High Quality Home CNCs

[christo4mg]

Hello folks!....I have a question, does anyone here have experience with Wabeco cncs? I have been looking for high quality machines that can run on less than 3 phase electricity....As a side note, I have 20+ yrs experience in machining and manufacturing, and machining education..I want industrial quality without 3 phase electricity!...I have researched a lot over the last few years, and this seems to be one of the better choices, anybody with experience with this manufacturer? Thanks in advance!.....I love this site!

edit..Tell me about any other high end manufacturer that you know about, or have experience with. I'm interested in lathes and mills. Thanks Again!

 

[albertorc19]

If you find a three phase equipment that suits your needs go ahead and just add a phase converter so you can plug a three phase equipment to a regular one phase power outlet. I've seen these gadgets in action and it is amazing the level of control you can achieve with them. They are not cheap, depending on the power you need you can spend several hundreds dollars in one.

 

[kvom]

Most good quality consumer CNC mills will have a 3-phase motor with a VFD built in. If you want rigid tapping that's what you'll need (servo motor) with an encoder attached.

Check out the new Novakon Torus and Pulsar models (novakon.net). I have their older model bed mill for the past 4 years. The newer models have options for a power draw bar (available now) or an ATC (in development).

Of course, your profile doesn't show where you're located, which would be useful for questions like this.

Novakon also had a CNC lathe that I've not seen. I think I might prefer Tormach for their lathe as it will be a slant bed with a D1 spindle nose vs. a threaded spindle. Novakon's is new and available, while Tormach is under development.

 

[aonemarine]

Hard choices for sure. I really like the tormach mills and if I had the money it would be my first choice. My second choice is the industrial hobbies mill, with its huge working envelope and servo drives it could be a formidiable machine. Im going to cnc the grizzly g0704 mostly because its all I can afford atm.

 

[RonGinger]

Do not be afraid of three phase- even if you had real three phase many motors these days are using VFDs for the control. It replaces the motor contactor, which can be big money, and it give fine variable speed control with controlled spin up and down.

They have also become amazing cheap- you can get a 120volt input to drive a 1hp motor for under $200

A fellow in my town, and a good friend both have wabecos and like them. To me I think you can get more machine for less or equal money in Tormach or novakon. The wabeco lathe is a strange beast, to my American view. But where you are may make a difference- wabeco is available in Eurpoe, I am not sure either Tormach or Novakon is.

 

[christo4mg]

Thanks for the reply folks!...I'm in St. Louis, MO...U.S.A......I was also looking into the new FADEC engineering's UMC10 mill and their new lathe...These guys used to make FADAL CNCs..Any input on these?....I am not against 3 phase with converters and VFD's, just against true 3 phase from the pole and transformer (expensive!!!!)...I will look into the Novakon.....I have looked into the Tormach, the mill might work, but I really don't like the look of the lathe set up, just my opinion of course!.....Thanks again!

 

[RonGinger]

If you buy any modern mill I bet it has VFDs to drive the motors, even if the machine is wired to real three phase. There is just to much value in these things for smooth motor operation.

FADAL and such is way beyond the hobby level that most of us on the forum are familiar with.

 

[aonemarine]

Haven't heard of the fadec until now. Just watched a YouTube video on it, looks to be an impressive machine.

 

[mu38&Bg#]

I was going to suggest Haas OfficeMill and Office Lathe, but they are 3 times the price of the Fadec. After some research I saw Haas Minimills can be purchased in single phase. There were some videos of the UMC-10 mill and lathe 3 years ago. I didn't realize Fadec went into production.

 

[kvom]

The Fadec looks like a nice mill out of the box if you are happy with the work envelope. However it's quite small compared to my Novakon. 14x8x8.5 vs 24x15x11.5. Table is 17x8 vs 40x12. OTOH the Fadec has a 3HP motor vs. 2HP in the Novakon.

The Fadec is more expensive but does include the 8 tool tool changer and FlashCut control. Novakon's uses Mach3, and its tool changer is probably 6-9 months away from production (with unjown price). However, that tool changer will have an option for 8/16/24 tool versions. Fadec uses their own proprietary tool holders, while Novakon uses the Tormach TTS system. Without the ATC option, Novakon can also use standard R8 holders. The Fadec drawbar requires 90 PSI air, while Novakon's is electric.

 

[wings_of_fire]

Using phase converter from single phase to three phase, increases the Amp draw considerably.

With single phase you will be limited with the power available to do the work. Since you have 20+ years of industrial manufacturing experience, I doubt you will enjoy the slow working of a single phase machine.

 

[christo4mg]

Thanks for the input folks....from my own experience, I think cnc's that can be run at home are usually really slow and cumbersome compared to industrial quality machines...That's to be expected... They lack the a lot of codes and features found in industrial machines in general...BUT, I am still of the opinion that it is WAY better now than ever!...I am amazed at what we have available today....still looking for my next purchase though, I'm in no rush....

 

[MachineTom]

Single phase or 3 phase, no difference in work speed, 1hp single phase or 1 up 3 phase same amount of work possible.