gkoenig
Titanium
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2013
- Location
- Portland, OR
If I were buying a new machine today, and I was doing a mix of prototype and production, the answer is a W1000 with a 5 axis trunnion on one side of the table. Along with BBT, coolant prep, lights, etc type options, I would have Yamazen fit a few M controlled air solenoids and order the 5 axis table with air through.
What you wind up with is a free and clear S700 size of table space on one end of the machine, with a compact 4+1 setup on the other and with enough breathing room one side of the machine can be set-up totally different from the other. Fist size components can go 5 axis and be made very quickly, or you can do pallets of 3 axis work or fairly large components - all at the same time. The air through operations and extra M codes? Get a spindle gripper and KSP vise and you now have the ability to do very flexible lights-out automation. Seriously- once you see a spindle gripper working, you realize that serious mill automation is readily available for under $7k, and it will do 90% of what a $100,000 robot arm setup would do. And those spindle grippers are so flexible that even 100 part runs can be automated.
The machine nerd in me is going to buy the Speedio 5 axis when it comes out, but if I was an actually practical person concerned about maximizing ROI, the W1000+5th would be the clear winner.
What you wind up with is a free and clear S700 size of table space on one end of the machine, with a compact 4+1 setup on the other and with enough breathing room one side of the machine can be set-up totally different from the other. Fist size components can go 5 axis and be made very quickly, or you can do pallets of 3 axis work or fairly large components - all at the same time. The air through operations and extra M codes? Get a spindle gripper and KSP vise and you now have the ability to do very flexible lights-out automation. Seriously- once you see a spindle gripper working, you realize that serious mill automation is readily available for under $7k, and it will do 90% of what a $100,000 robot arm setup would do. And those spindle grippers are so flexible that even 100 part runs can be automated.
The machine nerd in me is going to buy the Speedio 5 axis when it comes out, but if I was an actually practical person concerned about maximizing ROI, the W1000+5th would be the clear winner.