Hmmm...I find that a bit out of place Gerald after all the nice things I said to/about you. Even with a smiley.

Did you not start to build the Mechmate because you we're being 'THAT kind of person' towards the shopbot you we're using ? ( at least I'm hoping you mean critical with 'that' ) Or is this a part of bashing the new kid as a passage rite, so you can all have a laugh at my expense ? - I was not even into that when I was younger, and I will run much faster now... -

Why so personal and in such a negative way, I don't know what I did wrong in this situation here ... so please explain this to me Gerald.

Hi Fox

My suggestion is that you contract out a series of trial cuts on a mechmate with the rough spec you plan to build.
This suggestion will quickly move you from the theoretical to the practical and more importantly you can make your own decisions on cut quality first hand.

Post up what you want done and your specs for cut speed, spindle speed, cutter type, pass depths etc and offer to pay someone for their time and expertise.
In the end it will be cheaper than building a machine on spec and put an end to any guesses.

Cant be fairer than that and if no one takes you up, just accept their priorities and your priorities didn't quite gel this time.

No need to stick up for Gerald, he can do that more than adequately :)

Regards
Ross

Gerald, I agree with you.
Fox, you know allot about cnc and the Mechmate, If I have spend that amount of cash per year to have work done I would have bought my own Multi or Flexicam router. Or even a china brand, they do just as good job.
To get the cut quality you require you need to have a machine with absolute no vibration, no wobble, 100% flat surface(vacuum table) and automatic tool changer, Flexicam demonstrated a new generation diamond cutter for routers here last week, it mills and polish at the same time at super fast speeds designed for acrylics.

I am very interested to know what you may suggest to improve the speed and cut quality of the Mechmate, after al your research, may I tell you what is the problem with my Mechmate – the operator, I don’t have that much time available to play and do trial and error cuts with it ( it`s only a hobby for me) so I am 100% happy with my Mechmate
K

Fox, I did not mean any negativity or a personal attack. I cannot convince a BMW driver that he will like a Toyota because of the tyre tracks left on the road. :)

If guys here tell you that you will get a great cut quality, they are are taking a big chance. The guys here have no idea how much time you are willing to invest to do all the fine tuning and tweaking that is needed. My impression is that you don't have a lot of patience and I think you might start looking at other machines before getting a MM fully tuned up.

All the nice things said about me? I don't let such things stop me from being frank. Do you want me to behave like a salesman and tell you stories?

I run a HOBBY MM without gears for a few years now. I did not bother to go gearbox as the cut quality on my machine is GOOD ENOUGH. I had some marks from time to time, but by playing with feedrates, I can honestly say that I virtually have no cutting marks on a circle or arc.
Also my table was constructed using old Microwave Tower parts.
Yes it does shake from time to time, but by adjusting feedrates and wedge the Y-sides between two concrete walls I have no shake in that direction.

This is by no means meant to offend anyone, but I found it appropriate for this thread:

Ross (surfcnc) had a good idea. If you spend that kind of money per year cutting plastics I would just contract somebody with a MM to do a small job so you can see the cut quality. I think it will be worth the small investment.

I think you may be forgetting a fundamental principle with this forum (and please somebody correct me if I am wrong). People are in here because they want to. We are not paid staff for a products company but rather hobbyists that just enjoy what we do and share (or not) our stories with others. I belong to forums for other industries / products and let me tell you, I have by far found the most valuable information and group of people that are trying to help you on these forums... HOWEVER, you still need to do your homework and of course, build your own machine (or not)..

@ Gerald,

thanks for the explanation. I do have patience but also a lot of experience in building stuff from the ground up, so I am cautious and want to prepare myself properly to make a decision. I appreciate honesty anytime, but the delivery counts as well, that's my honesty to you.

Point taken on your reserve if the Mechmate can meet my demands, within the given timeframe.

@ Kobus,
Thanks for the encouragement. I still think the Mechmate (depending on the variables) could do the trick for us. But all the response here has also made me more cautious. Warnings on the amount of time and money needed to fine tune it to our needs is taken serious. I am not impatient at all, but we need to get it up and running in a period of roughly a half year to make it worthwhile and realistic. I will use the next few months to make a decision, so I might contact some by PM or post on the forum for some further advice.

@techgladiator
I think excactly like Ross then.
I opened with stating I had already made contact with two guys ( Hans - building ) and Bart Belgium ( finished ). There are no running machines in the Netherlands*, as far as I know. I have asked both of them to meet and test, Hans is willing but has no running machine and does not know when he will cause he's swamped with other work. Bart has responded kindly to my first PM, but not yet to my second PM asking if I could visit him, maybe he's away, or maybe he's not open to that... I respect that.

It was only THEN that I turned to the forum for help on my decision making and opened this thread to help with that.

@all
I thank you all for contributing so far.

This thread has not become at all what I had hoped for, so I would like to kindly ask Mike to delete it ( I prefer this) or at least rename it to "advice on edge quality" for future viewers. I will keep participating and reading in the forum, and maybe ask a question here and there....and maybe even open up a build thread someday when I made my decision.