Hi from London

[Ed_]

Hi

Thought Id say hello - Using a 6 axis robotic arm for machining large parts from foam and wood etc for plugs and moulds

Its not easy is it............Grrrrrrrrrrrr

[rallyslag]

Ello hows it going

im based up near Buckingham

nice looking machine/robot you have there

i was considering a similar thing myself, how do you find the accuracy using the arm? compared to a traditional router/mill

[Ed_]

In theory the accuracy is just as good, though it depends what material you are cutting and the application. If you are thinking of metal, you may as well forget it. though wood and composites are fine.

Rather than the robot, I would say the weak link at the moment is the software

What is it that you do then ?

[rallyslag]

i do mostly composites work altho i do have some metal working machines too

machining foam cores for composite parts and tooling block patterns/molds

what software do you use ?

we use delcam powermill

[Ed_]

Powermill also, having transferred from Mastercam. I have to say, it seems to work pretty well and Delcam are pretty good, even thoughthe software costs an arm and a leg

How big do you machine ?

[rallyslag]

not that big

the largest in capacity is a 5ax thermwood router 3500x2000x500

altho we mostly use smaller VMC's when we can for the speed and feeds they provide

the thermwood is like a big floppy cock and suffers vibrations and deflection a lot

most of the stuff is F1/motorsport so not that big anyway