[m-cglade]

Hi,

I'm interested in buying a personal CNC like the Tomach PCNC 1100 for small production runs and projects . I have already got a benchtop manual lathe and milling machine but would like to purchase a CNC if it makes sense. I have a few questions if someone could answer would be much appreciated.

1) How easy is the software to learn? I use Autodesk Inventor for modelling and I have seen that theres a programme called InventorCAM that can be used. Has anyone used this? Is it pretty straight forward if you have used inventor and have some knowledge in lathe work?

2) Is the Tomach PCNC 1100 the best option for me? I want something quite compact. I will mainly be cutting soft metals like copper and aluminium with the occasional stainless steel project. My budget is around £15,000. Does anyone know of a better CNC machine?

3) I will be doing a combination of lathe work and milling. Does this mean I would have to purchase a CNC milling machine and CNC lathe as I would if I were to carry on doing it manually? Or could the milling machine with the 4th axis be used to do lathe work?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[kareljenicku]

hi.

Heidenhain itnc530 --- Sinumeric is for free version in DEMO. - Limitation is in the lenght of code. Quite hard to get into though.
You will be ok with open source cam software. If u will do DIY things at home.

[Tkamsker]

Hi assume you are from uk so How much do you think is your milling Task compared to lathe Tasks ? There are some Tasks which can be done on 4th axis almost or e Qual than lathe. Some Parts require a lathe and How many of Same Parts are expected. I often let the Mill run while i Do some work on the lathe Which on top has an milling head. And they are produced in Europa ! Thomas

[m-cglade]

Hi Tkmaster, Yes I'm from the UK. I would say it's 50-50 between lathe and mill tasks which is why its hard to choose. I cant afford both but you can't do any mill work on a lathe (unless I've not seen some fancy convertion you can do) so It either means buying a lathe and having to get a third party to create the milling jobs or get the Mill machine and hope I can do my lathe jobs on it too. From asking people it sounds like I can do lathe work on a mill but its pretty un-conventional and will take alot of practice to get a quality part. I am swaying towards a milling machine but I need one thats the right price i.e £15,000 or less. Tormach sound really good but there based in the USA which could pose a problem.

[Tkamsker]

Hi
i think it depends,
it sounds that you think of both cnc and no manual tasks.
When you have cylindric stuff you can do a lot on an 4th axis ,.. here (my old homepage ) see what i have done http://www.tkamsker.at:8080/web/pub/roundino-120
problem is when you have long pieces they bend
so i do have an Tormach size Mill where i can also put the 4th axis on which is full cnc
and i have done my lathe which is cnc and manual as well
there i can also do mill jobs
so i would say depending on what you do number of pieces in same configuration number of pieces in general will depend what you need
but you also need an capable cam program to be effective i overlooked that in my case (did cost me another 3k Euro !)
probably in your case is the best to have an cncn mill 4th axis and an lathe which later can be changed to cnc if needed depending on your needs.
if you need ball cones a lot of threads you also need an cnc lathe

and i am about (if all legal stuff works ) to work direct with an factory here in austria which still produces lathe and mills where i do the cnc ing for them
probably that is an solution which suits your needs
thomas