New to CNC

[hseng]

Hi i'm new to CNC machining and I had a few question about purchasing machine (i'm going to start up an after-hour shop with possibly running a few job during the day while i'm at my other job):

1) how important are rapids when i notice that most feedrate are roughly the about the same (315 ipm) and the distance from point A to point B seem to be less than 12in on the farthest distance i need it to move?

2) are higher end machine like mori and okk really worth the price when i take a look of some of the taiwanese machine like litz (http://www.litzhitech.com/) and twinhorn (http://www.avtechmachine.com) where i can possibly get 2 spindles for about 1.5 the price of those guys?

[automizer]

for your first question always run rapid when out side of the material, the machine run as fast as it can at that point. Far simpler then adding a feed rate when not needed.

your second that is a really really hard question to answer. We really need to have some idea of what your wanting to do before a machine suggestion can be made

[hseng]

I would like to cut various materials, atm i have a couple of aluminum jobs and a few stainless...i'm not too thrill of the haas and Fadal from what i seen and heard from fellow machinist about them, but i wonder with the time saved from higher rapids is worth the price of those japanese

[mc-motorsports]

faster rapids = more damage when you make a mistake
force=mass*(velocity*velocity) or velocity squared. 140% increase in speed equals double the damage if it hits. Just something to concider.

Haas is ok, stay away from Fadal, had problems with every one at every shop I've worked at. Mori Seiki is good, but expensive. Maitnence is the most important thing. If you can't get a tech out when you have a problem, or get replacement parts when something goes wrong or wears out, you'll scream.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by hseng ...i'm not too thrill of the haas and Fadal from what i seen and heard from fellow machinist about them......

I cannot comment on Fadal but I am very familar with Haas. Before you dismiss Haas machines you should maybe investigate a bit further than listening to a fellow machinist.

If you plan on banging away at stainless steel all day long, or some other difficult to machine material, and you want to maintain high feed rates and +/-0.0002" tolerances all day long you should maybe look at an expensive Japanese machine.

If you want to machine aluminum and do not need better than +/-0.0005" then Haas, in my opinion, is by far the best value for money.

[xylynn]

how can i use to design with HyperCAD??

[hseng]

Anyone know about the other "asian" machines like the taiwanese and korean makers? they seem to be at a decent price and claim to be stronger and haas and fadal