Was going to reply yesterday and my DSL went down. Currently using backup earthlink dialup account.Harlow's on all the time maybe he can address some of philbur's concerns.
Not intended for hogging. Correct. There is always bigger and heavier. Recently exchanged emails with an IH owner looking for a supplement to his IH. I don’t BS anyone. Below is some of my reply.You said it "obviously stiffness may be an issue however I don't think this machine and base was intended for hogging operations". I would also add a question about precision.
“It wouldn't come close to a IH but run properly it will do fine.”
“It still won't be the machine a IH is. Not enough mass.”
Precision – The way this machine is designed / built it can be set up to be as accurate as you are patient to make it. Everything is tweak-able. Parallel mills have been dead on. Surfacing has been dead on to acceptable. Squares are square.
Intended for – Gosh. I drive Corvettes and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Vette Brochure say “Intended to go Fast and Scare The Hell out of your passenger”. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen what a Vette is intended for. Sorry I missed that. Must have had a brain fort.Trouble is the web site doesn't say what it is intended for, and gives no performance figures.
Performance Figures – IPM are stated on the site. There is zero backlash in the movements. The only exception is the Spider in the motor couplings. I have a solution for that.
Aluminum Rails – Aluminum rails were not our original plan. We used them for mockup and prototyping. After seeing how well they were working I decided to stay with them. Stainless or drill rod would not improve performance and would add considerably to the cost.A x2 is not known for material removal rates to start with. Now you install aluminium rails and hang the table way out there on the x-axis and y-axis. Looks like turning a small ok mill into a small so so router to me.
"hang the table way out there on the x-axis and y-axis" – The rails are designed so that more than 50% of table is always supported. We extended the rails lengths some more so I don’t know the exact figures at this time but on the “hang way out there” statement, that just is not happening. The “Y” rails are 18 ½” on center. The “X” slides are 26” long and travel 13”+ in each direction. The “X” rails are 30” long (Up from 26”). You do the math. I don’t have time. I’m happy.
"Looks like turning a small ok mill into a small so so router to me." No comment. I don't play pointless non-productive thread slamming games.
"I'm not knocking it" Refer to "Looks like turning a small ok mill into a small so so router to me."I'm not knocking it just suggesting that a critical eye followed by a more in depth investigation might help avoid disappointment.
30 Days – No Questions Asked - Money Back Guarantee – Customer would be out return shipping only. Been wanting to add this to the site just haven’t taken the time. I am zeroed in on production and will stay there until it is done.
“Sell what you have.” Why? Besides, I believe at least 1/2 our sales are going to scratch builders.To try and be constructive, this is a potential upgrade solution. However the base case for any major upgrade solution should be to sell what you have and buy or build what you need. Modification alternatives should then be evaluated against the base case before you conclude.
“Buy or build what you need.” That’s what they are doing. They are buying what they need.
“Modification alternatives should then be evaluated against the base case before you conclude.” –
Believe me. We looked at probably every modification alternative you can think of. Ways vs slides, slides vs bearings, acme vs ballscrews, cut area sizes, table designs, column specs, etc. Every component has been scrutinized and has a reason for why it is. The pictures above are the third prototype. What is being shipped is the 4th and final. This base happened because we needed several small mills to produce a small product that we have yet to introduce. Cost per unit was a factor. Several nice IH, Bridgeport, Tormachs or several small mills capable of doing what we need just as good.
Saris – Surfacing your own t-slots makes the table align perfectly with the head. Flatness across travel seems to be dead on. The rails are straight and the slides are cast on the rails.
Column – We will be offering a kit to add mass to the column consisting of re-bar, epoxy and fillers. We are also looking at several options on the column mount. Will probably get to the mass kit pretty quick and leave the mount till after the enclosure. Column mass = no brainer = easy. Column mount = not easy. Enclosure = High priority.
later,
Harlow
http://cncbridges.com/