• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Suggestions New Shop Equipment

R

Rob G Momentum

New Member
Looking to upgrade some equipment and just curious if anyone has any recent experience with purchasing a CNC router, plotter and a flatbed/roll printer. I understand there are a ton of options with each and will depend on the application of each. I'm just trying to put together a loose budget on the cost of the three.

On the router what should I be looking for and what can I expect to spend? It will be used mostly for cutting up to 1" pvc and up to 080 aluminum and 1/8" ACM. Really need something that can handle large volumes.

In addition, if anyone happens to have any pre-owned equipment I would be interested to see what you have available.

Thanks in advance.
 
E

ewded

.
Hi Rob,

For the router you need another room as it's noisy and makes a lots of dust. There are two types of routers, one is made for plastics and the other one is for metals. The router you need will cut ACM without a problem but 080 aluminum will be pain in the A (although doable but slow and unproductive). You also need to understand that a router is not just a plug and play device, they'll not run unattended like a printer and programming is pretty complex. Vector knowledge is a must. Don't get me wrong routers are fantastic machines, I love mine, but you need to have plenty of spare time to learn how to use them effectively. As for the price it depends on the size you need - anything from $1500 to 20-30k
 
R

Rob G Momentum

New Member
ewded said:
Hi Rob,

For the router you need another room as it's noisy and makes a lots of dust. There are two types of routers, one is made for plastics and the other one is for metals. The router you need will cut ACM without a problem but 080 aluminum will be pain in the A (although doable but slow and unproductive). You also need to understand that a router is not just a plug and play device, they'll not run unattended like a printer and programming is pretty complex. Vector knowledge is a must. Don't get me wrong routers are fantastic machines, I love mine, but you need to have plenty of spare time to learn how to use them effectively. As for the price it depends on the size you need - anything from $1500 to 20-30k
Click to expand...
ewded said:
Hi Rob,

For the router you need another room as it's noisy and makes a lots of dust. There are two types of routers, one is made for plastics and the other one is for metals. The router you need will cut ACM without a problem but 080 aluminum will be pain in the A (although doable but slow and unproductive). You also need to understand that a router is not just a plug and play device, they'll not run unattended like a printer and programming is pretty complex. Vector knowledge is a must. Don't get me wrong routers are fantastic machines, I love mine, but you need to have plenty of spare time to learn how to use them effectively. As for the price it depends on the size you need - anything from $1500 to 20-30k
Click to expand...
d
ewded said:
Hi Rob,

For the router you need another room as it's noisy and makes a lots of dust. There are two types of routers, one is made for plastics and the other one is for metals. The router you need will cut ACM without a problem but 080 aluminum will be pain in the A (although doable but slow and unproductive). You also need to understand that a router is not just a plug and play device, they'll not run unattended like a printer and programming is pretty complex. Vector knowledge is a must. Don't get me wrong routers are fantastic machines, I love mine, but you need to have plenty of spare time to learn how to use them effectively. As for the price it depends on the size you need - anything from $1500 to 20-30k
Click to expand...
What router do you have or recommend?
 
E

ewded

.
I don't know what size you're looking for, but you should get the cheapest you can find in the size you need. You cannot really go wrong with it since they are not sensitive machines, even the cheapest chinese machines will give you extremely good precision. To give you a starting point you need to make sure it has a minimum of 1500w spindle motor, the bigger the spindle the faster you can cut.
 
B

billsines

New Member
If you are new to CNC I advise against any machine where you can't pick up the phone and call someone for help.

I like EZ-Router. I do all wood routing, but they will be able to steer you in the right direction for your materials. They have a "green machine" which is supposed to be entry level, but you can add some upgrades to it to make it more like a mid-level machine. I have one I bought in 05 that I still run 40 hrs a week. They are beasts. I got mine configured with a 3.25hp Porter Cable router, which is only $300. So when it goes out just change the brushes. If it really goes out, just buy another one. I also strongly advise you get vacuum hold down. They should be able to get you all set up with the software needed. I am guessing $15,000-$20,000. They are easy to work on and built in Texas.
 
V

vincesigns

New Member
Multicam - Approx. $80k, Graphtec Plotter - $6 - 8k and HP FB/RTR - $100k. Buy the best equipment you can afford as support and resale value will be much better. Plus once you get rolling the equipment cost will be small part of overall cost but better equipment will allow for more uptime and on-time delivery of signs
 
S

Sandman

New Member
ewded said:
Hi Rob,

For the router you need another room as it's noisy and makes a lots of dust. There are two types of routers, one is made for plastics and the other one is for metals. The router you need will cut ACM without a problem but 080 aluminum will be pain in the A (although doable but slow and unproductive). You also need to understand that a router is not just a plug and play device, they'll not run unattended like a printer and programming is pretty complex. Vector knowledge is a must. Don't get me wrong routers are fantastic machines, I love mine, but you need to have plenty of spare time to learn how to use them effectively. As for the price it depends on the size you need - anything from $1500 to 20-30k
Click to expand...
I run my router unattended all the time. What's the point if you have to watch it? All a person needs is a good dust collector with cyclone separator and a quality spindle (not Chinese) and the noise isn't that bad. When my router isn't cutting it's only putting out 83 decibels and 89 while cutting. True it shouldn't be in the same room with a printer but who locates their printer in the fabrication area?
 
E

ewded

.
Sandman said:
I run my router unattended all the time. What's the point if you have to watch it? All a person needs is a good dust collector with cyclone separator and a quality spindle (not Chinese) and the noise isn't that bad. When my router isn't cutting it's only putting out 83 decibels and 89 while cutting. True it shouldn't be in the same room with a printer but who locates their printer in the fabrication area?
Click to expand...
89dB? Oh my, for aluminum? That thing screams like a dying pig.
 
printhog

printhog

New Member
Gerber Sabre - I can route the plastic and leave the paper liner intact. I joked once I could route the blue lines off binder paper, and it did. well built and most gerber dealers offer training as well with purchase. $45-55k.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top