Custom

[Legion]

The third axis is actually in the spindle head, you just can't see it. It also has a fourth axis that hasn't arrived yet.

[joelrf600r]

i was wondering because i didnt see an external servo on the Z axis or the spindle. interesting little setup...

--Joel

[Legion]

They are internal. I wondered the same thing till i fired it up.

[Flatline's Up!]

They've also got a piston shock to help support the weight of the head.
They've got a ton of Z axis in the CNC envelope due to this design (ton being relative to the size of the machine)

I'm counting the days till I order (approx 2 weeks now)...

L, how long did it take to receive once you ordered?

[Legion]

1 week syils service is incredible. Ask for richard and tell him Derek sent you, he will take care of you.

[HTRN]

Originally Posted by Mstrtal

I doubt I could afford it as the newer HAAS CNC Lathes start at 15K minus tooling and there is a bit more to the Milling Centers.

Try $22K. And everything is extra.

Originally Posted by BigEvil

Damn. Very nice though.. Im looking for something smaller in the $3k range... I got a few ideas.

Seeing is how you're local, I should introduce you to some "people I know", one of whom is a machinery dealer who just got in a Dynamyte mini Machining center like this one Unfortunately, he wants more than what you're looking to spend.
=================================================
Some thoughts - one, the Syil X3 is a bit of a ripoff for what you get - the base machine is $1K, with conversion to CNC easily done for far less than what they're asking(Syil's website lists the X3 as $3500). Of course, you have to have a functioning mill and lathe to do that.. I thought about doing one, but then realized, for roughly double(around 2k), one can buy a Industrial Hobbies Mill, which is a far sight larger(bigger even than a Tormach). The Tormach does have some fairly heady features that are common on industrial CNC machines, like Turcite ways, and auto lube, but falls short in some areas for unexplainable reasons, notably the use of steppers, in a very expensive piece of hardware. Fortunately, it uses Mach 3, so conversion to honest to god servo motors is posssible, but would mean so rewiring and preplacing most of the electrical, notably the drivers and posibly the breakout board.

What would I like to see in a "hobbiest" CNC machine?

Turcite ways.
Auto lube.
Direct drive spindle, NMTB 30 taper, with a cogged belt drive, and a 3HP motor. AND NO FREAKING QUILL! 6000 RPM.
Ground Ballscrews.
An honest 30 inch's of travel in the X, and 12" in the Y, 12" in the Z.

While some machines have some of the features, no one "hobbiest" machine has all of them. The one machine that does meet or exceed my requirements is the Haas TM-1 toolroom mill, but it costs $22K.

Honestly, if I can find somebody who sells an AC servo drive that will work with MACH 3, and won't rob me blind, I'll skip the likes of Gecko and Larkin and buy a BOSS 5 machine and rebuild..
==================================================
Some links for those contemplating doing a conversion:

Gecko Drives
Larken
Campbell Designs
CNC4PC
Motion Control Products Ltd.
PMDX
Rodgers Machine
Rutex
US Digital
Mach 3
Vetric Software
Nook Ballscrews
Rockford Ballscrews
Sanyo-Denki Motors
Fimec spindles/motors
Keling Inc.
Home Shop CNC
Ajax CNC
Flashcut CNC
Industrial Hobbies
Little Machine Shop
Microkinetics
Ah-ha!
CamSoft

And most important of all:
CNC zone
Practical Machinist
HSM
Metalillness




HTRN

[Mstrtal]

Hmmm maybe the school gets a discount. Was talking to the Instructer about itand he was telling me that it cost them15K for the base machine.

[HTRN]

Originally Posted by Mstrtal

Hmmm maybe the school gets a discount. Was talking to the Instructer about itand he was telling me that it cost them15K for the base machine.

Go look at Haas's website. They're the only major machine tool maker that has "up front pricing", everything from their office mill, to their monster VS-3, everything is priced out - you can even do a build sheet, and it will spit out a price for you.


HTRN