LEADERSHIP IN ENGINEERING
            Category: Digital Manufacturing / Rapid Prototyping

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Discovering CNC for Design and Prototyping

Product engineers find a Personal Mill is right-sized for R&D.
The machine tool seems to have taken backstage these days in the world of prototyping, research, and product development. The latest solutions in rapid prototyping certainly have their place - delivering a quick facsimile can really help to sell a design and get marketing people motivated. However, after the initial excitement wears off, the problem of product engineering remains: real product testing requires real products. Not aesthetically correct presentation models, but objects made of production materials built to manufacturing tolerances, not the limited materials and tolerances of the RP technology at hand.

Until recently there has been a tremendous gap between the desktop tools of the engineering office and the behemoth CNC tools of a production machine shop. The size, cost, and complexity of big CNC machinery generate a cash flow demand that can only be fed by a constant workload. To make economic sense, the machines need to be in a production environment. They’re simply not suitable for R&D. What design organizations need is a tool they can afford to keep at-the-ready which is smaller and easy to use, but can also deliver prototype parts that are identical to the future production parts.

The solution is a concept called Personal CNC and is the design philosophy of Tormach’s® PCNC 1100™ mill. Dimensional accuracy is essential in prototyping. With a rigid cast iron frame, precision ground ballscrews, and a 5000 RPM spindle, the PCNC 1100 can deliver the same sort of accuracy you expect from a production machine. Typical factory precision is an inherent feature of Personal CNC but a characteristic that continues to challenge RP technologies, even though their price tags can be much higher. Whether parts are aluminum, plastic, steel, titanium, or even composite materials, the days or weeks waiting for outsourced parts can be reduced to a few hours with a PCNC 1100 in house. Your team is more nimble and your project development is quicker with Personal CNC.

Personal CNC means a machine tool right-sized for engineering development. At 1500 lbs, this is no desktop router, but it’s still easy to move with a pallet jack. It’s simple to operate and easy to maintain because it isn’t burdened with typical factory features like an automatic tool changer. There’s no need for 3 phase power or compressed air, and you don’t need a rigger to install the machine.

Versatility is a key component of Personal CNC. When combined with a simple CAM program it can perform as an SRP (Subtractive Rapid Prototype) system to make quick plastic models. Combined with a conventional CAM program it can cut tool steel for making production molds. The functionality of a PCNC 1100 can be extended with accessories like 4th axis, Duality Lathe™, and even a digitizing probe for reverse engineering. Whether your projects are simple or complex, Personal CNC brings capability and agility to product design teams, breaking development barriers without breaking department budgets.

Take a closer look and rediscover how CNC can help empower product development with Tormach’s PCNC 1100.
 

Tormach

The people at Tormach are dedicated to enabling your ideas by delivering tools, accessories, and components of unprecedented value in the world of CNC and motion control. Whether you are involved in R&D, education, short-run production, or simply entrepreneurs with new ideas, Tormach products allow you to make what you need easier, quicker, and more affordable.

Tormach is headquartered in Waunakee, Wisconsin. For more information about personal CNC mills and accessories, please visit www.tormach.com or contact Tormach directly at info@tormach.com


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Design World :: Leadership In Engineering 2011
 
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