smithy 1340I

Bill,

I would expect you will be pleasantly surprised with the abilities of this type of equipment. I have a small machine shop and provide tooling for the connector industry, manufactured on the same type of equipment, although not Smithy branded. Make sure to purchase high quality cutters, drills, etc. Most of this type of equipment comes from Taiwan or China and Smithy sets higher standards than alot of the other sources. I have plans to add a Smithy CNC mill in the near future.

Fane

Thanks for the replies, All information is taken to heart and appreciated. As far as buying before researching a product, I don't worry about money involved in purchasing any equipment, as long as the equipment holds up. Forums like this one helps all to make the right choice for themselves.

One question I do ask is this, Within the milling mode, are there any known problems with the milling head slipping and if there are, are there any remedies for this. Other than keeping sharp equipment?

Again thanks for all the help.

Thanks for the reply,

As in aviation , I keep nothing but the best equipment and tooling, so I agree Smithy's cutters and bits will be used with the 1340I. I also have heard of problems on smaller Smithy's units, from other foriums, that the 220 volt system corrects the torque and cutter issues, of ther 110 volt models and the tempeture operation issues.

Can't wait to get into the CNC applications. Anyone out there used Autodesk Inventor 10 or 11 with their CNC application?

please don't take this the wrong way, but, shouldn't you have asked the question before you spent the $$

Please let us know how it performs as I am also looking at possibly getting a small 3 in 1 one machine for modifying prottype parts. Thank you.

I will let you know how everthing stacks up with the 1340I as soon as it arrives. I too, am into prototyping for the aviation industry.

I've had the 1340I in the shop for a month now, and have had time to adjust to it's features. I was impressed with how easy it's controls and torque at low rpm settings. Smithy has a even lower torque gear that can be installed with little effort. I was also impressed, with the total weight of the 1340I. (Solid and heavy, not a one man installation) It is truly a work horse. As with any manufactured piece of equipment that I owned, I have this how it's made interest. So I had to dig in, and check it's construction. I did find in the gear case, small amounts of ground metal, from the manufacture in (China). Warning to all who purchase any equipment. Drain the oil and run that magnet check. Also install magnets to grab any left metal missed during the check. No other problems were found and it purrrrs like a kitten. The break in cycle went great. After the break in time passed I drain the old oil and replaced it with new.

Smithy claims a mirror finish, and they are right. The cuts are smooth, and clean. I was happy to see a few items added to the sale, that will make my operation easier and less costly. Some of the items were upgrades from Smithy.

My next effort is to order cnc servo motors, controllers, and needed equipment. Any imformation from all of you would be appreciated. I have purchased the Mach 3 program and fill comfortable with the program. Not to sure about, the G-code programs. What programs out there, are best for Autodesk Inventor 10 to G-code conversion?