[druuzy]

I am a recent college graduate starting a decorative concrete business. I plan to use a CNC router to machine 3D carvings for concrete molds for fence panels, etc. I don't need a vacuum table or ATC. Laguna has given me the option of an HSD 3hp spindle to replace the standard Hiwin liquid cooled.

I keep going back and forth with my confidence in a Laguna Swift.

Does anybody have a Swift in operation? If so, what is your opinion of the machine or Laguna as a whole?

I have also been considering a Techno HD series (also 60x120). The option of increased Z height is very appealing.

I have read the threads pertaining to Laguna, but it seems those all revolve around "their" old design.

Laguna Swift shipped is $18.5k. Techno HD with standard Z (7.25") is around $27k shipped.

Thank you for your time and opinion/experiences.

[gfacer2]

I thought Laguna's issue was as much their proprietary control then anything. Have they changed that? Otherwise I have no direct experience.

[armbrusterco]

Wishing yo great success with your new venture. Glad to see more entrepreneurs going into the concrete field.

I have used an older Techno Isel Gantry III model 130 with a raised gantry (40" x 50" x 10" work envelope) for intricate decorative concrete molds machined out of HDU. They are a type of face mold insert for precast panels, more 2D than 3D in shape.
Although my work is not high quantity production, I have been very happy with the Techno Isel that I have and it is a much lighter machine than what you are considering. Although it is a short bed machine, I make longer molds, when needed, by using a tiling strategy for cutting.

When I was looking, I preferred the Techno over the Laguna because of what I found Techno users were doing with their machines. I only saw one Laguna equipped woodworking shop that was producing anything close to what I needed to do (they do great carving work). My second favorite is the Camaster line of machines.

Have you figured out what the mold materials, cutting speeds, depth, etc. will be for the projects you have in mind? Have you seen any machines producing similar things and learned what equipment they use? I ask because I have found that for my own work, my machine speeds were not the limit on the time it takes to produce my projects. Because of the intricacies of the shapes, the machine rarely gets anywhere close to the maximum speeds because it is so often changing direction.

You can see some videos on my youtube channel "ArmbrusterCompany" There are three short ones cutting a mold for the Vietnam War Memorial project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va5Yg2dBvNo is the first of the three. At that time I was using a PAE cnc machine and it worked very well.

You can see more about the Vietnam War Memorial project at Vietnam War Battle Maps Mosaic Concrete Murals. Our website has some other types of projects, too. We are just shipping precast mosaic concrete panels for a Navy Memorial to the Battle of Midway that we will install on Midway Atoll.

Bob