Hi all,
My company is searching for a small milling machine to make mainly aluminum parts with the odd stainless and steel part. It would not be a production machine, but rather used for R&D. Things that are important to us are surface finish, accuracy, and speed. We did a pretty big deep diving into the Datron Neo and we like the compactness of it and it appears to be easy to use. But there seems to be a lot of chatter on the forums about the Neo not being a "real mill". I'm not sure how much this has to do with the actual functionality of the machine or are those comments coming from "purists".
The other machines we've looked at, although not as deeply, are the Brother Speedio S300X1, Haas CM-1, Fanuc Robodrill and Willemin-Macodel 308S2. These machines are harder to use than Neo, but we do have a trained CNC operator in-house and two "hacks" (myself and another guy) who could figure out how to get by.
A lot of members speak highly of the Speedio. It appears to be able to work with a broader range of materials. And some members claim it has better accuracy and surface finish than the Neo. Is this true?
The Neo seems like it can be put anywhere, 2nd floor, on carpet, whatever. A Speedio seems more sensitive, but I don't actually know. Will it need to be in a temperature controlled room, smooth concrete floor? Will it have to leveled? The flooring really isn't an issue, but temperature control may be depending on where the machine get placed.
Thanks for any feedback!
My company is searching for a small milling machine to make mainly aluminum parts with the odd stainless and steel part. It would not be a production machine, but rather used for R&D. Things that are important to us are surface finish, accuracy, and speed. We did a pretty big deep diving into the Datron Neo and we like the compactness of it and it appears to be easy to use. But there seems to be a lot of chatter on the forums about the Neo not being a "real mill". I'm not sure how much this has to do with the actual functionality of the machine or are those comments coming from "purists".
The other machines we've looked at, although not as deeply, are the Brother Speedio S300X1, Haas CM-1, Fanuc Robodrill and Willemin-Macodel 308S2. These machines are harder to use than Neo, but we do have a trained CNC operator in-house and two "hacks" (myself and another guy) who could figure out how to get by.
A lot of members speak highly of the Speedio. It appears to be able to work with a broader range of materials. And some members claim it has better accuracy and surface finish than the Neo. Is this true?
The Neo seems like it can be put anywhere, 2nd floor, on carpet, whatever. A Speedio seems more sensitive, but I don't actually know. Will it need to be in a temperature controlled room, smooth concrete floor? Will it have to leveled? The flooring really isn't an issue, but temperature control may be depending on where the machine get placed.
Thanks for any feedback!