[tweeb]

I'm looking to mill modeling and tooling board with high repeatability (0.01 mm or less), with a work envelope of about 300x200x100 mm (12x9x5 in). I have around 10,000 USD to spend, and live in the midwest USA.

I wouldn't mind being able to occasionally work with harder materials, so I am considering both the Tormach 440 and the Syil X4. However, it would be nice to get a machine that weighs less than 300 lbs. Will I have better luck looking at routers? I am open to recommendations.

[tweeb]

I'd also be willing to sacrifice work envelope (but not precision) for significant reduction in size, e.g., Roland SRM-20 or the Nomad 883---but I have the impression I can't expect to be able to do precision work with these machines.

[Tkamsker]

hi i have a heiz 400 t which may fit to your needs stay away from dovetail i think you need linear rails and verry good (not rolled) spindles the heiz are direct driven steppers that may be not good for yor precision but that direction i guess will do it for soft and i als did cut alu quite nice but slow


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[tweeb]

hi i have a heiz 400 t which may fit to your needs stay away from dovetail i think you need linear rails and verry good (not rolled) spindles the heiz are direct driven steppers that may be not good for yor precision but that direction i guess will do it for soft and i als did cut alu quite nice but slow


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Thanks for the recommendation, I hadn't looked at the Heiz lineup. Agreed that it is likely not precise enough for my needs.

[ihavenofish]

I'm looking to mill modeling and tooling board with high repeatability (0.01 mm or less), with a work envelope of about 300x200x100 mm (12x9x5 in). I have around 10,000 USD to spend, and live in the midwest USA.

I wouldn't mind being able to occasionally work with harder materials, so I am considering both the Tormach 440 and the Syil X4. However, it would be nice to get a machine that weighs less than 300 lbs. Will I have better luck looking at routers? I am open to recommendations.

xzero raptor on the router side is nice, but its a box of parts, not a full machine ready to run if that matters. if you can build it yourself though, its a lot of machine for 5-7k (depends on the features you pick).

if you dont need the large travel though (or high speed), id stick with the tormach with the pathpilot control despite the weight. it will be the strongest and most precise machine youll get for under 10k (with tools and software). they also have decent support and there are lots of other users to help out.

theres also novakon, who make a mill similar to the tormach. id keep away from the syil mostly for support reasons. the machine isnt as nice either (the x4 is based on the sieg x3).

i wouldnt consider anything like the heiz. unsupported round rails and light construction will flop around under its own weight let alone cutting anything slightly heavy.

[Tkamsker]

i agree ith you fish despite for soft material it cuts verry well and i measured 0,025 mm on all axes after years of use not bad but it isnt 0,01mm or less but to be honest i dont know if tormach can do that maybe the novacon with servo and grinded preloaded spindles ,.. tweeb i also think that your choices in usa with service is novakon or tormach ,.. if you talk to them maybe they put you better spindles in ,..


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[awerby]

Take a look at the Desktop Machining Center III from ACT (there's a link to it on my site). It has approximately the travels you're looking for (an inch more in Z and an inch less in Y), and it will deal with harder materials (slowly). They claim repeatability to .0001", and it only weighs 260 lbs, so a couple of (fairly strong) guys can pick it up. For your $10k, you could get it and a CAD/CAM package, and still have some left over for tooling. There's really nothing else out there in its price range that compares.

[warrenb]

10k? You can buy a decent <20 year old 4020 metal mill for that price. I would take a look at a metal mill, like a Fadal, that you can transport with your budget.

[ihavenofish]

10k? You can buy a decent <20 year old 4020 metal mill for that price. I would take a look at a metal mill, like a Fadal, that you can transport with your budget.

fadals weigh 300lbs and run single phase 110v? :P


also.. used machines of that nature are generally not worth the metal they are made of.

[hanermo]

There are no commercial machines for what you want.

Any of the thormach or syil are capable of 0.01 mm feature size, but feature size =/= accuracy.

Increasing the basic accuracy is easily done -
ground screws would be the basic start, with servos the second.

The screws will be approx 2k extra, and the servos 400/axis.

[ihavenofish]

the novakon has ground screws, as do the tormach machines (although perhaps not the new baby 440)

he also asked for repeatability, not precision. almost any machine with preloaded screws and bearings will manage that.

once you have repeatability, you can have any precision you want above that if the machine frame is square and flat. novakons and tormachs should be good for .01mm over short distances. 50-100mm easily. beyond that distance and you may get some much bigger deviation.

[tweeb]

Thanks all for the responses! I had not seen the Novakon or the ACT machine. The Novakon Pulsar looks awesome, but it is 220V. I'm still shopping around for local workshop space to rent, but I imagine 110V is easier to find here. Maybe they plan to switch since they are apparently moving to the US soon.

The DMC-III seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. I'm going to reach out to ACT this week Thanks a bunch!

There are no commercial machines for what you want.

Any of the thormach or syil are capable of 0.01 mm feature size, but feature size =/= accuracy.

Increasing the basic accuracy is easily done -
ground screws would be the basic start, with servos the second.

The screws will be approx 2k extra, and the servos 400/axis.

[LeeWay]

I have the Pulsar and it needs 220 VAC. It has all AC drives. Mine has an AC servo drive for the spindle and AC stepper drives for the axes.
The servo models come with all AC Servo drives. The onboard computer is also set for 220 VAC. I would think that is too much power requirement for 110. Could be wrong there. I am pretty sure mine is on a 20 amp breaker for 220 VAC.

[limacchina]

Roland DG may be your choice

[ies fixs]

I'm looking to mill modeling and tooling board with high repeatability (0.01 mm or less), with a work envelope of about 300x200x100 mm (12x9x5 in). I have around 10,000 USD to spend, and live in the midwest USA.

I wouldn't mind being able to occasionally work with harder materials, so I am considering both the Tormach 440 and the Syil X4. However, it would be nice to get a machine that weighs less than 300 lbs. Will I have better luck looking at routers? I am open to recommendations.

If you still haven't had any luck, feel free to shoot me an email with the specs that you're looking for. I'll give them to my coworkers and see if they can find something that will fit your needs.

My email is [email protected]