Anyone out there have any advice on commercial machines in the 30,000 to 50,000 price range. I am talking Gerber, Multicam, and Camtech. Any advice on service, the machines themselves and any problems would be helpful.
Thanks in advance and have a great one!

You gave no specs - what size/capabilities/speeds/tooling/spindle are you looking for - you asked a very open question.

A 5'X10' AXYZ Automation machine sells for that approximate price range. They are in Canada and their quality machines are simple, robust and very capable. www.axyz.com 1-800-361-3408. ....good folks to deal with.

Scott
(I have no affiliation with AXYZ)

Good point Scott! The machine I am looking for is 4'x8' or 4'x10' to machine acrylic, mdf, plywood and thin non ferrous metals, with up to a 600 inch per minute feed rate. I am looking at a 10 hp Gerber, Colombo or Penske spindle motor. Hope that helps!

And thanks again!

Chris

5HP would likely be more than adequate - are you convinced you need 10HP to route your stuff?

What RPM are you looking at with that 10HP spindle?

Perske makes spindles....Penske rents trucks... :D

.....just jerking your chain.... :)

Scott

Just trying to err on the side of more power than less. I could probably drop down to 7 HP. We route 1" acrylic and up to 1 1/4" mdf and the less passes we make the more we can produce.

And oops!

Chris

So - what are your thoughts on the AXYZ machines? I assume you checked out their site..? They may be worth a call.

Scott

AXYZ builds a nice machine. Gerber Multicam and CNT Motion are the other manufacturers building excellent machine in that price range. I would also have you look at the CNT Motion 900 Series machine. A 4'x10' unit with Software, 10HP Tool Changer, and 15HP Vacuum System would run about $45,000 or $35,000 without the tool changer. There are some listings you could check our at www.cncrouterstore.com

Anyone out there have any advice on commercial machines in the 30,000 to 50,000 price range. I am talking Gerber, Multicam, and Camtech. Any advice on service, the machines themselves and any problems would be helpful.
Thanks in advance and have a great one!


I would avoid the Muti-cam like the pleague! We have had 2 of them over the last 6 years and neither would hold spec as sold. We do very similar work as your application. Nothing but constant headaches from servo tripping, tool changer, linear rails/gantry square stability, Crashes during TLO set and very poor OEM, Distributor support. Some people love'm as did we when it hit the floor with high hopes. We have come to hate dealing with its constant reliability issues in too many systems for one machine. If all you do is low density materials and .015-.030 tolerances, then these may be usable, just not reliable for 50grand.

We added a Komo last year that has performed better than expected. We are looking to replace the Multicam soon with another Komo. The sooner the better!

A 10hp spindle had best be on a machine that can handle it in structure. You would do well looking at used to get a higher quality machine, than lighter duty new to fit the budget?

DC

when i was looking for my router, I knew i would be doing a lot of 3d work, and i wanted it to run smooth, with no hesitation or starvation.
the Precix that i purchased runs just as good as the Moris, Matsurras, Hass's and Toshibas that i worked on.
i can keep .0005 tolerence, better that they advertise



and dirt cheap, 5 x 10 about 50 G's canadian


check it out
www.precix.com

You gave no specs - what size/capabilities/speeds/tooling/spindle are you looking for - you asked a very open question.

A 5'X10' AXYZ Automation machine sells for that approximate price range. They are in Canada and their quality machines are simple, robust and very capable. www.axyz.com 1-800-361-3408. ....good folks to deal with.

Scott
(I have no affiliation with AXYZ)

Sorry but they build a piece of crap. I own one and for 3 years (yes YEARS) they have been promising to fix the problems and by problems I mean things like air drills that have never operated from day one, not minor details...NEVER OPERATED!!

The staff for the most part are good, their hands are tied by one of the managing owners who is the shady used car saleman type. Once you've paid he couldn't care less.

The main problem is their controllers are antiquated and the firmware for them is a joke. Every time the programmers want to change or add a feature they have to take something else out because the firmware ROM is full.

I finally gave up and had all new aftermarket hardware and software installed (PC based controller) now the machine works fine. 3 Years and AXYZ couldn't (or wouldn't) fix it...3 months and it's working...now that AXYZ is no longer involved.

Take my advice...avoid AXYZ...or at the very least, holdback 50% until the machine is completely working the way you want it to...

EBF in Canada built excellent machine similar to axyz, a typical machine with 5X10, 5HP and vacuum table is 40 000$ CAD with servo drived and convenient pc based controller :) Their technical support and reliability is hard to beat for the price.....

Hope this help,
Alex

Sorry but they build a piece of crap. ...

Take my advice...avoid AXYZ...or at the very least, holdback 50% until the machine is completely working the way you want it to...

I think holding the $ should be standard procedure. If you are spending this kind of money, spend a little to travel to the manufacturer prior to taking delivery of your machine - no matter the brand. Make sure it does what they say it will and don't sign the dotted line until it meets all you criteria - don't fall for "we will fix that later".

Sorry to hear about your troubles, rduval. Sound like you got it licked!

Scott

Anyone out there have any advice on commercial machines in the 30,000 to 50,000 price range. I am talking Gerber, Multicam, and Camtech. Any advice on service, the machines themselves and any problems would be helpful.
Thanks in advance and have a great one!

I suggest looking into a Techno. For that price range they offer some of the higher end cnc components (i.e. ball screws, servomotors, thk rails and a heavy tubular steel frame) on their LC and LCX machines.

Hook us up with a link, would you?

Hook us up with a link, would you?

Here you go: http://www.techno-isel.com/CNC_Routers/

i just finish shopping around for a router and i looked at them all for about 8 months. went to some of the manufacturing plants to see how they were made did alll the home work. went to shops to see how them liked there machines got to run some of them.
i will not say anything bad about the ones i didnt chose
i did chose a 5x10 router from a company called flexicam is built like a tank it is a little bit more money but well worth it if you add up little things like

>dual servo on the y axis
>steel not alu
>options for the future (intergrated add ons not after thoughts)
>servo motors and drives (name brand not home made, replacment for the future is easyer if things go wrong after warrenty is up)
>software
>gear boxes
>bigger lineir bearings 25mm not 15mm or 12mm
>support (this is the biggest thing of them all)
>etc.

most of these are option you would pay extra for . after you add up all the costs you save money by getting the more expensive one first time
remember time is money. down time is alot of money and lost busniess

good shopping check out flexicam
no i dont work for flexicam

Check out Ex-factory:

http://www.ex-factory.com/equipment.aspx?catId=RL&pos=0

Lots of used, working routers in two groups <40k and >40k


They describe your AXYZ as "for the serious hobbyist". Not the most glowing description for a $45k mech!