Newbie- a general CNC question

[cazloco]

That's right; NEWBIE question

The company sold off the Haas VMC (too big) and now I'm suppose to suggest a replacement. I did about 50/50 manual and CNC work up until the sale and now it's all manual on a pretty decent manual Sharp LMV 50 knee mill.

So here's the question. Retrofit the Sharp or buy a used CNC mill.

More info:
3 axis needed
I use mastercam
low quanity prototyping
manual/CNC
plastics and aluminum


I have a line on ballscrews, any suggestion for a controller would be helpful or even a machine seller in the Pacific NorthWest.

Oh, I'm a journeyperson tool and die maker with 25 yrs experience but no experience in buying/sourcing machines.

Thanks for your help.

Chris

[DareBee]

I would buy a new machine with factory retrofit and set it beside the Sharp.
Fagor controlled system is my fav, but the Kent with the Accurite control is nice too.
You won't need a CAM system for most protoyping (unless you are surfacing).
These machines typically run around 30K new with the necessary options (coolant, drawbar, EVS).

Fagor bolt on conversion is about 15K.

You can build your own system for less, but you are still tied to a PC and forced to use CAM, this is a big drawback as far as I am concerned. I can do 1-offs in half the total time with a conversational control instead of CAM+machine. This would not be the case if doing moulds but for tooling and parts - yes.

[Geof]

Buy a Haas TM-1, 2 or 3 depending on the size of your parts. If you want more pleasant working conditions get the TM1-P or TM3-P so you can avoid hot chips and a coolant bath every day.

[cazloco]

Yes, I've ran eztrak and anilam at other shops where cam was not available and programmed at the machine. I will also do the same here for the most part but there will be times the mech engs will give me solids/surface drawings in which case I'll use the post processer.

chris