Looking for recommendation on small HSM milling machine

L

leeko

Stainless

Joined

Jun 30, 2012

Location

Chicago, USA

• Apr 9, 2020

• #1

Hi all,

I'm seeking advice on a new 3-axis CNC mill for my lab. Our requirements are as follows:

- small work envelope - largest workpiece will be 6" x 6" x 2", most will be significantly smaller than that
- high rpm spindle up to 50,000rpm
- we will mostly be using endmills around 1/16"
- good feed speeds/acceleration
- flood coolant capable
- materials we will work with include plastics, wood, bone, aluminium. We may do an occasional piece in steel, but infrequent and not a dealbreaker
- ATC not a primary need
- price <$25,000 if possible. I don't know how reasonable that is.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Lee

 

EmGo

Diamond

Joined

Apr 14, 2018

Location

in the middle of the edge of the center

• Apr 9, 2020

• #2

leeko said:

Hi all,

I'm seeking advice on a new 3-axis CNC mill for my lab.

Click to expand...

Haas Office Mill fits everything except price

Twice as much. They started out cheap but worked so well Haas jacked the price way up. I think they are about $50,000 now.

is that ridiculous or what ?

 

C

CNC Hacker

Cast Iron

Joined

Oct 28, 2013

Location

Hartford, CT

• Apr 9, 2020

• #3

Sounds very appropriate for a Datron machine.

 

L

leeko

Stainless

Joined

Jun 30, 2012

Location

Chicago, USA

• Apr 9, 2020

• #4

CNC Hacker said:

Sounds very appropriate for a Datron machine.

Click to expand...

I would agree, but I think Datron's are about 5-10x my budget

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

ChipSplitter

Titanium

Joined

May 23, 2019

Location

Maybe

• Apr 9, 2020

• #5

leeko said:

- materials we will work with include plastics, wood, bone, aluminium.

Click to expand...

Whaaa.....




On topic again.
I was going to suggest Brother until I saw your price limit.
IMO you'll have a hard time finding a good machine for your price unless its a router.

 

L

leeko

Stainless

Joined

Jun 30, 2012

Location

Chicago, USA

• Apr 9, 2020

• #6

I'm not averse to the idea of a router, but I'm not aware of any small work envelope, rapid feed routers with a 50,000rpm spindle. Our tolerances don't need to be super tight.

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D

DanielG

Stainless

Joined

Oct 22, 2014

Location

Maine

• Apr 9, 2020

• #7

The Haas Compact Mill (formerly the Office Mill) is pretty much designed for your use case. If this is an academic lab, Haas has some very good pricing for educational institutions.

 

L

leeko

Stainless

Joined

Jun 30, 2012

Location

Chicago, USA

• Apr 9, 2020

• #8

Thanks, I'll take a look at their edu pricing. I had looked at it briefly, but it seemed too far out of my budget so I didn't spend much time on it

Thanks again

Lee

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mhajicek

Diamond

Joined

May 11, 2017

Location

Maple Grove, MN, USA

• Apr 9, 2020

• #9

Sounds like you need to find a used office/compact mill.

 

EmGo

Diamond

Joined

Apr 14, 2018

Location

in the middle of the edge of the center

• Apr 9, 2020

• #10

mhajicek said:

Sounds like you need to find a used office/compact mill.

Click to expand...

We looked for one a while back ... they were pretty rare, and the sellers knew what they had. It's still a possibility but don't hold your breath on that.

We found one other similar one, I think it was a Fidia ? Then the next jump up is - are you sitting down ? about 120 grand ? or more ? Yikes.

 

E

empower

Titanium

Joined

Sep 8, 2018

Location

Novi, MI

• Apr 10, 2020

• #11

leeko said:

Hi all,

I'm seeking advice on a new 3-axis CNC mill for my lab. Our requirements are as follows:

- small work envelope - largest workpiece will be 6" x 6" x 2", most will be significantly smaller than that
- high rpm spindle up to 50,000rpm
- we will mostly be using endmills around 1/16"
- good feed speeds/acceleration
- flood coolant capable
- materials we will work with include plastics, wood, bone, aluminium. We may do an occasional piece in steel, but infrequent and not a dealbreaker
- ATC not a primary need
- price <$25,000 if possible. I don't know how reasonable that is.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Lee

Click to expand...

have you thought about your run of the mill small machine with a spindle speeder to get the rpms you want?

 

mhajicek

Diamond

Joined

May 11, 2017

Location

Maple Grove, MN, USA

• Apr 10, 2020

• #12

It's on the hobby grade side, but you might consider a Syil X5 with the 30K RPM BT-30 spindle option.

 

TeachMePlease

Diamond

Joined

Feb 11, 2014

Location

FL

• Apr 10, 2020

• #13

Get something used in your price range, add an NSK high speed spindle, either electric or air powered.

One of these is not stupid expensive, and will run your small tools quickly and accurately, albeit with not a lot of torque.

http://www.nskamericacorp.com/product/category/iSpeed3/19

 

L

leeko

Stainless

Joined

Jun 30, 2012

Location

Chicago, USA

• Apr 11, 2020

• #14

Thanks everyone

If I was buying for me, I'd definitely be looking at the used market. Unfortunately, it will be getting purchased with grant money which limits the purchase options somewhat.
I've looked into the Syil machines before, and they might do most of what I need. I've read some negative comments about their customer support, but they all seem to be from several years back. Anyone have more recent experience with them? Also, on the website, a 24k rpm spindle is the highest offered with the x5.
A spindle speeder looks like a great option - that may well be the route we need to go.

Thanks again!

Lee

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