New PM-728V-T Mill

Skowinski said:
Hi Guys - sort of off the last topic of discussion here, but - any thoughts/experiences with the quality of the PM Taiwan-made vs PM Chinese-made machines? Looks like in general the Taiwanese machines are about $1000 or so more than the equivalent Chinese machines, e.g. 728 vs 727 models. Is the quality and accuracy that much better, worth the cost?
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No first hand experience with either, but plenty of first hand experience with both "made in China" and "made in Taiwan" tools, parts, toys, etc. And no matter what it is, Chinese manufactured anything always seems to be lacking in either assembly, quality of parts, or quality control. Alot of the time its 2 of the 3. Thats my "experience" anyway.
 
Now that I have the Control box 99% complete I've started on the hardware. Have the Y working. Have a video of it but uploading on cellular is VERY slow. When I get to a location that has some speed I'll upload.

Worked on the X today. Used a standard 2005 ballscrew mount (drilled new holes for the existing holes in the table)

2.jpg
F

Printed a mount for the servo end that holds the FK15 bearing mount.

1.jpg


A slight oops with the ball screw dimensions I requested. Not enough threads for two lock nuts. Have some thinner ones of the way from McMaster.
Pretty happy with getting the X to line up on the first try. Pretty much copied the original dimensions.

Free end will have a FF15 mounted to this mount

3.jpg


And this is the Y setup. Both printed and machined parts
y.jpg
 
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Now that's what I call a great Saturday!
Robert
 
Skowinski said:
Hi Guys - sort of off the last topic of discussion here, but - any thoughts/experiences with the quality of the PM Taiwan-made vs PM Chinese-made machines? Looks like in general the Taiwanese machines are about $1000 or so more than the equivalent Chinese machines, e.g. 728 vs 727 models. Is the quality and accuracy that much better, worth the cost?
Click to expand...
With regard to the PM727/PM728 and if its worth the extra ~1k I don't know for sure as I've never seen either one but I do know when comparing all the other Chinese products I've gotten over the years they always have something wrong with them. Whether its bad assembly, bad manufacturing process, sub-par metal, or bad design it more often than not had at least 1 of the 4 things I listed wrong with it.
Regarding Taiwanese products I've gotten over the years most are well made with only 1 occasionally having 1 of the issues listed.
With that in mind and considering the amount of money I'm spending on one of these machines, I spent the extra 1k and got the 728. I'd rather spend a bit more and have a better quality machine than save a bit and possibly have issues with a brand new machine/not long after purchase.
If I had experience working on vertical mills and improving/restoring them id consider the 727, but without that experience I'd rather play it safe.
 
My first post...

So my search for an affordable, capable garage CNC mill has led me here. What I think I want is a PM 728 with an Acorn controller, made in the PM factory. Manual/CNC capability would be cool as well. Anyone know if PM is doing this, or what CNC plans they have for these mills? I see the addons on the web site available in July, so there must be CNC demand. (Please don't violate NDAs).
 
MachinistsSon said:
My first post...

So my search for an affordable, capable garage CNC mill has led me here. What I think I want is a PM 728 with an Acorn controller, made in the PM factory. Manual/CNC capability would be cool as well. Anyone know if PM is doing this, or what CNC plans they have for these mills? I see the addons on the web site available in July, so there must be CNC demand. (Please don't violate NDAs).
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I have no clue but WAG is they will only be adding the CNC hardware. Building the Acorn controller is "pretty simple". Just follow what other have done and you will be fine. I might get a wiring diagram drawn up at some point.
 
It's not that I don't think I can build the Acorn, it's that this is my first personal machine, and I don't really want to/not really sure I have the equipment to do the modifications. After I have an operational machine, I'd be more open to upgrading another machine, I guess.

Does a factory installed Centroid on a PM-728V-T makes sense? I've been reading/watching a lot lately, and this combo just seems to make sense to me, but I'm in no way an expert in manufacturing or immersed in the field, hence the questions.

It seems a little odd that PM would have CNC upgrade parts available, but not go the final step to offer a complete CNCed 728. Leaves me kind of puzzled... Maybe there's just not a big enough market.

What's WAG? I haven't heard that one before.
 
MachinistsSon said:
It's not that I don't think I can build the Acorn, it's that this is my first personal machine, and I don't really want to/not really sure I have the equipment to do the modifications. After I have an operational machine, I'd be more open to upgrading another machine, I guess.

Does a factory installed Centroid on a PM-728V-T makes sense? I've been reading/watching a lot lately, and this combo just seems to make sense to me, but I'm in no way an expert in manufacturing or immersed in the field, hence the questions.

It seems a little odd that PM would have CNC upgrade parts available, but not go the final step to offer a complete CNCed 728. Leaves me kind of puzzled... Maybe there's just not a big enough market.

What's WAG? I haven't heard that one before.
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I does but PM is more into selling 'hardware'. The fact they are (soon) selling the CNC parts is cool. To get a full blown CNC setup there are other vendors (Tormach). There are many options for motors and controllers. I've used steppers and drivers with Mach3 in the past. I used the Acorn with steppers on my G0602 build and liked the Acorn.
I stepped up on this build to Clearpath and Acorn. I'm into it around $6,000 and have a bit more to go. I have about $250 into the CNC ball screws. I didn't want to wait. Might get them if my setup does not cut it, I'm in deep already so another $800 will not be a huge deal)
If you add the PM parts and Acorn you would be in the $4600 range and add controller setup gets the price up there.

You may be correct with not enough market for PM to source a controller setup. You should email Matt and see if he has considered it.

You must be a young fella, WAG = Wild Ass Guess :)
 
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