milling robot or CNC 5 axis machine

Hi.

Dose anybody know an affordable way for a small boatbuilding workshop to buy its own milling machine at a reasonable price ? Maybe even in Europe cause I live here. I found huge or anyway large milling gantry for processing boat models, plugs, molds but I think it should be also smaller machines or robots able to mill on a travel range by X=4000mm, Y=2000 mm,Z= 1500 mm.It have to be 5 axis machine for surface with compound curvature.
There is a solution for a maximum budget of 20000 $ ?
Signum.

 

hi
visit www.romocut.com, it is maybe your answer!

 

I knew them ,I visited them, the Romocut is perfect for my job but it costs too much, only 333,000 euro. Very expensive, comparable with a large gantry milling machine.
The process is exactly what I need for my boats.
Signum

 

Signum,

As a machinist, I think its safe to say a machine as you speak of will cost much more than you are prepared to spend.

Take care.

TGoz

 

It's not just the machine you have to consider.The installation will require a good extraction system and you will have to buy a quantity of tooling to suit the jobs you intend to do.The other huge expense is the cost of the CAM software to produce the toolpaths.There are not too many CAM systems capable of generating toolpaths for 5-axis simultaneous cutting and you may have to pay quite a sum for a post-processor to convert the movement you require into G-code that the machine can run.These factors can increase the cost by rather a lot.

 

The knowledge-schooling to run such a machine and/or a capable person(s) hired to do so would be needed. Machines that costly are usually run multiple shifts in order to pay for themselves.

TGoz

 

Not sure about Romanian currency, signum, but a 4m x 2m x 1.5m five-axis, with control systems, software, etc. is going to run (at minimum) half a million Canadian dollars if you're lucky, for a fairly low precision one. Depends how precise you want to get, but it's easy to drop over a million bucks on such a mill if you want submillimetre precision on all axes. 333k euro is around what, 550k cdn? So that's not a pricey machine at all, by the standards of the industry.
It's possible, if you're a good engineer, to build such a mill yourself for somewhat less than it would cost to buy one. But it won't be nearly as accurate, or as reliable, and there's a good chance it just won't work if you don't know how to do it.
Most places I know of that have these things (and there aren't very many) run them two, often three shifts, at least 300 days of the year. Most of the rest of the time is spent repairing and recalibrating. It's the only way to pay the initial cost off. And they're not easy to run, machinists need a lot of specialized training to make the most of such a machine.

 

5 Axis Small Shop

Quality out put shop with a great recorded. 3D Cad/Cam software, the machine up keep, the POST , the setup in 3 axis is hard for some. Most people and software are limited in 5 axis. 5 axis examples on my web site. If you need cnc 5 axis foam or wood or plastic work done give me a call. My mission is to help Design Studios, Design Students, Inventors and Entrepreneurs make their product ideas a reality. Degree LSU Engineer and I take a personal approach in working with my Friends. Over 20 years in the CAD/CAM world. Worked 12 years at Ford motor company automotive studio design experience training/ support math modeling and CNC 5 Axis to studio personnel. Expert at Studio 3D sketch modeling is 3D brainstorming in real time. Very powerful tool for concept modeling. Together with 5 axis CNC make your prototype dreams come true. The morphing video on web site as well showing studio math. I have used this process it Ford Motor studios at PDC and milling full size Ford mustang (s97). 3D Digital boundaries in design is knowing the process up front through the cnc machining of product. Don’t imagine the shape bend reality with style. Reverse engineering using Point cloud stl and surface data and CNC milling 5 axis requires High quality surface parameterization used to define tool path G & M code. I have milled the S97 mustang hood stl with ½ flat end mill tool running 9 mm step over. So it does work in the studio if you know the Process and have strong education and Background. Software does not make processes requirements do! So the question is. Why Not look at new process? Lets talk about process from the design engineering side of things. I have CNC 5 axis milled everything from the FordGT, F150 to a Mustang, etc as studio support/training engineer. I have a new 5'x10'x4' 5 axis CNC mill.

KAG65
www.millit5.com

 

more suggestions

It looks as though kag65 knows quite a bit about 5-axis machining.Unfortunately,signum is trying to get into the multi-axis machining business with a very limited budget rather than a Ford level of resources.I hope its not too cynical to suggest that an easy way to acquire such a machine may be to research the companies with 5-axis machines that have gone out of business recently and to try to buy the machine and software from the people disposing of the assets.You would probably not get any support or training but you might be able to get by.

 

Kag65, what kind of milling clay you use ?
I know epoxy paste or polyurethanic paste. There is other suitable clay or paste cheaper, such polyester putty but this one has a short pot life and you need to work with big cantity, or plaster putty but this one I don't think is machinable.
A model made from polystyrene with what paste or clay should be covered for milling on CNC machine ?
Being a specialist I supose You Know .
Thank You.
Signum

 

Hi
It is not necessary to cover your model with fiberglass or something like that before a milling operation.
To cover yours polystyrene model, use a standard clay like Faberclay follow this link : http://www.modulor.de/shop/oxid.php/sid/x/shp/oxbaseshop/cl/details/cnid/OAB/anid/OABA
but it is a little bite difficult to manipulate
or recover it with a PU paste like Hunstman XD 4601-1 / XD 4601. Very easy to use.
For cheaper solution : use a 1:5 scale or smaller.
Or you can also use plaster

good luke

 

Is it plaster strong ehough to use it for modelling ?
Will it not brake during milling and grinding then ?
Modelling plaster is really cheaper than epoxy paste or PU, clay or anything else. Depends , I think I will experiment tomorrow to see how it works over polystyrene and than under fiberglassing.
Thank you.
Signum.