Considering a Techno LC4896

[Ed Lang]

I would like to hear from others who either have looked at and bought something else or did buy Techno equipment.

I have seen one LC4896 in person and have a little concern about the movement I saw on the sides of the gantry when I pushed on it by hand.

I also looked at a ShopSabre and it too had the same movement.

My current ShopBot does not have this movement as it has stepper motors on each end of the gantry. But, the gantry does flex. I have a PRTalpha not the currently available PRS line of machines.

Comments or suggestions are welcome as well as PM's and emails.

This is a hard decision trying to keep cost down and quality of build and software up.

Thank you!

[Pplug]

I like my LC4896. I got it used for 1/6 the asking price of a new one. I pushed my gantry to see if it flexed like you said and the whole gantry moved parallel. It did not skew at all.
One of the cool things about the unit is the x and z axis screws and nuts are covered at all time along with the linear bearings. As a result they stay very clean. I have never needed to clean or relube them since I bought the machine.

One thing I would call a detraction would be the toolpath preview and drive software. You cannot view the toolpath at the same time you move the gantry. I wish techno would make a plugin for mach 3 so we could use that. I have even contemplated replacing the controller to run geckos just so I can use mach 3.

[joejared]

I like my LC4896. I got it used for 1/6 the asking price of a new one. I pushed my gantry to see if it flexed like you said and the whole gantry moved parallel. It did not skew at all.
One of the cool things about the unit is the x and z axis screws and nuts are covered at all time along with the linear bearings. As a result they stay very clean. I have never needed to clean or relube them since I bought the machine.

One thing I would call a detraction would be the toolpath preview and drive software. You cannot view the toolpath at the same time you move the gantry. I wish techno would make a plugin for mach 3 so we could use that. I have even contemplated replacing the controller to run geckos just so I can use mach 3.

For just about any Techno-cnc router, the first thing you want to do to minimize backlash is replace what they use as thrust bearings with these, which are the equivilent bearings in terms of dimensions, and angular contact instead of radial.

After replacing the above bearings, as a whole, I was very satisfied with performance, after my own linux based application was installed. I still have one customer using the LC4896, but prefer their smallest model, the Tabletop LC3024 especially for my international customers. My Kiwi (NZ) customer will be selling is lc5050 in favor of buying 2 LC3024 table top models from me because they are just as rigid and counting shipping, for him it is a 2 for one deal even compared to the LC5050. Mechanically, these machines are extremely easy to diagnose and repair, although sometimes the controller decides to send one axis the wrong way, which is more common on their native software, but still occurs occasionally on e-stop conditions here. As a practice, and to save time on removing housings to replace the microswitch, any time you E-Stop the machine, always cycle power on the unit.

[Dave's_Not_Here]

Quality machine for the money. No mechanical or structural complaints. Software is the weakest point. Techno has no desire what-so-ever in getting into the 21st century where their software is concerned.

If I can find someone to assist me, who has converted their 4896 Servo router to MACH 3, I will dump the Techno software in a heartbeat! Couple this with non-existent tech and sales support, it's a good thing that the machine runs as well as it does.

DNH

[Malish]

Is there an advantage to running the Mach 3 controller software over the Techno software?

[joejared]

Quality machine for the money. No mechanical or structural complaints. Software is the weakest point. Techno has no desire what-so-ever in getting into the 21st century where their software is concerned.

If I can find someone to assist me, who has converted their 4896 Servo router to MACH 3, I will dump the Techno software in a heartbeat! Couple this with non-existent tech and sales support, it's a good thing that the machine runs as well as it does.

DNH

All things being equal, I do have to say that although technical support is unpredictable, I've only rarely not gotten a response. I have to agree with you in terms of the software end, and to quote their developer when I asked them if they new how many bugs their software has, they said, "none". I knew I wasn't getting anywhere with them on that point, and have since written my own interface to their hardware, both old and new, so it's a moot point. I'm actually working on an LC3024 installation right now, with another lc3024 table top unit behind it, using my OreTek MicroMill code. During the testing phase, I'm looking forward to replacing the videos of my old dinosaur with that of a more modern machine. In terms of production, I'm more than happy to share a bit of the paradigms of motion should they be interested. My own code is compatible with anything that uses LM628/629 motion control chips, and could quite easily become a product all of its own. Currently, however, I'm pretty committed to my own customer base, for the use in producing foot orthoses.

[Pplug]

I wish some one would just write a plug in for mach 3. It would make life ohh so much better.

[Ed Lang]

Well, I purchased a new ShopBot PRS alpha 48X48" machine and have been very happy with it. Good decision.

I just bought a used Techno LC4848 last week and got it up and running today. All seems in 100% condition.

I need to either buy or build a router mounting plate for a Porter Cable 7518 router. Anyone got a used one laying around that they are willing to sell? If so, please let me know.

Ed

[Pplug]

Ive got both the router mount and used 7518 that I would gladly part with. Email me at gsm@glen spey millworks.com without the spaces.

Edit: I also found the dust collector shoe and new bearings for the 7518 as well.

[Montabelli]

I have been running techno machines for about 18 years now, I also have recently rebuilt an old motion master that I have running with fanuc ac servos granite devices drives, and mach3 with a smooth stepper.

While quite different, and performance over the years has changed quite a bit, I still am running my technos. I started with a stepper setup and switched to servo as soon as they had it working with reasonable continuous motion. I cut 3 dimensional wood parts, so smooth motion through 3d interpolations ( short segment code) is important to me. I just switched to 420Q on the soft ware for the techno, I am getting the best results ever with the new motion, advance smoothing and the new prepossessors and drivers. it used to be that even at lower cutting speeds, there would be a ripple effect showing in the surfaces, caused I presume by jerk. the new motion is no longer showing signs of jerk. I was able to get amazing results on surfaces while running at 4000 mm/min

mach 3 is currently a very good interface, it works very well for many things, at present, from my experience, small segment code in 3d linear interpolations is not one of them. 2d and 2 1/2 d work is good. using tempest planner and having code where almost all moves are tangential, you can get motion which is exceptionally good. I really like mach 3, if all I needed to do was flat work, I would stick with it but I need good fast smooth 4 axis motion so I just ordered a techno pci 400 card to run my big machine. To clarify, it does not seem to loose accuracy, it is just much slower in this type of cutting.

By the way, on my earlier post about the pin outs for the start stop switch, it turns out that it is no longer required with XP. I guess I should stay up to date.

I say all this to say, make sure that if you jump to a new interface that it will fit with all you need it to do.

[Pplug]

Hey! I've seen those ripples in my pieces too! I always thought that I was pushing the machine too fast. I'll have to try and speed it up with the new interface as well. When I first bought my lc4896 I ran the same small 3d file time and time again at different speeds to find the sweet spot of performance/quality. I found that I can cut at around 80-90 "/min. I would love to see something like 150-200 "/min! You can see what kind of work I do by going to http://glenspeymillworks.com

[Joe Crumley]

Good posts by all.

I allways wanted a Techno. From what I can tell it's in a class by itself. To get the same quality it would take some heavy iron and big bucks.

I'm running a 5'X10' EZ. I've had it for about three years and it gets fairly heavy use. I'm happy with Mach 3 and amazed how cheap it is. It's a dream compared to what I had been using for the past eight years, a Shopbot.

The only problem I've had with the Ez is the support. It doesn't exist. Fortunately I went through the learning process with the Shopbot and don't need much help.

Joe Crumley
Norman Sign Company, Norman, Oklahoma, SandBlasted Signs, Sign Painter, Redwood Signs