Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Can anyone recomend a 4-5 axis desktop CNC solution?

chainsawbobala wrote:

>Hi ,
> I've been looking online for some answers to a good 4-5 axis
>desktop CNC solution. I've found the Microtek minimill with an
>added option to put the 4th axis , and the Taig solution also, and
>the Sherline based system .
>
>Does anyone know of a good 4 to 5 axis system out there thats
>fairly priced? Or someone that's working on it?
>
>

The only affordable 5-axis system I know of is to take a standard
3-axis mill, and mount a small rotary table or indexing head onto
a large rotary table. They do this at the shop at work all the time
for the 5-axis geometries my boss comes up with.

A conventional 5-axis machine requires the cutting spindle to be
mounted on a 2-axis gimbal, and this is a very complicated system to
build, as it has to resist a lot of forces and torques, and remain
accurate. It is possible one could find a used 5-axis machine for
a resonable price. If it is too big for a home shop, it often can be
hard to sell the bigger machines in the current climate.

After settling the machine question, you then need to solve the CAM software
problem. I don't know of any cheap CAM packages that handle 5-axis well,
if at all. If you want to take free-form surfaces and produce 5-axis
toolpaths,
you may have to spend much more on the software than the hardware.

What is it you want to do that requires 5-axis machining?

Jon