Finally got my Mikini 1610L Working!

[moadib64]

Like many of you, it came down to the Tormach and the Mikini. Ultimately, I chose the Mikini because of its enclosure and higher precision. I got my unit with the integrated controller, the 4th axis, two vises, touch screen, etc. Pretty much the whole package.

Upon getting the machine I was really impressed with the quality. The weight is perfect for so we could still move it around, but you know its not going anywhere. It actually took us 2 weeks to get it into our machining room in the basement of our facility.

Once we had the 1610L in place and hooked up we started to set up mach. We had several problems with the controller that prevented us from using it. Due to diagnosing and shipping times we lost about 3 weeks. Ultimately we came up with a fix and mach is now running well and controlling the mill just fine.

On the day we finally figured out and fixed the controller issue, just as we were going to cut our first part, the power supply rectifier board shorted against the mill's body and blew. Another 5 days lost due to shipping a replacement, but I'm happy to say we got everything working now.

I actually made our first parts on the mill yesterday and plan to have the machine working 6-8 hours a day at least for the first couple weeks. So far so good.

Our plan is to eventually purchase a total of 4 of these as long as it proves to be reliable. On the next one I'll probably just skip their integrated controller and build my own dedicated PC.

If anyone has any questions about the 1610L let me know and I'll respond. One of the hardest things about deciding on the mill was the lack of online reviews or users on the forums. So, if I can help others make their decision I'm happy to do so.

[john534]

Nice to here you got yours up and running after some setbacks.
My partner and I are considering this mill as well with a purchase coming in the next month or so and I have been reading as much as possible about it.

Are you concerned about a ATC or will you be utilizing your multiple machines for this scenario?

What is you main material you will be cutting?

Did you stay with the R8 tooling?

How were the guys at Mikini Mech to work with in regards to your problems?

Thanks very much for your time and help,

John

[moadib64]

Are you concerned about a ATC or will you be utilizing your multiple machines for this scenario?

An ATC would be nice, but I'm not too worried about it right now. We make a lot of one-offs, and small production runs (25-50). Since most projects are new and small runs we won't be leaving the machine unattended in most cases, so an ATC isn't high on our priority list. Precisely because we do so many different projects and prototypes it is advantageous for us to have multiples of the smaller mills.

What is you main material you will be cutting?

We work 95% of the time with various aluminum alloys although we do at times work with 4130 chromoly.

Did you stay with the R8 tooling?

Yes, I got their basic toolink kit, but we already have a lot of R8 tooling from various manual mills we have. I don't mind the R8 tooling, but I am looking for a good tapping head that will work on the Mikini with Mach.

How were the guys at Mikini Mech to work with in regards to your problems?

I dealt exclusively with Phil. He was helpful and attentive, but it was frustrating dealing with the time delays of communications and shipping. Hopefully they have added some things to their quality control checklist and you won't have to deal with the same issues.

[john534]

Thanks for your answers, I find that I am in a scenario very much like yourself and I am glad all is positive so far with this mill. Your help has made our purchase pretty much a done deal....

Please keep posting your findings and maybe some pics/videos if you find the time...... I will be watching with great interest.

Thanks again

[pkelecy]

....It actually took us 2 weeks to get it into our machining room in the basement of our facility.

If I buy one it would also need to go into a basement shop. That would require moving it down a flight of stairs. Did your move involve stairs? If so, how did you handle that, given how heavy it is?

Pat

[SWATH]

Why would you build your own PC versus the integrated controller? Cost? Performance? What components would you use?

I think we would all love some pics and video. The ONLY videos online featuring the 1610L are from Mikini and are very short.

[moadib64]

If I buy one it would also need to go into a basement shop. That would require moving it down a flight of stairs. Did your move involve stairs? If so, how did you handle that, given how heavy it is?

Pat

The mill weighs over 2000lbs. We ended up cutting a hole in the floor and building a gantry to lower the mill and about 10,000lbs of other equipment down. I don't think I would try to slide it down stairs.

[moadib64]

Why would you build your own PC versus the integrated controller? Cost? Performance? What components would you use?

I think we would all love some pics and video. The ONLY videos online featuring the 1610L are from Mikini and are very short.

We had lots of problems with the integrated controller. For the price you you could build a faster computer and have a full license of Mach. If I thought that it was a bulletproof setup without any hassles or problems (as is the turnkey salespitch) I would do it again, but with all the issues and diagnosing steps that we had to do to get it running I could have built our own system and been cutting chips 3 weeks sooner. As for the PC itself the hardest part to building one is getting a motherboard with a parallel port, but if you look at the Mach forums there are a lot of recommendations.

[SWATH]

We had lots of problems with the integrated controller. For the price you you could build a faster computer and have a full license of Mach. If I thought that it was a bulletproof setup without any hassles or problems (as is the turnkey salespitch) I would do it again, but with all the issues and diagnosing steps that we had to do to get it running I could have built our own system and been cutting chips 3 weeks sooner. As for the PC itself the hardest part to building one is getting a motherboard with a parallel port, but if you look at the Mach forums there are a lot of recommendations.

Is it simply a PC running Windows XP or something? If so I can build one for FAR less than $1500. Does it need a special enclosure or does the motherboard just bolt right in to the Mikini somewhere? In fact I have a nice computer now that has a top end motherboard with a parallel port, 3.4Ghz Pentium4 and 2G of ram that I could potentially scavenge. Is the license of Mach not a full license? How much is a full license? After talking to Phil I was leaning towards the integrated controller but I don't want do buy expensive redundant things.

Do you like the touch screen and find it worth it? What is the cost? How do you like the Mikini vices? Are they like the Kurt vices and what are their size? What size is the 4th axis and do you like it? Does it have a quality tailstock?

[moadib64]

Is it simply a PC running Windows XP or something?

- yes, it is essentially a laptop board with integrated video and laptop harddrive.

If so I can build one for FAR less than $1500. Does it need a special enclosure or does the motherboard just bolt right in to the Mikini somewhere?

- it is pretty nice how it fits in the enclosure and all the wiring runs through the case.

Is the license of Mach not a full license? How much is a full license?

- no it is not. I figured for $1500 it would come with it. I should have asked. The full license is about $300. The demo will run 500 lines, but if you are using it commercially you really should by it. You'll need it to use the nsf wizards too.

Do you like the touch screen and find it worth it?

- I like it, but it gets messy quickly.

How do you like the Mikini vices? Are they like the Kurt vices and what are their size?

- I got two of the 6" vices. They are good.

What size is the 4th axis and do you like it?

- I have it, but haven't used it yet.

Does it have a quality tailstock?

- looks pretty basic, but functional.

[SWATH]

Anyway you could post the specs of the integrated computer so I can price comparable components? Or even what spec/components you would prefer to have had.

[kenealym]

My 1610L is on a boat in the middle of the Pacific on its way to NZ.

You mentioned some problems getting things going with Mach3 or were they just with the failed controller?

Did you use the .xml file Phil provided or did you have to make mods? If so are you able to post your working .xml here.


Thanks

Matt