cncrouterparts pro machines - is it enough?

[Jorge Pease]

I am looking at the Pro 4x8 machine with Nema 34 and 2.2kw spindle upgrade ... comes to under 11K with those options. I'd rather spend just as much as I need but resale value might have an influence on that.

I'm building a boat, 77 foot catamaran, and I have to fabricate a whole bunch of direct-to-female molds many of which can be dissasembled. I plan to spend the first 6 months to a year just building the tooling and smaller components. I expect I will cut hundreds upon hundreds of parts from 3/4 mdf.

Will this machine hold up? Anyone have personal experience with them? How many passes to cut through 3/4 mdf? Any information, suggestions?

Thanks for your help
... here is an idea of the type cuts I will make
cuts.jpg

[Ted Reischl]

Check out Frank Howarth on YouTube. He runs one of their machines. Most of my machine is from CNC Router parts. Mine has been running for about 6 years now, no problems. I mentioned Frank because he added a folding table to his machine which might help you out.

[Jorge Pease]

Check out Frank Howarth on YouTube. He runs one of their machines. Most of my machine is from CNC Router parts. Mine has been running for about 6 years now, no problems. I mentioned Frank because he added a folding table to his machine which might help you out.

Good to hear! Checked out several of his videos, thanks )

[Mark Bolton]

Have no idea about the machine itself but would give you a bit of input in that if your hoping to single pass MDF at high-ish speed you may want to consider a bigger spindle. We are vacuum hold down and when we deal with smaller parts we will typically onion skin even though we can single pass. Im not sure a 2KW spindle will pull a .749" pass without running a relatively low feed. If you wont be using vac two passes would be more reasonable as you could take the biggest pass possible and the rest in a second pass.

Only mentioned because you spoke of hundreds upon hundreds of parts. I bit of your decision may be affected by how you intend to hold the work.

[Jorge Pease]

Have no idea about the machine itself but would give you a bit of input in that if your hoping to single pass MDF at high-ish speed you may want to consider a bigger spindle. We are vacuum hold down and when we deal with smaller parts we will typically onion skin even though we can single pass. Im not sure a 2KW spindle will pull a .749" pass without running a relatively low feed. If you wont be using vac two passes would be more reasonable as you could take the biggest pass possible and the rest in a second pass.

Only mentioned because you spoke of hundreds upon hundreds of parts. I bit of your decision may be affected by how you intend to hold the work.

Good Points - I'm guessing a vacuum system will add minimum 5k probably more like 7k to the system. A bigger spindle will probably put me past my budget which would be maximum 20K and that has to include some kind of material lift table and dust collection. I will get some quotes on that, really do want it.

I might actually be able to substitute foam core sandwich (fiberglass) panels for most of the mdf in which case I should be able to cut through pretty easy in one pass. Something I am considering as it might be better than using mdf which can swell with moisture and totally throw out my mold.

[Mark Bolton]

Im not sure about the total cost of a vac with regards to a build setting. The vac itself, piping, and the table surface would be the bulk of it but may be less than the 5K number.

I can only speak to our own setup and while we are trying to move out work I can honestly say we are in a sweetspot with regards to pushing a spindle single pass in MDF, Melamine, and Solids, at 10HP. I dont feel we need more, but Im very happy we didnt go with a 5HP spindle.

Its likely not so much of an issue for you as your not looking for profit/production but the things I would be thinking about would be material hold down/fixturing and how those will effect how hard (fast) you can push the material. You asked how many passes it takes for 3/4" MDF and that is dependent on 2 factors, spindle power, and material holding. If your question is based on the 2.2KW spindle it will still be dependent on your work holding strategy. I can machine pretty small parts with the vac with a very conservative cut strategy. That said, when I need to cut several dozen components for a mold Im not going to be to happy having to run the CNC for 20 hours taking .020" passes.

I would guess if you are willing to push the 2.2KW spindle pretty hard your focus will need to be how you intend to hold the work (likely tabs?).

[Jorge Pease]

I would guess if you are willing to push the 2.2KW spindle pretty hard your focus will need to be how you intend to hold the work (likely tabs?).

That is what I was thinking since most of it will be nested parts on full 4x8 sheets.

[Jim Becker]

Based on what I've learned in a relatively short period of time, Mark is correct that a 2.2kW spindle isn't going to bring a whole lot of satisfaction cutting sheet goods without a bit of patience. Definitely multiple passes, rather than a single pass with a nice compression bit with a higher rated spindle. It's important to buy the machine that's capable of producing the work you intend to do in the time frames you expect it do to so. If you can be flexible with the time and are not planning on this to be a long term production thing, then you can probably leverage a more modest machine for the work. But you'll also want to consider a heftier used machine from someone who is upgrading...they do come on the market. Since I got involved with Camheads forum, there have been several machines go up for sale that are more production oriented tools when folks were moving up or changing direction. I'm sure the same holds true for other brands offering similar duty machines.

[Jorge Pease]

Based on what I've learned in a relatively short period of time, Mark is correct that a 2.2kW spindle isn't going to bring a whole lot of satisfaction cutting sheet goods without a bit of patience. Definitely multiple passes, rather than a single pass with a nice compression bit with a higher rated spindle. It's important to buy the machine that's capable of producing the work you intend to do in the time frames you expect it do to so. If you can be flexible with the time and are not planning on this to be a long term production thing, then you can probably leverage a more modest machine for the work. But you'll also want to consider a heftier used machine from someone who is upgrading...they do come on the market. Since I got involved with Camheads forum, there have been several machines go up for sale that are more production oriented tools when folks were moving up or changing direction. I'm sure the same holds true for other brands offering similar duty machines.

Yes, I just registered over there at camaster and see a few postings, not able to post yet ... I don't expect one pass cutting, two pass would be nice. If I absolutely have to, I will get a more expensive machine say up to 30K and recapture as much investment when I am done. But first I am going to explore the cost of using foam sandwich panels as I know those will cut in one pass quite easy and might be the better choice anyway.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a Shopbot with a 2.2kw spindle and cut 3/4 ply and MDF in 2 passes with no problem. I even use a 1/2 compression bit to do this. I run 2 Fein vacuums for hold down on my 4 x8 table.

[Mark Bolton]

Agreed, 2 passes with a 3hp spindle wouldn't be an issue at .375 each. I was more thinking of the hundreds and hundreds of parts part. Agree it's completely doable.

[Jorge Pease]

Thanks, might just have to face the reality of slowing it down although I just found a used Camaster Stinger III with Black Box Hurricane hold down and a Grizzly dust removal and all pipe and fittings plus a slew of other accessories for 15K ... Ad Says - HSD Spindle, 3.0 KW (4.2 HP) High Frequency (ER 25) Router On\Off Via G Code and Control PC ...

Sounds like a decent deal, doesn't say how old it is.

[Jim Becker]

That would be a really nice machine for you, Jorge...and beefy, too. I have the Stinger II SR-44 and cannot believe how stout the thing is! Stinger III is the 4x8 version and a darn nice tool.

[Jorge Pease]

I sent an email, hope it's still available ))

[David Falkner]

I put a 3 kW water cooled spindle on our Saturn and it's a stout spindle, for sure. I've yet to find its limit but then I'm a bit conservative with feed rates and depth of cut and I rarely cut sheet goods of any type. I mostly cut Walnut lumber and little Maple and Cherry.

David