Equipment/CNC Router

Equipment / CNC Router

CNC Router

On Order, Not yet installed : Our 1200x1200/4'x4' CNC Router

Summary

• 

Using the CNC Router

...

Owners

The Owners are those who have volunteered to be in charge of the equipment, organising maintenance, training others to use it, and generally being a point of contact. The current Owners of the CNC Router are:

• Stephen Woolhead
• Chris Abri
• Mark Mellors

Original Requirements Notes

• CNC Controlled
• Minimum 4' x 4' cutting bed
  • It was generally concluded whilst 8' x 4' would be attractive, it may have limits in terms of floor space and also materials storage and handling - storing and moving 8' x 4' sheets on to a flatbed machine is a pretty impractical task in a full workshop, and certainly not a 1 man job.
  • We concluded we could store a lot of sheet material in 4' x 4' and 600 x 900 for the router and laser respectively (and for general use), making storage much more tractable and avoiding the need to cut down such large sheets.
• decent software

Maybe a Vacuum bed

• Would make jobs quicker to setup (except vacuum beds sometimes require a custom 'mask' cutting to cover all the unused holes)
• avoids risk of hitting clamps/bolts
• Will be more expensive (new mask needed for each job?)
• Unsure how "magical" a solution it is

Options

Shopbot

• The defacto FabLab CNC router
• Would be from the [PRS Standard Range]
• Prices are roughly $11500 and $13000 for the 4x4 and 8x4 models
• Ship from US (no distributors), by air or sea, and import duties etc payable
• Quote from Shopbot: approx $15k/£10k + shipping/taxes for 4x4, 8x8 would be approx £2k more

Piranha

• Look like imports, sold by radecal
• Include internal vacuum bed
• Available in 4x4 and 4x8. 4x4 and 4x8 both listed as weighing 800kg.
• 4x8: http://www.radecalmachinesales.com/product.asp?cid=2&scid=&pid=18
• 4x4: http://www.radecalmachinesales.com/product.asp?cid=2&scid=&pid=70
• Quote from radecal: TBC (guessing about £13k and £18k)

HPC Laser CNC

• Not clear what is available or specs; assume it is china import again, but could be interesting to go with HPC given great service
• 1200x1200 looks like it might be: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HPC-CNC-router-1200-x1200-engraver-CNC-Machine-sign-making-UK-stock-/150966295622

Others

Machine	URL	Price (UKP)	Size - X	Size - Y	Size - Z	Weight	Notes
Heiz S400	link	£1595	400	300	110	31kg
Heiz S720	link	£1995	720	420	110	41kg	Videos - Making PCBMachining metalEngraving in wood
Heiz S1000	link	£2395	1000	600	110	51kg	£4012 including all options and VAT
HPCLaser RC6090	link	£3750+VAT	600	900	65	200kg	Up to 24000rpm, 30mm cutting thickness. From same supplier as Laser cutter. Upgraded spindle from one listed. Claimed accuracy of 10 micron.

Weight gives an indication of stiffness and quality for a given size of machine. Shopbots weight is not listed

Notes

http://www.shopbottools.com/mProducts/prSstandard.htm