5-axis NC Universal Milling Machine MAHO 600C

A

alinwa

oft dis'd member
5-axis NC Universal milling machine.

Description says, "This is a fully enclosed, numerically controlled, 5 ton machine with 24 tool robotic arm tool changer. Horizontal and vertical milling heads."

Anyone have experience with this sort of machine? Can it be used to run parts like drilling/threading clamping screw holes for say scope rings or muzzle brakes?

There's one available out here for 5 grand.

thanks

al
 
G'day Al

I'm a CNC machinest and i operate these type of machines every day. From what i could read from the ad i would be a little wary of this machine.
First off these arn't like the little bridgeport mills you have now.. This thing is a monster and will take up about a 1000 cubic feet of space.(10x10x10). I will require a fill of arround 20-40 gal of coolant, needs a constant supply of 100PSI compressed air and of course a 30+ amp rated 3 phase power supply.
Then there's the whole question of programming it.. Have you done any Gcode programming before? It's not too hard to learn but doing it by your self would make it difficalt and the consequences if you get it wroing can be very expenvice.
The next point is that this machine was probably worth $100K when new so how good a condition do you recon it will be in if they asking only $5K? Are spare parts avaliable? Particulary the electronics?

The machine would be ideal for what you want it for though..

Not trying to put a dampener on your idea but just be carefull before you part with $5K..

Cheers
Leeroy
 
Thanks Leeroy, that's what I was looking for..... YES it's a 100K machine, in fact there's one for sale right now, used, for 95,000USD but this one isn't a scam. I've spoken with the fellow and have checked in on some forums that specialize in these and they do come up like this now and then. I guess our market got really flooded by the Germans in the 80's, coupla' hotrod dealers and ever'body had money, these are quite common in certain pockets around the states. He's getting rid of it having never fired it up.

The big question for me is "Does it even HAVE manual controls?" I haven't done any programming but have close friends who do it daily. Of course they're in other states :) but can help me if I'm "in hand" with the machine. BUT... Does it have handwheels? If it's entirely GCode I don't want it period. I just thought 5 grand for a machine with a rotary table.....

al
 
Al

Almost all cnc machines will have whats called "Jog" wheels. These are like hand wheels but are electronicly connected to the axis. Most have about 100 "Clicks" per rev of the jog wheel. You can then set on the controll how far each 'click" of the handwheel will move the axis.. In imperial units it's normaly 0.0001, 0.0010, 0.010, 0.100.
There is normaly only one jog wheel so you can only move one axis at a time. The main problem with jog wheels though is they have no "feel". You can't tell how the machine is cutting by the ammount of force applied to the handwheel like a manual machine.. It's feels very clinical and it's it easy to break tools if you over do it.
All in all i would destribe machineing parts manualy with the jog wheel on a cnc machine as "Painfull". But it can be done.

Cheers
Leeroy
 
Thank you Leeroy! Between the replies here and conversation with the owner I'm convinced that no matter how good a deal this is it wouldn't suit me in any way. I had hopes of it being a machine I could prototype on and then maybe run small lots of parts with. And I do mean small lots........50-100 parts. As a hobby.

I recently had a local shop price out a run of 50 muzzle brakes and the machinist was happy to do them but mentioned he'd just do them by hand as it isn't worth the hassle to program for 50parts. And he runs his machines every day.

thank you for your help

al
 
Hello Al,
From what I have read, you are trying to kind of slide into the CNC world, without to much pain and grief. The Maho, and Gildemeister machines have been built to do good work. All of the CNC machine tools are subject to obsolesence at a good rate. It is unlikely that a 5 axis machine would have manual controls. One of the first issues is to decide what type of control that your work requires, or can get by with. Some of the high end machine tools depend on a programmer and Cad/Cam software to keep a steady flow of chips on the shop floor. My first CNC machine was a 3 axis knee mill with the same layout as a B'port. It had a conversational control which allows you to talk to the control by selecting pages, and then filling in blanks that gather data about your part. Another step up is a control that allows you to program a series of drilled and tapped holes while milling either a pocket or outside contour. Look at parts and service locally if possible. Some of the machine tools have proprietary spindle tapers that can eat up the cheap price.
I would be happy to help you get on a good path.
Regards,
Bob
 
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