What are the factors you should consider before purchasing the right CNC machine tool for your manufacturing jobs?
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From vertical to horizontal milling machines and lathes, to 5-axis machining centers, and multi-axis turning centers, CNC machine tools come in a wide variety of sizes, functions and performance.
Available in different dimensions and axes, with varying levels of quality and automation, CNC machine tools are important assets in your manufacturing business.
To purchase the right machine tool for your manufacturing needs, here are five things you should consider.
First and foremost, you need to have a clear assessment of your current and future production needs to avoid buying an undersized machine or an over specified machine.
Ask yourself the following questions:
By asking yourself these questions, you can determine what performance and capabilities you'll need as you move to the next stage.
With such a wide array of machine types available, you will need to consider the best fit for your manufacturing jobs.
From our decades of experience in manufacturing and selling high performance CNC machine tools, we find that experienced customers usually look at the following factors before they choose a machine:
If you need to make parts which require both turning and milling, we recommend that you consider multi-tasking machine tools like C1 or the upgrade version C2.
For high precision and complex positioning or simultaneous machining needs, do consider multi-axis machines like our 5-axis Machining Centers (M3-5AX, M4-5AX, or SIRIUS- 5AX) or Hwacheon's newly launched D2-5AX, a new concept 5-Axis Vertical Machining Centre for 'high mix low volume' manufacturing.
In developed industries where the highest precision and premium quality molds are made, we recommend either our SMART machines or SIRIUS Series. Both machine tool lines offer powerful roughing and precise finish machining capabilities.
#3 Understanding CNC Machine Tool Prices
With CNC machine tool costs ranging in price from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, machine purchases are often considered as high investments by manufacturing companies.
In working out your budget for your machine tool, you need to consider the options that you need. Most CNC machines come with commonly used options, with additional options for selection and other costs needed if you require greater manufacturing sophistication.
You need to also consider the trade-offs between price, quality and production output. A lower cost machine may be easier to stomach from the onset but may be unable to provide the speed and performance which your business demands. Conversely, overpaying for features which you do not need can affect your bottom-line.
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Often overlooked are the parts and maintenance costs. In considering the right machine tool, you need to work out the life cycle costs of your investment.
A cheaper machine may be more expensive over its entire life span, due to the poorer quality of its machine parts. Breakdowns can also be frustrating for machine operators and owners, resulting in lost opportunity and foregone income.
Every field has its competition. Wherever possible, machine tool buyers will try to locate the best machine for their needs at the cheapest available price. Machines made in technology advanced countries tend to have a higher quality and durability and may be priced higher. However, these may have a longer lifespan and less downstream maintenance needed.
Beyond country of origin, you need to also look at where its parts are made and assembled. Some machine tool makers may be based in countries with a strong engineering tradition, but their component parts are made and assembled in other countries.
Unlike some Korean manufacturers of machine tools, Hwacheon fabricates its machine parts and assembles them in Korea. We do not mass produce our machines nor do we allow them to be assembled by OEM companies in Korea or other countries. This includes the design and production of the spindle ' the heart of every CNC machine.
In the past decades, the Korean industries has grown rapidly with the help of Korean machine tools. As one of the pioneers in CNC machine tool manufacturing in Korea , Hwacheon has contributed largely in this respect.
Here are some design tips to help you minimize the budget and time spent on low-volume CNC machined parts.
When designing low-volume CNC machined parts, endeavor to keep them simple and uniform. However, manufacturing complex designs often requires a more expensive CNC system, manual repositioning, and rotation. Hence, it could be advantageous to divide a complicated piece into smaller parts for assembly later.
Here are things you want to consider:
Just like standard drill sizes, using standard threads can save you time and money when machining for low-volume production. This entails leveraging an existing thread class rather than constructing a unique thread during low-volume CNC machining.
Tolerances, especially tight ones, can increase setup time. Aside from set-up time, they also increase inspection and low-volume CNC machining time and the need for specialized production techniques or secondary operations. Because of this, it is best to ensure tolerances are only as tight as necessary to meet the design's structural and functional requirements.
The metal chip evacuation operation becomes more difficult and expensive as the hole gets deeper, so try to keep the hole depth five to six times the drill diameter. Moreover, be careful to design your holes using common drill sizes. Otherwise, you would need to buy a unique tool, which might increase prices and manufacturing time.
Project costs might skyrocket with the wrong materials, making material selection crucial in both long and short production runs. Also, machinability is a factor to consider, as even when different materials are, there is a good possibility that one will cost more than the other.
In other words, when you choose a CNC machine shop, pick a less expensive and/or more common substance if you don't need the qualities of costly and unique material.
It is best to avoid elaborate finishing and text when designing low-volume CNC machining parts. While the machined text has a nice visual and can be operationally beneficial, the technique increases the time and cost of low-volume production for each character due to the technique required to track each character.
If your low-volume machined parts need a logo or some lettering consider using a surface finishing technique, as it helps save money and time. For instance, adding text to your product is quicker with direct engraving by using laser marking, painting, or silk screening.
Designing for manufacture entails creating pieces that are simple to machine. Furthermore, it's crucial to consider the machining equipment's capabilities when planning for low-volume machining. Also, create parts that can be produced with the tools at hand. In other words, if you have a 3-axis CNC machine, do not manufacture products using only 5-axis CNC machining.
Waste reduction is crucial for cutting down CNC machining costs and environmental reasons. It's crucial to consider material usage and create pieces that produce the least waste while designing for machining or low-volume injection molding. To reduce material waste, this can be done by requesting the use of recycled materials.
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