New machine upgrade from hobby

I started a motorcycle parts business 8 years ago. Got a small Novakon mill that I used for 3 years. So painfully slow. Upgraded to the big novakon and my business took off. Have been doing production (short runs) on it and it is very tired (and honestly I haven't had the best of luck with it). At peak times (spring and fall), I am straight out. I have a full time job so I don't really see my family for like a month and when I do I am completely spent. Looking at doing a new machine and am looking at haas, primarily because I am not a machinist by any stretch and they have more videos on how to do stuff than anybody else by a long shot. I do all aluminum. I outsource stainless steel axles and any deep aluminum parts. I have one part that is 2.125 deep that would take forever on my Novakon but I will probably take this in house once I get a better machine. I am all over the map as far as what I am thinking of getting and I am just spinning my head around. Would like some advice from you guys if possible.

Parts: All aluminum (6061), usually 1/2-3/4" thick with some odd shaped parts, none over 10" in length. Want to do more parts that will be thicker up to maybe 3" deep. Current cutting is limited to 3/8" under tooling and still bogs down if my mmr goes above like 1.5. Tolerances are pretty loose.
Space: garage shop, can fit up to a TM-3p (but really tight), 200amp service in garage (400 in house), 10ft ceilings,7.5 garage door
CAD/CAM: Fusion360

Want: to not spend my life in the shop watching the machine, lights out machining possible, WIPS definitely, chip auger, good flood coolant

Machines and reasons"

TM-3P : The main reason this is still on the table is because I could do swingarms and wheels. Not sure how many of these I could sell, but I could definitely sell a few. Also allow me to diversify into other markets like railings (I made the ones in my house),etc. Single phase power makes it the easiest of my choices. Cons: still dealing with a small (still way larger than my novakon) mmr. This machine would probably be twice as fast as my present machine. Would do 10k spindle, high pressure coolant pump, chip auger, maybe 20 tool changer

Super mini mill 2: Comes with the 10k spindle and 20 tool changer. Way faster than the TM, but how much faster? I believe a more rigid machine (especially with the TM hanging all that table). Would definitely give a lot more of my life back. Cons: Can't do swingarms/etc, phase perfect is not cheap.

VF-1/2: Comes iwith the 8.1k spindle. Most rigid. Will rip through anything I throw at it. Will it actually be faster than the SMM2 because of the lower spindle speed and only doing aluminum. Quick calculations show if I am removing a ton of material it will be able to hog it out, but most of my parts don't require a lot of material removal. Concerned about the basement floor and if the bigger phase perfect will dip the voltage on spindle startup too low. Not sure where my transformer is on the street. Cons: same as SMM with an even more expensive phase perfect

DT-2: I know this is kind of the redheaded stepchild but I like this machine because it is very similar to the SMM but the footprint really is nice for my shop. The rapids scare the crap out of me. Tooling isn't too much of a problem. It is a bit more expensive for the 30 taper I hear, but I don't have any tooling anyway so it isn't like I have other 40 taper in the shop I wouldn't be able to use. Has a bit more Z than the SMM. It is direct drive. Would be able to do swingarms, but not wheels. Cons: phase perfect price

The crazy thing is that these are all pretty similar price machines other than the TM not needing a phase perfect. The DT and the SMM are real close. VF isn't that much more but add $2k alone for the upgrade on the PP. Even in the future if I do any harder materials, it wouldn't be more than 5-10% of the work tops. The thing that is really hard to figure is the TM since I can't find a video or anything of it with the 10k spindle. The biggest thing is I don't want to overbuy, but I definitely don't want to be upgrading again in 5 years.

Thanks guys
Keith

We have been very happy with our TM-2P, 6K spindle, 20 tool changer. Could use the 10K spindle. Mostly 6061, some 304SS, and some plastics. With the proper tools and good tool paths it will remove a lot of material in a hurry. Not uncommon to cut 2x to 3x deep with a 5/8 aluminum rougher.

Well I just signed on a dt-1. Haas practically paid me to take it. 12k spindle, TSC, chip auger, pcool, HSM, WIPS for under $50k with delivery and setup. So psyched!

-Keith

Nice machine! Congratulations.

:cheers:

Heck of a deal, that's about what we paid for our year old used TM-2P delivered & setup.

Hi Keith - Why not contract everything out? The production machine at commercial shops will outdo your machines and you will be able to see your Fam? Maybe make more $$$ maybe less $$$ but then you get time to yourself!! which is priceless...Peter

One of the things that has made me successful is flexibility. I have 8 different designs on foot controls and offer custom sizing/offsets. So I am very lean in terms of how much I cut at a time. To really outsource I would probably have to lay down $20-30k on each order and if I ran out of one design (or someone wanted something custom), I would be kinda screwed. I do outsource common parts but I would always need the ability to do stuff myself. Prototyping is a nightmare if you don't have your own machine as well. My quick estimates make it look like (without optimizing) this mill will cut 5 times faster than my previous one. That will free up a lot of the time I want back.