Which CNC Router Manufacturer is the Best?
The Best CNC Routers
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re managing everyday business obstacles, and tribulations and are trying to figure a more harmonious way of doing business, and you are at this point of considering automating your manufacturing process. At Techno CNC Systems, were here to give you a breakdown on everything you need to know while considering this purchase, and also showcasing the appropriate model machines specifically for your business and for your immediate and future production needs.
Techno has sold and serviced thousands of CNC machines worldwide. Here at Techno CNC Systems, quality is defined as the precision components and workmanship built into each and every machine. High quality ensures reliable cutting and machine longevity. We know what our customers need and keep up with their demands, while remaining price conscious and delivering CNC solutions with creative design. We are continuously studying technology and designing our own equipment to better serve our customers. Whether your business is sign making, woodworking / cabinetry, plastic fabrication, musical instruments, education, foam, or general fabrication, we are ready to serve you. We produce a vast number of machine models to meet any and all production needs and budgets. Our full line CNC routers, CNC plasma, and Laser cutters consist of large and small format equipment with a vast assortment of accessories to meet any production need. Our current family of CNC equipment represents over 32+ years of CNC research and development.
Why Buy from Techno?
So now that you’ve learned a bit about our company, let’s get into the why. Why should you buy our line of CNC routers? Our CNC machines are equipped with state-of-the-art industrial-grade CNC components to ensure longevity and the best “bang for your buck”. Our engineers have years of experience in designing and manufacturing CNC machines. We have now mastered the best technology and components to ensure our line of CNC routers is the best on the market. Below we have outlined the key elements of our CNC routers to educate you on why buying from Techno is the best decision.
Base Frames Made from Industrial-Grade Components
Machine frame construction is essential to the machine’s performance because, literally, everything is riding on it. At Techno, our engineers use Finite Element Analysis design software (CAD/CAM), which allows them to analyze the steel frame loads. This advanced technology allows our engineers to design and build frames that stand the test of time. The process of manufacturing a precision steel frame starts with the tubular steel weldment. Once the assembly is complete, the frame goes to stress relieving. This process relaxes the weld. Once the weld is relaxed, the metal will not change. If this process was not complete, time would eventually allow the welds to relax themselves thus changing the machine’s dimensions.
Once the stress relieving process is done, the frame is rough machined on a 5-axis milling machine. After the rough machining process is complete, it goes back to stress relieving for one more treatment, then back to the 5-axis mill for its last precision machining cycle. The last process trues up all the linear rails and helical rack machining locations, assuring precise parallelism and perpendicularity. It’s this precision that the X-axis gantry and Z-axis ride on.
Helical Rack and Pinion Vs. Ballscrews
This seems to be a very controversial topic when looking to invest in a CNC router and a CNC company. We wanted to provide you with information regarding both helical rack and pinion and ball screws. The Techno Atlas, Titan, and HDS Series CNC routers use precision helical rack and pinion drives on the X and Y axes. This has proven to be the most accurate, repeatable and rigid drive system so far. Techno used to use ball screw drives but, over the years, we found that this drive system can be difficult to maintain and produces unwanted vibration for 4 foot, or longer, travel lengths. Ball screws can whip and vibrate at the longer lengths because they are suspended between the ends. Helical racks are mounted directly on the precision machined steel frame/resting on a machined ledge, and therefore, do not vibrate. Helical rack and pinion drives give our customers the best of both worlds—high accuracy, with minimal wear for long term reliability, no vibration, high speeds, and easy maintenance. In addition, Techno uses a direct drive from the X and Y axis motors to the pinion, eliminating the need for a belt and pulley which can introduce play and backlash into the drive system.
Let’s look at ball screw and helical rack and pinion drives more closely. There are many different grades of ball screws (C0 though C10) which determine accuracy and repeatability (see chart to the left). C0 through C5 are ground ball screws, where the screw is ground for precise channel depth for the ball nut ball bearings to ride in. The balls for the ball nut are precisely measured and fit into the ball nut so there is a high level of accuracy. These type of ball screw assemblies are typically used on precision measuring machines and not with CNC cutting systems. Then there are less precise ball screws, known as rolled (C7 through C10) ball screws. These are the cheapest ball screws because very little measuring is required, and they have cumulative inaccuracies. An example of this is the average rolled ball screw has a position accuracy of +/-.002” over 12”, which means at 4 feet this accuracy could be out +/- .008”. This is typically okay for CNC routers since they are cutting materials such as wood, plastic, foam or signage materials not requiring high precision cuts, but it becomes more of an issue at lengths over 4 feet.
The Main Concern with Ballscrews
Here’s where a ball screw can be a maintenance concern– as a ball nut rotates and traverses along a ball screw, any dirt, dust, and debris on the screw will collect inside the ball nut, affecting the recirculating ball bearings (see example picture to the right). If this is not cleaned regularly and properly, the ball bearings begin to grind and bind, causing problems with your machine operation.
Why Helical Rack and Pinion is Better than Ballscrews
Techno recommends helical rack and pinion drives for better long-term performance and easier maintenance. If a pinion wears out it is much easier, and less costly, to replace than an expensive ball nut.
This is why most of the industry, building large format CNC Routers, use helical rack and pinion. Helical rack and pinion is the choice of Techno CNC Systems large format machines. These racks are mounted to the precision machined surfaces of the steel frames. The helical racks used hold a positioning tolerance of +/-.002” per meter. In addition to the greater accuracy, this allows for greater speeds and accelerations. The two pictures above show how the THK linear rails and helical rack and pinion are laser aligned using state of the art software. This technology assures highest level of precision alignment for the system drives. We actually outline this a little more in-depth here. Read more about why helical rack and pinion are better than ballscrews.
