Richard Morris
Plastic
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2019
have a CNC Masters Baron XL 4 axis mill for 6 or so years that I have upgraded with their latest hardware which allowed me to run their latest software. I recently upgraded my 4th axis rotary table to the current table.
That said, I use the mill with a lot of success not daily, but weekly. I mill material from plastics to aluminum to 4140. So I can probably help anyone with questions that you have about the machine.
Also, if you have actual support from CNC Masters, call or email Omar. He is absolutely fantastic and over the years has been the reason I stuck with them.
So, I really like the machine and HIGHLY recommend them. Plus, they have now introduced a number of new models. The new software now has “wizards” which allow you to do the common operations in a simple easy to understand way. (Go to their website and get a demo version. It’s not crippled in any way, you just need their hardware). The MX Software also will draw the part. If you push “start” from the drawing, it will show you the real-time progress on the drawing. Most impressive! It also accurately shows how long your program has been running and the total time required. (Just doing the draw function will tell you how long a part takes).
By the way, I initially bought my Baron XL mill from eBay. I found that it was an older machine 2012) and it really hadn’t been used much. But the previous owner had done something to the Leeson motor controller and replaced it with a cheap VFD which meant that their program could no longer talk to the motor. The PO had also thrown out the Leeson to CNC Masters interface board. So unless I bought a new Leeson controller with that board from CNC Masters I would never regain motor control. Long story short: I ended up configuring my cheap VFD to change RPM using a remote potentiometer. I did that as well as adding a cheap hall-effect RPM meter to a plexiglass panel that’s mounted to the side with a motor on off switch and pot and switch for the meter. I did find that the RPM meter didn’t work with the metal cover on the top. So I machined a 1/4” piece of plexiglass to replace the metal top cover (on the mill of course). That works well and now I can see the spindle pulley safely while it’s running. Plus, I can fine tune the spindle RPM by twisting a knob and see the exact RPM! (I find that very cool). I can also see if the RPM drops due to heavy cuts. Or if I get chatter, adjust spindle speed so I don’t have chatter. (Wow!)
Also worth mentioning is unless you buy support or like I did buy new controller hardware, CNC Masters will not be willing to help you <much>. I resisted getting support for almost 3 years. But I ran a demo of their new MX software and it was very very advanced compared with the old version. So that was the tipping point to me. I bit the bullet and got support. It continues to astound me that Omar continues to go so far beyond in support. Once you pay support, it’s apparently a lifetime time (yours or theirs). It simply doesn’t transfer with a machine
Richard Morris
Honda600performance.com
That said, I use the mill with a lot of success not daily, but weekly. I mill material from plastics to aluminum to 4140. So I can probably help anyone with questions that you have about the machine.
Also, if you have actual support from CNC Masters, call or email Omar. He is absolutely fantastic and over the years has been the reason I stuck with them.
So, I really like the machine and HIGHLY recommend them. Plus, they have now introduced a number of new models. The new software now has “wizards” which allow you to do the common operations in a simple easy to understand way. (Go to their website and get a demo version. It’s not crippled in any way, you just need their hardware). The MX Software also will draw the part. If you push “start” from the drawing, it will show you the real-time progress on the drawing. Most impressive! It also accurately shows how long your program has been running and the total time required. (Just doing the draw function will tell you how long a part takes).
By the way, I initially bought my Baron XL mill from eBay. I found that it was an older machine 2012) and it really hadn’t been used much. But the previous owner had done something to the Leeson motor controller and replaced it with a cheap VFD which meant that their program could no longer talk to the motor. The PO had also thrown out the Leeson to CNC Masters interface board. So unless I bought a new Leeson controller with that board from CNC Masters I would never regain motor control. Long story short: I ended up configuring my cheap VFD to change RPM using a remote potentiometer. I did that as well as adding a cheap hall-effect RPM meter to a plexiglass panel that’s mounted to the side with a motor on off switch and pot and switch for the meter. I did find that the RPM meter didn’t work with the metal cover on the top. So I machined a 1/4” piece of plexiglass to replace the metal top cover (on the mill of course). That works well and now I can see the spindle pulley safely while it’s running. Plus, I can fine tune the spindle RPM by twisting a knob and see the exact RPM! (I find that very cool). I can also see if the RPM drops due to heavy cuts. Or if I get chatter, adjust spindle speed so I don’t have chatter. (Wow!)
Also worth mentioning is unless you buy support or like I did buy new controller hardware, CNC Masters will not be willing to help you <much>. I resisted getting support for almost 3 years. But I ran a demo of their new MX software and it was very very advanced compared with the old version. So that was the tipping point to me. I bit the bullet and got support. It continues to astound me that Omar continues to go so far beyond in support. Once you pay support, it’s apparently a lifetime time (yours or theirs). It simply doesn’t transfer with a machine
Richard Morris
Honda600performance.com
