I would be very surprised if a BitZero v2 wouldn’t plug in.
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Wow. This looks awesome. If I hadn’t purchased a Shapeoko Pro XXL 3 months ago, I’d be pre-ordering one now. I’ll likely order one early next year to compliment my Nomad and Shapeoko Pro.
Great work!
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Am I correct in determining that the table size of the HDM is larger than a standard but smaller than an XL?
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I do hope some form of advanced probing will be available maybe one day an affordable wired Renishaw style probe.
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Correct:
HDM:
- X-Axis travel: 690mm ~= 27" (XL is ~32")
- Y-Axis travel: 535mm ~= 21" (XL is ~16", w/ some in the overhang cutting area)
- Z-Axis travel: 145mm ~= 5.7" (varies by X-axis — usually 3" or a bit more)
Folks have sourced these on their own:
This looks like a great machine.
Can you comment at all on the practical differences between the 2.2 kW (220 V) and 1.5 kW (110 V) versions? As in, is that the difference between being able to cut steel or not cut steel, or it is necessary to machine with larger diameter end mills?
It’s purely a difference in power output. All of the videos from Winston have been with the 110V 1.5kW version. Luke is running the 2.2kW version in his videos. I would not expect it to affect the ability to cut steel but @wmoy might want to chime in on that.
Personally, I’d go for the 110V version because it’s easier to connect without a special outlet.
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The ability to cut steel is not a function of power on the HDM, more so a function of minimum RPM of the spindle. Steel is very sensitive to the velocity of the cutting edge. A rule of thumb unless you know exactly what alloy you’re cutting would be 8000 RPM for an 1/8" cutter, and 12000 RPM for a 1/16" endmill. Our spindle doesn’t go slower than that because it is optimized for other materials. Small tools does mean cutting will be time-consuming, but it will work if you need to cut steel on rare occasions…
This is a quick test I did in 303 stainless: Login • Instagram
Do note, that chip-recutting will destroy your endmill pretty quickly. A light stream of compressed air directed at the cut (or vacuum if you can get it close enough) is crucial for long term reliability.
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Yeah, so that probably would have been a better size for me. The XL is just too big, so I ended up with a Standard Pro. And it’s not even a month old, so I’m kind of bummed about this, but also not sure I really would have spent double. Maybe C3D didn’t want the competition to know they were coming out with this (like Apple), but then again since these are in such different price ranges one would have thought there wouldn’t be any Osborneing.
Separately, I do wonder if some of the impetus for the HDM is related to the Onefinity, which touts its ball lead screw architecture as being so much better than you don’t care about not having a table nor even limit sensors.
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Thank you for the video! That’s interesting that steel needs a lower speed. I don’t need to cut steel, I’m just pretty sure that if I were to purchase a machine that is technically capable of it, I would suddenly find a project that calls for it.
Out of curiosity, why have two versions? Luke running the 2.2 kW version makes sense, because that’s 220 V and he’s in the UK. Is broad compatibility the driving reason for the two versions?
220V in the U.S. affords a much higher amperage, so can drive a larger motor faster and have greater torque — while it’s possible to use a step-up transformer to power a European tool at 220V (I do this for my Mafell FM 1000 WS), it’s not the same as a 220 line as would typically be used for a stove or a dryer in the U.S.
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I’m afraid not - we’ve been working on this for close to 2 years and other than the fact they are CNC machines there is very little in common.
It comes down to choice. People might want a 220v option and we wanted to give that to them.
We spent a long time trying to come up with the perfect size for a all around machine. I love the XL size but it is a little big for most of my projects. We then looked at what people were making and measured it up. This was the end result. I’d say 80% of the projects we see would fit on a HDM.
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That looks like another nicely balanced machine to me.
The machine footprint and height are certainly a lot easier to find a home for than a used VMC or a converted Grizzly type mill once you add the housing etc. The cost looks pretty good against what it will set you back to buy a suitable conversion mill, all the parts and controllers, a decent spindle etc. All in one box ready to run seems like pretty good value to me.
Is the Z travel enough to use ‘regular’ milling vices and get a Haimer in the collet with room left to probe?
What are your thoughts regarding machining things that need lubrication or cooling? Specifically, how easy is it to remove all the MDF and sit the machine in a coolant catch tray? Or is that just not a role you see for this machine?
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Luke, please don’t misinterpret this question but is the HDM meant to compete w/ the tormach PCNC 440? I know little about either machine but price for beginner package of tormach is comparable to HDM. Are they really in the same class?
The HDM has almost 3x the spindle power and a lot more XY surface area than the 440.
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I will be ordering one soon, I might have to mess with them when they call me, say I want to mill ice or something along those lines…
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Luke–will that HDZ 5.0 be compatible with ShapeOko 3 XXL?
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It isn’t a perfect comparison. I just looked an a similarly spec’d (will all the equivalent accessories) PCNC 440 comes in at about $6,800.00 before shipping and tax. So for a couple grand more you have quite a bit less X/Y travel and spindle power but the ability to add coolant, a well designed enclosure, ATC and a few other things. The HDM has way more X and Y travel and an ecosystem of software that makes it easy on beginners. While an HDM is closer than a Pro to a PCNC 440, I still think it is like comparing apples to oranges. Now, comparing an HDM to a Tormach 24R is a little different. 24R has less X and a little more than double the Y and has a built in vacuum table with everything else being pretty similar. The 24R is almost triple the price.
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I was mainly curious about the design differences between a desktop router style mill and the VMC style of the tormach. I assumed (probably incorrectly) there was some advantage to the tormach design and moving table vs gantry style. Regardless, congrats to team at carbide the HDM looks really nice.
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