[Spartan1]

I own a business and developing a new product that needs molds.

*The molds are 2"x 4"x 120" Only the 4 inch face has a mould profile.

*I'm making them on a knee mill in 36" sections. I can only do aluminum on the knee mill.

*They can be made in sections 18" sections and then the sections bolted together.

*They are made from 6061-T6 now. 1018 is a step up from aluminum. but ideally, they should be made out of 316 SS or 4130.

Here is my problem. I can buy a Tormach NOW or a Haas TM2 ($40k) in the future. Only the Tormach will come with me in retirement.

So my questions are....

1.....Can the Tormach make them from aluminum? Does it have any hope in h*ll to do them from 1018 steel? Forget stainless and 4130.

2....anyone want to guess how long it will take to make it in aluminum from the sample photo?

3....can it make that in steel? How long? \

4... I want to make about 90 sections of 18" length with a variation of the profile in the picture. MORE in the future. Will I beat up the machines doing these moulds in aluminum? What about steel?

For years I wanted to buy a small CNC but retirement was always looming. Now, by accident or design, I do need to do this for a new product line. . Since I have no experience in CNC machines, I can't make any logical choices. Actually, I can buy a large machine in the future, but if I can get away with it, I rather buy a small machine NOW, before I sink a lot of money to make them outside. But not if it's not going to do the job.

HELP!

BTW...are there any Tormach owners in the Toronto or southern Ontario area?