Hello all, long time lurker here first time poster looking for input.
We’re a small business in Taiwan that develop/build our own products for export. Can’t say more than that. In the past all milling work was subbed out. Recently brought in a 6 pallet Mazak horizontal to bring machining in house and it’s been going great. However I now realize the 6 pallets doesn’t buy me enough unattended time in aluminum, should have picked up the 18 pallet pool.
We’re now evaluating a 5 axis machine to develop new products/components. Early on we considered a 3 year plan for something like a Mam72-35v, or Mazak I300 AWC. I’ve now pivoted away from that and don’t want to paint myself into a corner or invest heavily into something that may not suit us in the long run.
The idea is a entry/mid level universal type 5axis to prototype and develop on( have 3+2 work to feed it during the 8 hour day too.) Envelope is roughly a 500mm/20 inch diameter table with similar travels in X or Y. This will offer our capable designers freedom for mechanical design. Additionally the goal is to convert certain of our smaller cast/forged aluminum components into 5 axis 3D milling with reasonable cycle times and while keeping design aesthetics. We’re extremely low volume and high mix. We need the flexibility and reducing inventory is a priority as real estate here is at a premium.
If successful I’d like to add something like an Erowa pallet pool and tool matrix if possible. During the day manually load larger parts/prototype. During the night Erowa loads small/mid size components on pallets onto a riser. Standard automation that comes with this type of machine are around 4-7 pallets and won’t get us much unattended time in aluminum. The pyramid/ tombstone work holding to try extend this type of work flow also has costs associated with it and doesn’t feel like it’ll get me more than a few hours at best.
Budget is around $ 300k for machine itself($400k for Japanese iron as Japan’s proximity to Taiwan and favorable exchange rate puts their prices lower here.) We try to design around not having tight tolerances. However ideally I’d like a machine that can reliably hold 20 microns(1 thou),over long periods of time without having to calibrate it in everyday. Expandable options like tool matrix if available are a plus even if more expensive if installed at a later date. Machines with Available working posts with camplete is also a plus.
Additionally is it folly to attempt to design geometry that would play well with the new barrel cutters for efficient yet beautiful 3D milled parts? Ball park how much would I be looking at from a CAM package side?
Long post but Would be grateful for any willing input. Thank you.
TL;DR - looking for 5 axis universal 500mm table, budget 300-400k, processing ALU, future automation ready type machine.
I’ll comment below on the MTB’s available to us
We’re a small business in Taiwan that develop/build our own products for export. Can’t say more than that. In the past all milling work was subbed out. Recently brought in a 6 pallet Mazak horizontal to bring machining in house and it’s been going great. However I now realize the 6 pallets doesn’t buy me enough unattended time in aluminum, should have picked up the 18 pallet pool.
We’re now evaluating a 5 axis machine to develop new products/components. Early on we considered a 3 year plan for something like a Mam72-35v, or Mazak I300 AWC. I’ve now pivoted away from that and don’t want to paint myself into a corner or invest heavily into something that may not suit us in the long run.
The idea is a entry/mid level universal type 5axis to prototype and develop on( have 3+2 work to feed it during the 8 hour day too.) Envelope is roughly a 500mm/20 inch diameter table with similar travels in X or Y. This will offer our capable designers freedom for mechanical design. Additionally the goal is to convert certain of our smaller cast/forged aluminum components into 5 axis 3D milling with reasonable cycle times and while keeping design aesthetics. We’re extremely low volume and high mix. We need the flexibility and reducing inventory is a priority as real estate here is at a premium.
If successful I’d like to add something like an Erowa pallet pool and tool matrix if possible. During the day manually load larger parts/prototype. During the night Erowa loads small/mid size components on pallets onto a riser. Standard automation that comes with this type of machine are around 4-7 pallets and won’t get us much unattended time in aluminum. The pyramid/ tombstone work holding to try extend this type of work flow also has costs associated with it and doesn’t feel like it’ll get me more than a few hours at best.
Budget is around $ 300k for machine itself($400k for Japanese iron as Japan’s proximity to Taiwan and favorable exchange rate puts their prices lower here.) We try to design around not having tight tolerances. However ideally I’d like a machine that can reliably hold 20 microns(1 thou),over long periods of time without having to calibrate it in everyday. Expandable options like tool matrix if available are a plus even if more expensive if installed at a later date. Machines with Available working posts with camplete is also a plus.
Additionally is it folly to attempt to design geometry that would play well with the new barrel cutters for efficient yet beautiful 3D milled parts? Ball park how much would I be looking at from a CAM package side?
Long post but Would be grateful for any willing input. Thank you.
TL;DR - looking for 5 axis universal 500mm table, budget 300-400k, processing ALU, future automation ready type machine.
I’ll comment below on the MTB’s available to us
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