What you get for $13k ?

[zero_zero]

Not too long ago, I saw an ad for a dry, 5axis mill on social media... it seemed almost too good to be true. Long story short, I got in touch with the manufacturer and was provided with a lot of technical details and several local references as well. I talked to a few of them, and they were all happy with their purchase. So, I bit the bullet, and after a little over two months in shipping, it was delivered today. As promised, I’ll try to give it a review and share my experience with it. I wasn't expected much for what I've paid... needless to say, I am pleasantly surprised.

Behold, the Yourcera Y-5D... made in mainland China from off-the-shelf components. The overall build is very solid, no plastic parts whatsoever... interestingly the mill itself and the motion control are separated in two units. The mill weighs about 90 kilos, it has a cast iron frame... I've tried to snap a picture the best I could.

Front and back of the mill and the control, it comes with everything to get you started

The two connect together with a bunch of cables using industrial screw-in connectors... luckily it comes with a sleeve to avoid tangling it up

I had to peek inside ... here's the spindle (about ~500w, I think ?), 4mm chuck, air-cooled, pneumatic draw-bar. Gonna test the run-out one of these days. The axis motors are all servo's, around 100w each, with 17bit absolute optical encoders... impressive. A-axis shown here. Pretty neat build, nicely organized.

Control box houses the power supply, host PC, motion control, spindle and servo controls modules... all off the shelf parts, easy to service

 

[zero_zero]

Tooling is similar to the Roland spec, except they have a brass locking collar... I am planning to make a press so I can convert from readily available Roland tools. It even came with bull-nose burs... not sure what purpose they serve, haven't got to the CAM software yet.

Came with a collet wrench as well... although is 1/8" instead of 4mm, but that's an easy fix.

Clamping is weird, it has a 130 degree "C" holder with a plastic sleeve... I guess you have to glue the pucks to it. It only fits in one way... pretty good repeatability there. Has some oversized wax puck as well... haven't figured out what they user for. Prolly for trying things out.

The milling chamber is stainless steel with the extraction port on the bottom, it seems easy to clean... time will tell. It could've been a bit bigger for easier access... at least wider.

I'm thinking this is an air pressure sensor... haven't read the documentation yet.


Did tinker with the host PC a bit... it runs on Win10. It took a while translating with google lens, to be able to change the language back to English. Then rest went fast, setup networking, installed a few more apps...even got DLN running

You can even connect a mouse and keyboard to it. Every setting is easily available which is a plus... but it could render the mill inoperable in no time if you not careful. The NC software is pretty straight forward, an industrial application, runs regular G code...documentation is available, writing posts and macros for it are easy.

Will try to mill a few crowns sometime next week to see how it performs...

 

[sidesh0wb0b]

cant wait to see how the mill jobs turn out. thanks zero!

 

[Affinity]

game changer! That looks nice, its just a dry mill? Interesting how its all modular.. I imagine you could upgrade the mill without having to replace the controller.

 

[zero_zero]

game changer! That looks nice, its just a dry mill? Interesting how its all modular.. I imagine you could upgrade the mill without having to replace the controller.

This one is dry only, they don't have wet+dry models... according to them is better maintenance and support wise to have separate wet and dry mills. Their wet mill looks solid, sells for about $22k IIRC

Tried some milling, without a puck to make sure everything works. Runs very sooth, can't hear the spindle nor the servos from the air nozzle. Can do 5axis simultaneous cutting too. Will load a zr disk next.

 

[Hao.Wang]

hope u enjoy ur new toy.

yes the plastic sleeve is for glue.
it is popular in half of chinese machine just for mill 1-2 more case.

one more thing u need to take care is windows. u need to confirm it is not crack one to avoid trouble. win10 is not normal. in most machines is windows PE

 

[zero_zero]

yes the plastic sleeve is for glue.

Yes, I figured it out. Managed to mill a couple of test pieces out... the results are pretty good

one more thing u need to take care is windows. u need to confirm it is not crack one to avoid trouble. win10 is not normal. in most machines is windows PE

I am pretty sure it is cracked, but as long as is stable I am fine with it. It needs to run only one software (NcStudio) 99% of the time...support seems to be very limited BTW

 

[sidesh0wb0b]

Yes, I figured it out. Managed to mill a couple of test pieces out... the results are pretty good
View attachment 46264View attachment 46265

I am pretty sure it is cracked, but as long as is stable I am fine with it. It needs to run only one software (NcStudio) 99% of the time...support seems to be very limited BTW

heyyyy its been a wee bit.
hows the toy?

 

[zero_zero]

heyyyy its been a wee bit.
hows the toy?

So far so good. I am very pleased with it.

 

[sidesh0wb0b]

So far so good. I am very pleased with it.

pros vs cons?

 

[zero_zero]

pros vs cons?

All pros... the only con I have is the relatively narrow milling chamber. I'd wish for it to be like 6 inches wider. The puck sits quite deep and I find it a bit awkward holding the puck in place while tightening the clamp screws. Or my hands are too big ?

 

[losmerengues]

I wasn't expected much for what I've paid... needless to say, I am pleasantly surprised.

The price is splendid. Please share your long-term usage experiences with us.

 

[sidesh0wb0b]

All pros... the only con I have is the relatively narrow milling chamber. I'd wish for it to be like 6 inches wider. The puck sits quite deep and I find it a bit awkward holding the puck in place while tightening the clamp screws. Or my hands are too big ?

can you post a vid of it actually cutting some time? for my curious nature lol

 

[RileyS]

And also some pics of the margins?