Buying the right CNC Machine and avoiding overspending

[Zak__]

Lol if you figure out how not to overspend please share with me. We like the Mazaks a lot. Great service & parts + knowledgeable applications people to help get the job done. As stated above it's most import to know how YOU will get service from all your vendors.
I have never been disappointed with any of our Mazak equipment and I believe you will have the highest resale value with them vs any other on your list.

ye Mazak seems to have its reputation, however, I've yet to confirm whether or not we have local customer support, we have one for the Haas and CNS (JAZZ J18/2).

Thank you for your insight.

 

[Zak__]

One thing about buying more machine than you need; if you're doing it right, the work will expand to fill the available capacity, and then some.

Yes, depending on future projects, but finding the sweet spot of not cutting it too short or going overboard takes some time, but hopefully it'll be obtainable with experience.

Thank you for your insight.

 

[Zak__]

rilling, Reaming, Tr

Are you machining that "spring steel" (what alloy?) in the annealed, or hardened condition? That'll make a big difference on rigidity requirements. What tolerances do you hope to hold? What are you smallest features like? That will help determine RPM requirements.

If it's a lose-tolerance rectangle of that size, I'd go for a box-way 50 taper. If it's tight tolerance with a lot of small details, probably an Okuma with an HSK-63 spindle.

Forgot to include the hardness : HB = 490
After heat treatment, solely for the boring operation of the leaf spring eyes.

 

[Garwood]

A $500 Japanese vmc from the 1980's would be way better than a new tm-2p.

 

[Nerv]

A $500 Japanese vmc from the 1980's would be way better than a new tm-2p.

Yes agreed, like a Kitamura, Mori Seiki, OKK, Mitsui Seiki...

Unfortunately not all shop owners want to look much under the hood. Fanucs are very reliable but at this age could use a refurb of the boards to keep the control powering up. Besides that though it's tough to go wrong with very high quality iron that is sold for scrap price just because of "Control anxiety".