A CNC portal milling machine for milling the molds of our future projects. This was our dream three years ago when we started the project of acquiring a milling machine.
The molds are assembled from large plastic blocks with dimensions of 2.5x1x0.2 meters. In addition, they are machined on a steel frame to prevent the molds from warping and to provide the necessary rigidity. This resulted in the basic requirements for the working area of 2500x1000x600 mm. In addition to the plastic block material, we also want to manufacture parts and setting fixtures. The milling machine must therefore also be suitable for machining wood and aluminum. To meet the required manufacturing accuracy, only servo motors with a reliable control system came into question. In the past, we have had bad experiences with step motors, as they lose more and more steps and thus accuracy over time.
After comparing many offers and long considerations, we decided on the PL-SK2514-D portal milling machine from SKCNC. This is specially adapted to us and has a working area of 2768x1670x671 mm with a spindle power of 4.5 kW. It is equipped with a Beckhoff complete control system. This has the advantage that it is also used in industry and will therefore continue to be supported for a long time.
In addition, the organizational effort for the installation was very high. In the crawl space underneath the floor, two walls had to be drawn in at the positions of the feet. Furthermore, a plan for the safe operation of the milling machine had to be created with an enclosure.
This year it was finally time and now the milling machine is sitting in our workshop.
Our double doors were also replaced as the milling machine was installed.
We stretched to limit what would fit into our workshop with the milling machine. There was very little space between the steel girders of the workshop wall and the milling machine.
Author: Felix Johnke
