplicity...there's not all that much to go wrong and it's very easy to program and run.
Replacement parts are not stratospherically priced and mine's given me good productive service for a bit over a year now.
The price is certainly low, but as with all things EBay, you really have no idea what you're getting until it's at your door and the crate's off.
If you're not planning to go up against the guy down the block with the screamin' super dooper half million dollar toy, it will cut just fine...I've made big parts and little parts, rough parts and accurate parts on mine, all with no complaint.
Biggest drawbacks for my kind of work is the limited taper capability (10 degrees max).
Cheers

Marcus
www.implant-mechanix.com

Here's a link for Charmilles fans.
Thought I'd post up as it took me a while to
locate it again. I keep it in my favorties and take a gander
when I need motivation :
http://www.charmillesus.com/service/...alog/index.htm
Hugh

I have a 2005 Brother HS-70AM. small and very accurite. I'm pleased with it.