We had a customer recently give his opinion on helical rack and pinions vs. ball screws after touring both our facility on Long Island, New York and a competitors’ facility in Minnesota.
Here’s what he had to say about helical rack and pinions vs. ball screws:
‘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 ball screws, I don’t see how aligning a 10’ ball screw 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.” Said Jon from Arbor and Maple.
World-Renown Brushless Digital AC Servo
All Techno servo driven machines come standard with world-renown brushless digital AC servo motors and drives. The drive motor is directly coupled and bolted to a precision gearbox which directly engages the helical pinion drive. This assembly results in high speed, precise positioning, and high resolution thus producing superior cut quality, accuracy, and precision part geometry. Techno’s New-Generation precision helical rack and pinion delivers incredible performance and accuracy far better than ball screw technology. These drive motors require no regular maintenance and run ultra quiet. All motor connections are digital, which ensures uninterrupted high-speed communication between the motors and controller.
Multi-zone, High Flow, Phenolic, Vacuum T-slot Tables
Techno machines come standard with a multi-zone, high flow, phenolic vacuum T-slot table. The table includes electro-pneumatic valves to control the zones. The table is ported throughout the full process area, thus allowing the air to move evenly under the MDF scavenger board. This ensures a superior vacuum hold down. The T-slots add additional mechanical clamping capability when vacuum hold down is not suitable for the particular part you may want to process. This design gives companies the maximum flexibility.
Easy to Use and Operate Hand Held Controllers
The hand-held controller is the heart of the operating system. This handheld controller redefines the phrase “easy-to-use”. Customers can be up and running the same day that power is connected to the machine. The handheld controller buttons are all preprogrammed to execute a certain task. For example, homing the machine is as easy as pressing a single button on the pendant, or if you want to automatically set XY zero, just press the assigned button for that function. Each button on the pendant has a descriptive symbol for many common functions. NC files are loaded into the controller via a flash drive, which essentially becomes the machine’s hard drive. The advantage of this controller, other than ease of use, is that it is not susceptible to viruses, malware, or hacking. This controller is safe and secure, away from cybersecurity issues.
Heavy Duty Gantry Uprights
The Techno machines feature extremely heavy-duty gantry uprights, utilizing steel casting materials that are precision machined. These heavy-duty castings, with dual gussets, have a 7/8” thick vertical web and provide an extreme amount of strength and stability to the X and Z axis loads. The linear bearings are spanned 18” apart, which lowers the moment of inertia when the machine is routing at high speeds. The advanced design of the uprights strategically places the center of gravity of the spindle within the gantry uprights. This eliminates vibrations within the assembly, resulting in superior cut quality. What does this mean in laymen terms? It means that as the machine accelerates and decelerates through high-speed cutting, there is no mechanical wobble in the X and Z axis assemblies. This is a critical technological advancement in design many of our competitors have overlooked. In addition, the drive motor is centrally housed within the gantry upright. A steel cover is provided protecting the precision drive motor and pinion protecting these components. It’s this attention to detail that sets Techno ahead of the competition.
Dust Collection
Techno tool changer machines include a technologically advanced pneumatically operated dust hood with a 6” connection. This is essential for optimal dust collection performance. The steel hood arrangement is designed so that it encapsulates the spindle nose with a high volume of air suction, thus resulting in optimal chip and dust removal. The performance of the dust hood is far superior to any other CNC systems on the market. This technologically advanced dust hood saves company owner’s valuable time eliminating cleanup after the router completes the job. Operators do not have to spend more time cleaning up residue left in the grooves of the cut or spilled over onto the floor. Operators can simply offload parts and scrap material, reload another piece of material, and get back to routing. In addition, the use of pneumatics allows the hood to go up and down automatically. This speeds up the tool changer cycle time and allows the operator to check on the tool as he routes the job. This is much preferred, because when you set up your job for the first time, it is advantageous to be able to observe or check on the tool so that it’s performing the way you programmed it. Other competitive machines don’t have this capability. Some require the dust hood to be dropped off at a remote location (a time consuming and unnecessary process) and pick it back up after the tool change. Some other competitive machines are surrounded with guarding, making it very difficult to see the job as it routes.
Limit Switches
All Techno servo driven machines come standard with limit switch technology. All axes on the machine include homing switches and over-travel switches. The homing switch is a reference point for the machine to know where it is at all times. This is essential for tool changer machines since tool locations are taught and stored into the control system automatically. These switches also utilize a restart technology sequence in the event that the machine is stopped or requires a program jump ahead. This allows the operator to start the machine in the middle of a job.
Over-travel switches are used for safe keeping of the machine mechanics. If something were to cause one of these switches to be engaged, a fail-safe shutdown mode would be activated, preventing any damage to the machine mechanics.
Superb Technical Support with Real Life Employees – No Automated Phone Support
Lastly, our reviews speak for themselves. We have thousands of happy customers across the United States that swear by Techno CNC. From cabinet makers, to sign makers, to woodworkers and furniture makers, to guitar makers and gunstock manufacturers, our CNC routers are the best for any and all applications. Our CNC machines fly through any material. Ordering parts and accessories has never been easier by shopping on our online store at www.technocncshop.com. We also offer incredible in-house training, off-site training, and online training. Our skilled CNC machinists will teach you how to use your CNC router for your specific application.