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BEST CNC TABLE TOP MILLS FOR Under $7,000

MainDave

Plastic
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Hey Y'all,
I am in search for some cnc table top mills for a reasonable price, Preferably North American made. (if there is such a thing) We use them for only automated peck cycles and that's about it. We have 6 table top mills from CNC Masters and we just cant keep dumping money into them as they seem to not be able to withstand the 10 hour a day use. The first two CNC Master drills we bought have almost no issues and it seems that the newer the mill to more problems we have with them, the quality seems to be going down hill the newer the machine. (all were purchased separately throughout the last ten years) Also I was notified while trying to order parts from them that some parts that they do not have in stock will be extremely more overpriced than usual if even able to get them due to the Chinese trade stuff going on. If anyone has any suggestions for something that may be more suitable for my type of application it would be greatly appreciated.
-Dave
 
It’s about 5x the price but a Trak 2op would be a good choice and it would increase your output potentially making the price a moot point. It would run itself less being loaded and started and you can load it with up to 8 tools so if you have multiple hole sizes on various parts you could set one stop switch your tool offset and be running something different in a matter of minutes and you can leave it setup as to cycle around from one part to the next. Spending 7,000 on junky tabletop mills in my opinion is going to turn into a net loss.
 
It’s funny how they blame trade with China as a reason to increase prices on “American” made machines.. and they happen to be really close to a port..
 
It is funny isn't it? im not about to start paying an arm and a leg for garbage Chinese made parts. the only reason we used them for as long as we did was the affordability. now its kind of a no brainer. CNC Masters also tends to update their controls often enough for us to have to "Upgrade our control" because they do not provide parts for the most up to date mill we own. (Less than a year and a half old).
 
If you state your application, desired speed, and work envelope someone smarter than me can probably give you a real answer.
 
Hi MainDave:
So do I understand you're using these only as drilling platforms and there are no tool changes involved?
Are you drilling simple low tolerance hole patterns?
Did you choose to buy multiple copies of a low grade hobby machine for a particular business reason, rather than springing for a more capable but more expensive higher output machining center?

I ask all these questions because there are multiple ways to skin this cat.
If you were to buy something like a Brother Speedio or a Fanuc Robodrill. you cold make more holes per hour than a whole room full of CNC Masters machines but you'd drop 150K to do it.

If you bought a lesser machine for say 100K (Haas DT1 or DM1 or even Minimill) you'd still be miles ahead by most measures that a typical machine shop cares about.

If you went all the way down to a Tormach, you'd be in the same boat you're in now, but you could buy ten of them for what you'd spend on the Brother.

Only you can do the math about which is going to ultimately be the best way for your circumstances.

But as a reality check, my former business partner bought a used 2001 vintage Haas Minimill for $8500.00 a few years ago...it's a bit noisy but I'd still rather have one of those than your roomful of CNC Masters machines if my goal was to make lots of holes efficiently and accurately.

Cheers

Marcus
Implant Mechanix • Design & Innovation > HOME
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining
 








 
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