Located in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington, Jonathan Jones has built up his company Arbor and Maple over the past 6 years. Originally, Jon started Arbor and Maple producing and selling tables, chairs, and cutting boards. After transitioning from an X-Carve router to an AVID CNC router, Jones knew it was time to move up to something bigger and better.

“I felt that if a 4×4 CNC is good, a machine twice as large must be great! I was looking for a more industrial CNC from my AVID. I wanted something with tool changer capabilities, a vacuum bed, and better control software. I originally looked at a different company with ballscrews, but amid my search for an industrial-grade CNC machine, Techno CNC popped up. I went in to Techno in Ronkonkoma, NY to see the Techno Venture Series CNC router, and also went to that company’s facility to see their Series. There were some significant differences and things I liked more about the Techno vs. the other company. First, the Techno was just more “snappy”. It moved quicker, it moved precisely and didn’t have a spool up and down time. The other company had what looked to be acceleration/deceleration lag, while the Techno moved from spot to spot quickly and efficiently. Secondly, I preferred the industrial control software that the more advanced Techno CNC machines use. The Osai controller is very powerful and easy to use. Keep in mind, I was going from a basic home built mach4 interface to an industrial controller and it was more intuitive and easier-to-use than any other interface I have tried. Third, I appreciated how available and user friendly the components on the Techno are compared to the other company. One of the things I have learned is that when you buy industrial equipment, you’re frequently married to the company you buy from for technical support and service. With the other company with ballscrews, I don’t see how aligning a 10’ ballscrew is something a customer can do at home with limited tools or knowledge of equipment. That’s what is so great about Techno CNC; anything I need to replace or work on is out in the open and can be bolted on and off. Motor goes bad? Bolt a new one on. Issues with the helical rack/the linear rails? Easy – bolt a new one on. The ease of access paired with the fact that I am confident that if I ever need to, I can replace components on this machine myself is a huge win. I know that they use PRECISION helical rack and pinion gears. I appreciate that they are out in the open and inversely oriented with dust and debris guards above to keep dust off. They are very easy to keep clean, and even easier to service and grease. The machine requires so little maintenance – it still surprises me. I run the machine part time, and all that is needed is a single pump of grease on the bearings. I clean out the grease on the racks, and grease a light coating once a month. And fourth, the accuracy. Salesmen spin tall tales sometimes trying to get you into their products. A quick call to the tech department usually tells the truth. The other company advertises .001” accuracy on the website but when you talk to a tech, they say .003-.005”. Techno on the other hand, makes one hell of a machine with really precise components. I have measured two separate name brand tools and can confidently say that the accuracy on my Techno CNC machine is better than .001. The resolution of the movements is even better than that. Backlash is essentially zero. I don’t know how accurate you need a CNC router to be, but this machine is near on par with a HAAS mill.”