Best mill for small lab

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dentek1

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i will be in chicago looking at all the mills available. I am a 1man lab with the roi to support a mill instead of outsourcing. Using exocad, so there is no problem with the cad portion. What should I stay away from? I am looking for something that will last and not be outdated soon. Been lurking on this forum for quite a while and respect all opinions!
 
2thm8kr

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i will be in chicago looking at all the mills available. I am a 1man lab with the roi to support a mill instead of outsourcing. Using exocad, so there is no problem with the cad portion. What should I stay away from? I am looking for something that will last and not be outdated soon. Been lurking on this forum for quite a while and respect all opinions!
Hopefully cadfan will chime in.;)
I think you will get some solid advice from some of the other small and 1 man operations to help you come to a decision.
 
AlienMilling

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VHF, Roland, and Wieland all make great small mills. My Favorite would be the VHF
 
Mike2

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vhf was my choice 2012 and 5000 units plus still running great, in addition to the great support from Jensen. I bought a second one last year in Chicago.
My 2 cents
 
Getoothachopper

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My situation is exactly the same as yours. I went with the Zenotec Mini from Wieland (Ivoclar). It is basically a VHF mill with a different skin. They were running a promo with 0% interest for two years and the mill was less than other VHF mills I had seen. (kinda weird for Ivoclar , having lower prices ,lol).......I have been really happy with it :) produktbild_gross_e_01_fc34cc842e.jpgOh ! The cute girl that came with it wasn't 'Interest free' :(
 
2000markpeters

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We are a small lab in Toronto and bought the Dyamach DT2. Best investment I ever made. Mill titanium, chrome, zirconia, emax, suprinity, PMMA and wax. Mill runs all day. 1600lbs of pure beast that will fit through a normal door. Plan to have this mill a while and looking at next one already.
 
kimba

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went with a Wieland select a year and a half ago. very happy could not live without
 
Gru

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What you want to mill makes so much difference in what you select.
Don't forget all the needed add-ons when milling dry: suction, dry air and lots of it, etc.
I have VHF-4 axis but only use it to mill wax and pmma. Fine for that. Zr? Maybe look at others as many here can attest to touch-plate issues when milling zr.
 
Sevan P

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For a 1man lab might want to go with something that will be easy to run and maintain. We run 2 VHF 4 axis mills one for ZR and one for WAX, no issues once I worked all the bugs and tweaked the mills a bit. I am very hands on and dig deep to learn the mills and therefore can fix things with out major tech support, some poeple just don't have the talent to do the same. But for a person getting into CAM end of things I would highly suggest going with either the New Roland DWX-51D of a VHF S1 (5 axis). Yeah a tad more the the 4axis version but worth it in the long run, not too big of a footprint either. Here is my buddies lab I recently setup.

2 VHF 5axis S1 and a D1000 scanner with two added design station, and a sintering oven from Talladium just to get thim started, we are adding a better oven in the near future, possible a Mihm Vogt.

20151117_202201_001.jpg 20151117_204259.jpg 20151117_204350.jpg

Roland doesn't come with a Cam but the VHF does, Roland you will need a 3rd party cam either Sum3D or Hyperdent additional 6K-7K.
both are 5axis with mechanical touch off and hold more then enough tools then you will ever need.
Both are built solid like a German tank.
Roland has a feature to stop PMMA shavings from sticking to the inner wall, which can be a pita to clean if your not ready for it. LOL

For Roldan I would go to CAP, for a VHF I would go with Talladium, they knows those mills inside out like CAP knows the Roland.

When investing in a CAM system Do NOT cut any corners, you will pay for it dearly in the long run!

Can not stress the support end any more then everyone else go with some one that can help you out when crap hits the fan, and it will, for first time users. Once you get the hang of things you will figure stuff out on your own.

Do your research, do not rush into a impulse purchase. Both mills will be at chicago and must likely running demos.
 
Sevan P

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went with a Wieland select a year and a half ago. very happy could not live without

Weilends are great but they are priced higher then other same class mills. They have a great advanced cam.
 
kimba

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Can not stress the support end any more then everyone else go with some one that can help you out when crap hits the fan, and it will, for first time users. Once you get the hang of things you will figure stuff out on your own.

Do your research, do not rush into a impulse purchase. Both mills will be at chicago and must likely running demos.


I couldn't agree more seven
 
brayks

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Do your research, do not rush into a impulse purchase. Both mills will be at chicago and must likely running demos.

... as will this game-changer. Stop by and see us in Chicago (booth B-36),we would be most happy to show and explain what makes it so.
WARNING- Gratuitous Imagery follows.

 
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KIM

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... as will this game-changer. Stop by and see us in Chicago (booth B-36),we would be most happy to show and explain what makes it so.
WARNING- Gratuitous Imagery follows.

[/QUO
Does that include CAM or no?
 
cadfan

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No cam comes on top either Delcam or Hyperdent if i am right 6-7 bucks than your real open worst for a look.
 
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charles007

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No cam comes on top either Delcam or Hyperdent if i am right 6-7 bucks than your real open worst for a look.

What does "than your real open worst for a look" mean ?
Please translate to double talk English......... lol
 
cadfan

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sorry worth !!! my bad to fast. the Versa 200 from .... sold by brayks
 
Affinity

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im a one man lab, I bought a used ceramill motion and its a workhorse.. Super accurate, but the D shaped fixture sucks.. although the pucks are easy to find from other manufacturers.
 

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