Equipment/CNC Router
From Makespace
PROPOSAL : A 4' x 4' or 8' x 4' CNC Router
Requirements
- 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, and avoid risk of hitting clamps/bolts
- Will be more expensive
- 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 8x8
- 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
