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 CNC Routers

Our Goal is to provide the small manufacturer with the technology they need to stay competitive at a price they can afford.  Our machines are available as total turn-key solutions, including everything necessary to successfully operate the machine.   Our machine is also customizable depending on the application,  here on this page are just a few of the many possible configurations.  Click Pictures with blue frames for more information
 

60"x48" Primary Head (7 HP)
52"x48" Secondary Head (3.25 HP)
3 HP Dust Collector
5 HP Rotary Vane Vacuum Pump

 Series AFS

60"x120" Primary Head
52"x120" Secondary Head

 

Construction- Heavy Duty rectangular aluminum bridge and rails,  Stepper motor powered, rack and pinion driven with cross shaft on Y-Axis

Performance- Speeds up to 600 Inches per Minute, at a Resolution of 0.001",  Full 3 Axis 3 Dimensional capabilities

Routers- Router Sizes from 1.5 HP to 9 HP, or use a 1/2 HP Drill motor on one head

Work Size- Two Standard Sizes available: 60" x 48" or  60" x 120" with 6" of Z Clearance,  Table can be made longer (up to 24') or shorter depending on requirement and space availability

Work Hold Down- Deck can be drilled and tapped or T-Slotted for mechanical jigs and fixtures, or milled into a vacuum grid for vacuum hold down, with various vacuum pumps or regenerative blowers ranging from 3HP to 20 HP

Dust Collection- Standard with a dual bag, 1800 CFM  3HP Dust collector, can also be supplied with a single bag 1100 CFM 2 HP unit if one head is a drill, or with no dust collector to allow connection to existing, in-house dust collection systems

Control Cabinet- All controls for computer, routers, vacuum pump, dust collection, and emergency stop are centralized in a fan cooled and pressurized dust resistant enclosure.


 
 

60"x120" Both Heads

 Series MCA

 

Construction- Heavy Duty rectangular aluminum bridge and rails,  Stepper motor or AC brushless servo powered, Lead screw driven with 2 matched Y-Axis lead screws

Performance- Speeds up to 600 Inches per Minute, at a Resolution of 0.001",  Full 3 Axis 3 Dimensional capabilities

Routers- Router Sizes from 1.5 HP to 9 HP, or use a 1/2 HP Drill motor on one head

Work Size- 60" x 120" with 6" of Z Clearance,  Heads cam be spaced from 10" to 30" in 1" increments

Work Hold Down- Deck can be drilled and tapped or T-Slotted for mechanical jigs and fixtures, or milled into a vacuum grid for vacuum hold down, with various vacuum pumps or regenerative blowers ranging from 3HP to 20 HP

Dust Collection- Standard with a dual bag, 1800 CFM  3HP Dust collector, can also be supplied with a single bag 1100 CFM 2 HP unit if one head is a drill, or with no dust collector to allow connection to existing, in-house dust collection systems

Control Cabinet- All controls for computer, routers, vacuum pump, dust collection, and emergency stop are centralized in a fan cooled and pressurized dust resistant enclosure.

 Head Configurations
Here are a few examples for head configurations.  Both the AFS and MCA Series CNC Machines can use the same type of heads, and the possibilities are not limited to those configurations shown.  Air cylinder controlled slave heads are also available. Click pictures for larger versions, or click HEREfor large versions of all 4 plus extra descriptions.

3.25 HP Porter Cable with 
5 HP Perske Spindle

1/2 HP Drill motor 
with
5 HP Perske Spindle

Two 7 HP Perske Spindles

Two Milwaukee Drills set up as a Drill and Tap Head with
7 HP Perske Spindle

Control Cabinet
Here is what our control cabinet looks like, inside and out.  There is a 60 AMP Main breaker accessible from the outside of the cabinet with a lockout facility available,  each circuit is also individually fused with industrial fuses, all contactors are dust resistant for long contact life, all wiring is routed neatly in harnesses for trouble free operation.  Cool air is brought in from near the floor through a heavy duty filter by a 560 CFM 10" fan, the cool air coming in low is then used by the electronics with their own fans and the hot air is directed away from the cool intake,  the warm air (which rises) is exhausted through a 4" vent up near the top,  this lets an incredible amount of warm air out of the cabinet, but even with a 4" vent, the 10" fan can still put more air in, the result is a pressurized cabinet with good airflow, with the inside pressurized, any gaps (such as the door in the floppy drive) have air coming out... and if air is coming out, dust can't get in.   The system is also pre wired for automatic head power with program control, and optional (via the front panel switch) dust collector and vacuum pump automatic power.  Click Picture for larger version.

