Jim I have a lot of experience in CNC. I might even consider your invite to come see your facility but depends how far away you are from Hudson, Wisconsin.
Now to blast a hole in your attempt to justify your CNC system....
Propietary is not junk however software like Mach 3 is ideal for many CNC situations because it can use your PC's processing muscle for movement unlike 99% of propietary signal generators out there ---
So inaccurate its horrible... Check on many of your competitors... they use a PC system with a Industrial Controller installed into the PC. Mach 3 connects via USB which is junk connection... USB is meant for IPODS, Digital Cameras, Cell Phones... NOT CNC systems. Look at $100,000 CNC systems.. none of them use a Mach 3 **** controller.. they dont use it because it is a peice of junk and causes in accuracy and problems in your communication lines. Anyone of the system out there that uses Mach 3 is considered a Hobby machine... When you look at anyone using a industrial controller you will clearly notice that they are in large corperate companies and have business accounts that matter.. not your CNC systems hobby boys... If you want to make money MACH 3, USB -- both are not the way to do it. Proprietary Software is crap, its very hard to make a proprietary software be competitive with a company who is willing to give you nesting, give your kerf comp, give you the ability to draw and read true line rather then use a straight line drawing program.
10000+ users use Mach 3 on this board and in the heavy industry to hobby it is the gold standard --
Again look at major businesses and companies that highly depend on their CNC systems... I bet you won't find 10 of them that work with Mach 3. Again Mach 3 is downloaded.. there is NO physical component that goes into it.. You need a controller that has its own board that runs the CNC system with a micro processor so the computer does its own thing while the controlling card does the controlling of the CNC system.. Mach 3 is a junk system and has no advantage to the client.. it only helps you as the manufactuer because you get it for free... in my opinion companies need to stop being cheap and start to spend some money on quality.
You definately do not want recipricating balls in your linear slides they will need to be replaced much much more frequently and require constant greasing as well are very expensive to replace ---
I am very shocked that you wrote this... you must be living in the past and not be considering what almost 90% of the CNC market has learned oh lets call it... 10 years ago.... what happens to metal on metal if you do not grease it??? It wears down 100% guarentee that result everytime. Why do NOT 1 of the major manufactuers use your style and ALL of them use the Linear Guide Bearings? Oh beacuse its the most advance, smooth, accurate and durable way of doing it. Look at HAAS MILLS they retail for over $100,000 a peice and they all use LINEAR GUIDE BEARINGS. Are you tryign to tell me that HAAS CNC has no clue what they are doing in their systems? If so but your John Deer Green CNC machine really has no chance in this market.... Look at Techno CNC, look at HAAS, Look at MultiCam CNC, look at ShopSabre CNC all of those companies use the linear guide system... even China CNC systems are using Linear rails and bearings.. how can you even try to make a case for ROLLERS. Rollers are so out dated its like trying to say using a horse and buggy is more efficient then a automobile. You need to spend more time learning about your market and less time on these forums trying to bash the companies who are busy building quality and can not find the time to go online and defend themselves. I hope that one of those major corperations see this post and fight for themself... in fact I will be emailing this to all of those above companies because this is rediculious.
Again 8020 extruded aluminum is the gold standard for many builds and for many mfgs across the globe. From assembly lines to CNC plasma tables. The modulus of thermal expansion is very low and plasma does not generate enough heat in the gantry area to damage or cause any issue with thermal expansion --------
Again you are wrong.. common sense says heat travels up... check your temps on your gantry after making cuts.. I guarentee your system is a lot hotter then a steel gantry... again check those major manufactuers... none of them are using aluminum and EVERY one of them I am sure would back my statment that Aluminum is a bad idea. Again you want to save money so you use cheap crap rather then spend some money and give quality.. no one with high production demands will be happy with a Aluminum CNC system.
Machine torches and hand torches use the same consumables and are rated at the same life and aperage. Our mounts use either hand or machine torch although you do not require a machine torch with a CNC plasma. Machine torches in general are used on mostly propietray THC like the Hypertherm THC which requires the torch to have an integrated brass gear rack for up and down movement------------------
Again Inccorrect.. contact Thermal Dynmaics or Hypertherm... They both will explain to you and help you understand why Machine Torches are built..... Hand Torches are NOT built to withstand that type of temp.... You need to do more research before saying anything.. I called both Thermal and Hypertherm dealers in my area and both of them laughed when I read your statment to them.. these two companies compete against eachother but they agree that Hand Torches are meant for Manual CNC, Machine Torches are for a Quality CNC cut. The Reason you want a Machine torch is for heat purposes and for the overall life of your consumable... a good CNC system will have ARC and Torch On/Off... I hope you at least have those components in your cheap machine.
Although I hate to burst your bubble and hope we both learned here I think you have been sorely misinformed on many things including the BTA CNC plasma machines and gantry kits. I think you should go back to the company who told you this, call them a liar and have them call me direct I will be more than happy to clear up any misunderstanding they may have with our systems. 651-257-7917 -Jim BTW theses tables are engineered if you would like credentials let me know I am sure our guys would love to brag.
You didn't burst my bubble and in fact I hope you realize I am not affraid to go toe to toe with you.. your design is flawed and your logic is horrible.. I hope that one of the major manufacturers get online and defend themself hear because you are building a business off of flawed information to make yourself look better. You are 10 Years behind the CNC industry and me being very familiar with CNC systems you do not make a very good case against anyone who knows CNC systems.. anyone who may not know a lot may think what you are saying makes sense but if they want true answers I suggest they call one of the major manufactuers I listed above. I will not go back to the "company" that told me this because there is nobody tellign me this.. again I have worked on CNC tables for over 10 years at my old jobs and I also purchased a small peice of junk (much like your system) 3 years ago and regret it everyday because against my better judgment I listend to a gentlmen who said alot of the same thing you are saying and then when I had problems he denied all of the claims.. I dont trust you or your CNC system after reading all of your responses... do some research pal and then contact your competitors and ask them how to build a quality table. I bet HAAS CNC would love to hear that they are using bad parts
Again Jim there is no Misunderstanding here... It is facts so trying to claim Slander is a joke.. Your company might be great for those who want a hobby toy to play with but anyone wanting quality needs to look at something better. You made claims of things that are not true and I am calling you out on it... sounds like its a little more of truth vs. flaws then slander.