CNC Router – AXYZ Second User Machine – Is it worth it?

[David Rowland]

quote Harpreet Sahota:

Guys,

I’m thinking for buying a CNC router from a sign making friend of mine down here in London. The machine is approx 8-9 years old and he has had it since new. Machine was originally bought from AXYZ and after a quick phone call to them they remembered the machine and said If I paid an annual fee they would be happy to support it.

1. What is the benefits of having a CNC router, its a 8ft x 4ft?
The bed is 8×4, then you should be good.

2. What types of materials can I cut on it? Is it possible to cut metal, say for example 6mm brushed steel?
Metals (like grey back ali) requires you to spray lubricant to keep the cutting tools cool. Extraction is removed when this is running sometimes depending on your setup. 6mm Brushed steel, with multiple passes I don’t see a problem really.

3. Will the AXYZ 4000 range cut through metal and if so which kind.
We have the 4800, think I just answered that. The spindles spin up to 18,000 RPM and ran off 3 phase inverter, so the power is there.

4. Would have the machine open up lots more avenues
Yes, it has become the way we cut up all our signs, we only cut foamex by stanley blade now. Dibond/thick Foamex/Perspex/etc all possible.

Many Thanks, and sorry for all the questions.

To be honest you need to ask questions about the machine, I would take out some kind of insurance or get AXYZ to cover the machine for the first year at least. They charge £500 to do a call out if you don’t take it out.
Things to look out for is Spindle Play, if you can rock the spindle back and forth or hear it cutting and what could be describe as a screaming/pain noise then the bearings are worn, this will need sorting.
The other thing is look inside the control box at the wiring, look for damage around the circuits board.

Make sure all the Home Sensors are working
Is it a twin head?

Does it come with Toolpath or another program?

If it has the ‘older’ circuits in the control box, then perhaps get AXYZ to replace to new.

AXYZ may also offer re-conditioned machines.

[Ian Muir]

Hi
I am looking into similar purchase, approx 30k investment but not sure as yet cos have not started the research into how much work I could obtain.
One of biggest drawbacks to me is the extra space I would need, which including rent and rates comes out at about £250 extra per week, I would need to be sure that I could make it work straight away before such a risk.
I am considering finding a reasonably local business that has space and could make part time use of the cnc in exchange for me ‘parking’ it there, after all they are incredibly useful and versatile machines for a whole range of uses in woodwork, metalwork and plastics.

A knowledgable firend told me that if I purchased an 8×4 I would soon be kicking myself that I did not start with a 10 x 5.

As to cutting mild steel, I suppose it dependa on the cutting tool used, need not even be a router.
The power available at the router would I suppose be a consideration, the one I’m looking at has an impressive 5.1 kilowatt.

Ian :lol1:

[David Rowland]

yes, i should be clear on mild steel. This should be cut with a laser / plasma or oxy-flame, i used to do this and the bed needs to be not solid, more of an open bed, so its a no. However we cut 20mm ali on it and cuts well.

Loads of posts in the Router forum, but the main problems is the stepping on the curves, they are good but not 100% smooth, this is caused by two things, 1 the stepper motors in the router and the file transfer between Corel draw to Toolpath. CorelDraw (older versions) are compapitble with Toolpath. Corel X3 will not output to Toolpath as Corel dropped support for DXF early formats. HPGL output from Corel works but not good on curves so we use a DXF converter which is part of Gerber Advantage package, sad hey!

My advice would be to make sure you got Artcam that comes with it, it will be amazing once you learnt it. However toolpath maybe a bit flimbsy but its not that bad of a program.

If you got space then a router is certainly worth considering, but considering it’s costs could be easier considering taking on an employee, it basically does what would take someone to cut out a shape for you, all you got to do is supervise.

Also, they are noisy beasts! make a lot of mess, requires 3 phase and dont skip on things like extraction, vacum, mister, etc

[Unknown Member]

Dave,

What CNC router do you have in place? Is yours from AXYZ and what size is it. We are looking at 8×4 or 10×5 depending on price.

I have decided to go for one that has some form of warranty, I spoke to AXYZ and they have told me that they have no second user machines in stock and 28k for a 4080 is a steep amount of money for us.

I considering waiting till the show and seeing if i can pick up a bargain then perhaps save a few thousand pounds then…..

Anyone know of any body selling a CNC router as a used machine…..Need something with a large bed….

Many Thanks

[David Rowland]

6012 is our machine. I cant remember the sizes but its huge and can take 10×5.

[Unknown Member]

Do you mind me asking how much it cost you

[Steve P]

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