Rolend machine

[Mark Jackson]

Mark, did you or Shaun actually read the tech specs on the Roland?

Nope. I'd never even heard of them until I bought one from Glidewell. It worked so well, we bought another, and another, and another...When I needed a five axis mill for some R&D projects, I bought the DWX50 based on five years of perfect, uninterupted service from my wax mills. It was quickly kidnapped by my zirconia department, and it is probably the second busiest mill in the lab.

I put a lot more weight on actual performance and personal experience than I do on sales brochures and spec sheets.

I has issues with it staying calibrated. It would "jump a step" keep running out of calibration untill you powered off the mill and re-homed it again.

You should have bought it new, and you might not have had those problems.

For the money, it's the best value in dental technology.

.

 

[DMC]

Mark, mine was 100% brand new from Roland.

I opened it myself.

I'm glad you are happy.

 

[shane williams]

Ok Scott, we've heard from you what we shouldn't buy, now can you tell us what we NEED to buy.

We are a 16 person lab, with a 3Shape scanner and Dental Wings, even an EnvisionTec printer. Just really getting started into the digital aspect of dental technology when compared to others on this post. We outsourced around $70,000 in ZR last year, what mill should we have purchased if not the Roland? What other "small" mill is out there that isn't "a non-precison toy" that is priced like a Roland.

 

[RileyS]

To add to Shane, there are too many freakin mills out there. Today I was lining up a schedule of what I wanted to see in chicago and it finally hit me of how hard it would be to actually choose a milling system.

 

[shane williams]

That can be said about scanners too. The real question is what do you need for your business model. everyone would love to have a 4 ton mill but can't afford it. Also have 6 3Shape scanners. We're a small lab, but when we see people like Mark and Shaun using Roland instead of those bigger guys(granted Mark has other mills too) but still uses Roland.

 

[MikeM]

Wieland Dental Systems Regional Techncal Sales

Roland Users,
I really was not bashing them, what I wanted to say is there are other large and respected labs that have many Wieland Mini's. Currently 8 are in Micro. Another large lab in CA. have both Mini's and the T1. DAL in Peoria has 2---3rd on the way, with a T1 on the way. I just liked your very real passion that you have in millling with your units. That same pride is with us, we are selling many Mini's and the T1.
The thought is why have a multi disc changer for 126K or 3 or 4 Mini's cutting 4 disc's at once. I get it, but we are expierencing the same love for our Mini and would love you to try it because of your passion Mark. So Shane, I think you should have taken a closer look at all the options, but as one of the previous posts suggest, it gets tiring. So Criteria that I think small labs should take is: Open System (DUH),Companies that have been around and are not going away. Service software or hardware. Price ROI. There are many good systems out there, I am just saying, we are one of them.

Mike Melle
Wieland Dental Systems

 

[DMC]

Minitech Machinery

Granite frame (Mini-Mill/GX)....NSK 60k Spindle...4th/5th axis....THK Linear Slides and German Ball-Screws...w/ full enclosure for under $30k.

This is what you could/should get for $30k.?? Only need a fixture.

 

[NicelyMKV]

Minitech Machinery

Granite frame (Mini-Mill/GX)....NSK 60k Spindle...4th/5th axis....THK Linear Slides and German Ball-Screws...w/ full enclosure for under $30k.

This is what you could/should get for $30k.?? Only need a fixture.

Checked it out. Built with 4 axis and it was about 27k. But there is no cam software 10k? And no material holder $? Does it have automatic tool changers, and broken tool detection etc?

Just realized they are about an hour away

 

[shane williams]

Minitech Machinery

Granite frame (Mini-Mill/GX)....NSK 60k Spindle...4th/5th axis....THK Linear Slides and German Ball-Screws...w/ full enclosure for under $30k.

This is what you could/should get for $30k.?? Only need a fixture.

So is that what you run in your lab? What about extras like tool changers, and material holders? Looks like just the basic structure was $27,000, but the website listed didn't have Linear Slides and German Ball-screw or NSK 60k spindle to choose.

What kinda time does it take to produce FCZ on this machine? Sorry if it seems like I'm asking a lot of questions, but we already purchased a Roland and I wanna know why you think this mill is better.

 

[shane williams]

My bad just read the specs and the GX comes with linear slide

 

[Mark Jackson]

Sorry if it seems like I'm asking a lot of questions, but we already purchased a Roland and I wanna know why you think this mill is better.

Shane, you bought a great machine. It will work perfectly for you. There will always be a prettier, sexier, faster or better machine out there, but if you learn to use the machine you already have and take good care of it, you'll be happy, happy, happy.

 

[rkm rdt]

Dance with the one that brung ya!

 

[shane williams]

I think we went with the right one too Mark. Like I said we've only have it for a week and a half, but so far it's been amazing!

 

[Drizzt]

I think we went with the right one too Mark. Like I said we've only have it for a week and a half, but so far it's been amazing!

So you do recomend it as a first mill ? I am thinking buying it too .

 

[NicelyMKV]

My question about the Roland is all the huge differences in FCZ milling times? Some are saying 15 minutes while others are close to 30?

 

[Shaun Keating]

We have the Roland MDX 540 SA models....and we've got our mill time for full contours down to about 8 minutes. We've done alot of upgrades to push the limits on these bad boys though

 

[Mark Jackson]

My question about the Roland is all the huge differences in FCZ milling times? Some are saying 15 minutes while others are close to 30?

We mill a full contour crown in about 9-10 minutes. Compare that to 7.5-8 on the BruxZir mill. It's about the same speed as the Intelletek.

 

[Mark Jackson]

We have the Roland MDX 540 SA models....and we've got our mill time for full contours down to about 8 minutes. We've done alot of upgrades to push the limits on these bad boys though

Those are stout machines with large tool areas. Very impressive. I know people who send you work, and the proof is in the quality you turn out, and I've only heard rave reviews.

 

[Mark Jackson]

I think we went with the right one too Mark. Like I said we've only have it for a week and a half, but so far it's been amazing!

One thing I can tell you, and it doesn't matter WHAT mill you have, the key to a long life is cleanliness. We vacuum out all our mills several times a day, and they get a very thorough cleaning with a brush and vacuum every morning before we fire them up.

YZ dust is murder on moving parts, and you want to keep the stuff from working it's way into things. Brush and vacuum, and never, ever use air on them. We also find that the static cling stuff they sell for laundry works great on the glass on all our mills to keep the dust from sticking.

Take care of these expensive tools and they will last a long, long time.

 

[NicelyMKV]

Ok Mark, Shaun and Shane, you guys have sold me on the Roland. I just need to make sure I get the correct cam software with it. I made the mistake of telling my wife about the offer to come to California to check out your mills Mark...