CNC machine, recomendations, pics and advice

chumscustoms

chumscustoms

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am posting this for a cue building buddy of mine,
He is wanting to go to the next level and looking to spend some good coin on a cnc machine.
he is wanting this machine to, cut inlays, and turn shafts.
He has looked into a couple companies and is trying to get a feel for what other guys are useing or have used and liked or disliked.
He also wants to know what software is available, he is stressing that he wants the software very user friendly
please post pics and info of set ups you guys have,
hes wanting to make a purchase rather soon and all help will be appreciated
 
chumscustoms said:
I am posting this for a cue building buddy of mine,
He is wanting to go to the next level and looking to spend some good coin on a cnc machine.
he is wanting this machine to, cut inlays, and turn shafts.
He has looked into a couple companies and is trying to get a feel for what other guys are useing or have used and liked or disliked.
He also wants to know what software is available, he is stressing that he wants the software very user friendly
please post pics and info of set ups you guys have,
hes wanting to make a purchase rather soon and all help will be appreciated
Click to expand...

Please no offense however he will not likely get user friendly. There is software out there that is user friendly however it will not be powerful enough to use for inlays. Bobcad is the most common CAD-CAM software that we use. It is relatively cheap and not too hard to learn. But learn he must if he wants to be successful.

Good luck, Jim.
 
I contacted Techno recently and received a quote(which I can't find now).

It was everything you would need(4th axis...software ect ect)...It included Rhino...

It was also 27 grand.

I've also heard good things about blurry customs.
 
cnc

I bought Unique's first Cnc Rage that they sold. I new nothing about cnc. It has been easy to learn and have had zero problems with the machine. Jim and Bryan have been excellent to work with and gone out of their way to address any questions that I had and there was alot in the beginning. I would highly recommend talking to them.
 
thanks for replies

thank you,
keep any info coming, and pics are great too.
he is mainly concerned about software, he is willing to learn it but wants to make the right choice the first time.
i know he has looked into a unique and a k2,
thanks
anything helps
 
As far as the software goes, there really isn't that much of a choice.

BobCAD is by far the most popular Cad/Cam program so when you talk to other cue makers they will most likely how to talk to you about it.

Pretty much the same with the machine operator software, Mach3.

I strongly recommend both of these products. Both are much more involved than most of us will ever use, but yet still easy enough to get started with. Just remember, it's like learning a new language, so at first it can get pretty frustrating.

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
 
My best advice is to choose a company that will be with you every step of the way. Customer service and support are often overlooked. Unique is a good example - awesome people and awesome service.
Take all the advice from people like Jim (mc2) and Royce (rbc), they are professionals that know what they are saying and doing.
On a personal note I have Bobcad24 and Aspire 3.5 and Aspire is by far the easiest to design on and post, others might disagree but I love it and their support forum is awesome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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If he only wants to do inlays then a CNC mill like a Taig with some modifications is a good way to go and the least expensive route, but he will be pretty much on his own learning how to use it. If he wants to do tapering as well as inlays then Unique and Alignrite are the two most popular ready to go machines that offer some good training and customer support.
 
If a company uses Solid Works, a cam software called HSM Works is currently offering a free version that is 2d. That is it only can use 2 axis at one time. You can easily edit in the code to put on a 4th axis or a z move. It also has a post for M3.It woks within Solid Works itself. There is simulation etc included.
It works with the Student version as well.
 
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thank you

all the info is getting to him any he is soaking it in and looking into each set,
he wants to make sure that it can do inlays and cut shafts.
any pics would be great,
i know it can be a pain getting them but they are nice, just to get a idea of set ups
thanks again
 
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