We are looking at buying a machine for a range of Aluminium components in a small established business. Small volume (5-50pcs), mostly a mix of fairly complicated and simple prismatic. The two machines styles I am looking at are a VMC Brother with 4th or Kitamura HMC HX300IG.
Regarding the brother, I am concerned about the depth limitations of the BT30 spindle for a part that requires deep pocketing. The current design has a 3.5" pocket as shown in the attached image with some threads on the inside. Any comments as to whether we can machine this feature on this machine? I'm not after productivity, just capability with a good finish. Internal accuracy is not important as there are not fit-up considerations for this part. I am aware we will benefit from higher speeds and through tool cooling for chip evacuation.
Regarding the brother, I am concerned about the depth limitations of the BT30 spindle for a part that requires deep pocketing. The current design has a 3.5" pocket as shown in the attached image with some threads on the inside. Any comments as to whether we can machine this feature on this machine? I'm not after productivity, just capability with a good finish. Internal accuracy is not important as there are not fit-up considerations for this part. I am aware we will benefit from higher speeds and through tool cooling for chip evacuation.