 

Inside AFS Control Cabinet with one 7 HP Perske and one 3.25 HP Porter Cable

Front of control cabinet with obvious emergency stop, all switches and vacuum gauge in convenient locations.

Vacuum Pump Options

Vacuum Tables are standard on AFS and MCA Series machines, as well as a Vacuum Pump.  The Size and style of pump depends on the type of parts that are to be cut.   The Vacuum hold down method works by removing the air out from under your parts, it is then the effective weight of the atmosphere (or the difference in pressure above and below the part) which holds the parts down.  Vacuum is usually expressed in inches of mercury (in.Hg), a 30 being about the highest you can get on planet earth at sea level (above is an actual control cabinet gauge photograph, at our shop in Clearwater, FL).  A 30 basically means you have removed absolutely all the air and you are measuring the barometric pressure.  Many factors affect the actual pressure you can achieve, such as altitude, if you are 5000 feet above sea level, you will never get more that 25 in.Hg.  however if you were to go to Jupiter, where the atmosphere is very thick and dense, you may 1000 :)  anyway back to earth and your parts.   You can convert inches of mercury readings to PSI (Pounds per Square Inch) approximately, by dividing the Inches of mercury reading by 2.  So if you are in Florida (Mostly very little above sea level) and you are reading 30 in.Hg, you could say you had around 15 PSI holding down your part.  Now, Say you had a part that was a 12" square... to find the total area, you multiply the length times the width, so you would have 12x12= 144 Square inches... next, you would say hmmm  144 square inches with 15 pounds pushing on each one, that would be 2160 pounds!!!!  Now routing with a 3 HP Router takes about 20 pounds of pressure... That part is NOT going to move!  where the problem is, is in small parts... if you had a 1" square.... times 15 Pounds per square inch ... you would have one square inch with the 15 pounds on it..... well this part may move if you try to cut too fast.   When selecting a vacuum pump, you must also consider air flow capacity... you may have small leaks around gaskets or even through  the surface of your parts,  your pump needs to be able to keep up with these leaks, and remove the air faster than it can leak in.



 

Regenerative blowers as shown at left, above, (Click on picture for larger size)  have very large air flow capacities, meaning they move a very large volume of air at a high speed,  but they usually cannot draw very much pressure, this type of pump is used where parts are fairly large in size or pourous, where air can get through the parts, such as particle board or MDF.  They can also be used in through vacuum applications, where the user lays down a piece of particle board on the vacuum deck (right picture shown) and then puts the parts directly on top of this. To Seal the particle board "Spoil board" to the vacuum deck, a gasket is installed in the groove all the way around the spoil board.  In this type of system, the pump draws air through the gaps in the particle board and holds the parts down to it.  these types of pumps usually can only create a maximum of 11 in.Hg, or about 5 pounds per square inch, so they will only be effective for larger size parts, generally over 20 square inches.



 
 

Rotary Vane Vacuum Pumps as show at left, above, (Click on picture for larger size) Can draw a very high vacuum, however they are much lower volume than a regenerative blower.  This type of pump can be uses for very small parts as well as large parts,  and very large rotary vane pumps can be used in through vacuuming applications as described above.   The most popular method oh holding parts down with a rotary vane vacuum pump, is to create a "spoil board" for your part.  this procedure, you would place a non-pourous board on the vacuum deck, something like melamine board, or plywood that has been painted also would work.  Then you run your program and cut say 1/32" into the board.  Then you would apply self adhesive gasketing around the inside of the cut, see example on right above.  Next you would drill a few holes (around 1/4" works well) inside the gasket and through the spoil board, into the vacuum grid.  Now when you put your material on top of this, you have rubber seals preventing the air from leaking, and your pump can remove all the air out from under the material, usually providing you with over 25 in.Hg, or 12 Pounds per square inch.  This type of pump is usually used with a "Surge Tank" shown to the left of the pump above.  When the valves are closed, the pump removes all the air from the tank, then when the valves are opened, you have a very large inrush, much faster than the pump can produce,  this will help pull down warped sheets.  After the parts are held down, and the pump is keeping up with the leaks, the tank just has the air passing though it, with no real affect on the system. For more information various methods of vacuum hold down techniques, please visit our Jigs and Fixtures Page.

 

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