I’m looking for a CNC router to meet these specifications:
So far, I’ve looked at the Laguna Creator, or a used Laguna IQ. Getting the extra horsepower out of the spindle would be nice. I plan on making many batches of one part, so reducing cycle time is a big goal.
If you all have any recommendations for me, I would be very grateful.
(ob. discl., I work for Carbide 3D)
The Shapeoko 5 Pro may be worth considering — we’ve tried very hard to make it the best possible value — paired w/ an 80mm VFD it has a potential material removal rate in most materials it is used to cut which some folks have characterized as scary fast.
Hey Will, thank you for the recommendation. You’ll be pleased to know that I did just purchase a Shapeoko 5 pro after a lot of consideration. Your company’s documentation of the product was a lot better than the competition, and the three spindle options have allowed me to go basic until I upgrade my shop to take 220V.
My remaining concern once I build the machine is the semi-exposed axes. I imagine they’ll get dirty over time. Do you know of anybody who’s had success concealing these with accordion covers or other methods?
My pleasure! Thanks for the purchase!
Accordion way covers have been discussed on the Carbide 3D forums, including some ingenious designs using Origami:
and there were a couple of other designs for previous versions.
We tried very hard to position the rails in such a way that they are shielded, so with good dust collection, the rails should stay clean enough that the wipers can protect them from any dust/debris from machining.
Shapeoko has really come around over the last 5 years. I just was’t a fan of how the belts were used in previous versions nor the Z axis setup. The build surface and frame/structure has been good all along. But now, it’s a very nice machine.