[scottese]

Hey guys, It's my first post here, as I have been lurking and reading for sometime. This is a great forum, and there are loads of smart guys here...my head is often spinning when I go to bed

I am pretty sure the PCNC 1100 is for me, but I still have some questions.

Can I cut wood with the 1100? I would like to be able to so some projects in wood, and it wood be great to be able to use this machine. I will be looking at options for a dedicated machine for up to 4x8 sheet processing in the future, but for now, small carvings and wood parts would be nice. If it is capable, any special provisions that should be made, i.e vacuum system, etc?

I would like to be able to engrave as well (wood, AL, etc). Is the speeder or the high speed spindle the best option?

What is the best software to use for these two (if wood carving is possible)?

Is the PC that you can buy through Tormach to control the PCNC also generally used for the CAD/CAM programming, or is a separate computer used?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Scott

[BuckyGoldstein]

Scottese - I bought mine this last fall. I've cut titanium, stainless steel, wood, and plastic on it. Works great. It's similar in size and power to a manual Bridgeport. You probably don't need any spindle upgrades if wood is all you're engraving. You can upgrade later if it's not fast enough for you out of the box. I've been using the SprutCAM that Tormach sells for it. The software is "ok". It's very accurate, but something of a pain to use.

[philbur]

You can carve and engrave wood and aluminum with the stock machine. How convenient it is depends on how much you intend to do and how quickly you need to do it. I think 3D carving large wooden objects could get real tedious at a spindle speed of 5,000 rpm. If you are considering the need for a dedicated vacuum system then this would suggest that you're going to be doing a lot of wood work, in which case the speeder would be a good idea. Lots of engraving work would suggest the need for the high speed spindle.

Software depends on what types of shape you intend to carve and/or engrave and not so much on what material.

You can use the same computer for CAD/CAM but not at the same time as running your mill. The low cost compromise is a new, fast machine for CAD/CAM and a $100 used computer for the mill controller, the requirement is a low spec computer, just make sure it meets the specified requirements.


Phil

[scottese]

You can carve and engrave wood and aluminum with the stock machine. How convenient it is depends on how much you intend to do and how quickly you need to do it. I think 3D carving large wooden objects could get real tedious at a spindle speed of 5,000 rpm. If you are considering the need for a dedicated vacuum system then this would suggest that you're going to be doing a lot of wood work, in which case the speeder would be a good idea. Lots of engraving work would suggest the need for the high speed spindle.

Software depends on what types of shape you intend to carve and/or engrave and not so much on what material.

You can use the same computer for CAD/CAM but not at the same time as running your mill. The low cost compromise is a new, fast machine for CAD/CAM and a $100 used computer for the mill controller, the requirement is a low spec computer, just make sure it meets the specified requirements.


Phil

Thanks for the replies. I have an couple year old Dell that is an XP machine, and it's currently sitting idle. Sounds like that would do the trick. If not I might part with my Vista machine and get something new for CAD/CAM. I have read that the CAD/M uses the processing power and is hungry for video and memory. Might be a good time for an upgrade.