Carbide 3D Nomad - any experience / comments?

[dbb-the-bruce]

I'm looking at / thinking about getting the Nomad desktop CNC machine from Carbide 3D.

I'm interested in any feedback before I pull the trigger.
I fully understand that this is a SMALL machine. The work that I want to do is all small parts, mostly brass. Two things that I've seen so far are - needing to add a heatsink to the spindle drive motor and that the upper RPM limit on the spindle is 10,000. I don't think either of these would be an issue.

Anyone have one of these machines? Other general comments?

Thanks in advance.
-Dave

 

[Illinoyance]

I noticed all the parts they showed were wood.

 

[dbb-the-bruce]

I noticed all the parts they showed were wood.

The users message board has a number of projects done in various metals, but yes, most of the examples are wood and actually for the other machine they make. I've done a lot more research since the first post and think will do what I want to.

My intended uses are:
#1 - engraving brass
#2 - machining small parts out of brass or aluminum (with some steel if it can handle it)
#3 - 3D surface sampling with a touch probe.
#4 - maybe some wax for lost wax casting.

A appears to be a popular machine for PCB work and with jewelry makers.
I think I'll be fine with it as my introduction to CNC machine. If I end up wanting more shouldn't be to hard to sell or I'll keep it for engraving work.

 

[kevin]

I realize this is an old post, but I am wondering if there are any new Nomad owners who would like to comment. I am considering getting the newer Nomad 3, but I have found almost no commentary on it from actual owners.

More generally, does anyone have a recommendation for a benchtop CNC in the same general price range as the Nomad (~$3K)?

P.S. to the original poster : Dave, if you are reading this, did you ever buy a Nomad, and if so were you happy with the purcashe?

 

[dbb-the-bruce]

P.S. to the original poster : Dave, if you are reading this, did you ever buy a Nomad, and if so were you happy with the purcashe?

Ah, my first zombie post!

Yes, I went ahead and purchased the Nomad 883 Pro.
It was a perfect machine (for me) to get started with, basically learning CNC from scratch. It is very capable for small scale work in non-ferrous metals. (I'm talking about the 883 Pro).

It is however small - and not just in the sense of volume - I'm not making big stuff. Limited to 1/8" bits. You could put large bits in it with a bigger ER collet, but the spindle just doesn't have the power to take advantage of it. This means that operations that need to remove lots of material (say a 6x6" pocket 1/4" deep) are going to take a long time to clear and will need either very light radial engagement or shallow depth. However, I did a project with a basket weave relief pattern on 4 sides of a 1" cube brass box using end mills down to .01 diameter - and it came out great after I worked out how to get it done.

I also have cut tiny 7 tooth pinion gears (about 3/8 dia) with it that work great.

This past summer, I started working with steel (1018, with the intention of moving to stainless) I was able to use the 883 Pro with some success but my conclusion was that it just wasn't up to the job of anything but very small/light work with steels.

I took the plunge and went for a new Nomad 3 - more spindle power and double the top speed. I have been able to work with steel but it is still a challenge. A caveat here - what I am attempting to do is REALLY pushing the limits of Nomad 3. I've been able to make 1" tail profile cut parts by milling .5" from a side and flipping over to finish. Taking .1 deep by .007 radial cuts with the profile. I can cut a 2d profile in about 2x3" top view area in about 30 minutes. BUT this is after roughing the profile to with in .08 of final using other means. Effectively using the Nomad to make a complicated profile that would be really hard to mill by hand.

I was about to start a thread on my pursuit of this and the issues I'm having and also about the use and availability of small (some would say tiny!) CNC machines.

I have found that there is not a lot of accessible PRACTICAL information on using these machines - most CNC info is aimed at much bigger and powerful machines. It would be great to get some discussion going on here about small scale / desktop CNC.

I'm away for the weekend but look forward to more discussion.

In short, I would strongly recommend getting a Nomad if it fits the kind of work you think you want to do. Sooner or later thought, you will likely want a more capable machine. This is pretty much true for every "first machine" I'm purchased.

 

[kevin]

Thanks for the update - very useful. I hope you will start a new thread with more discussion on the issues you are facing and how you are addressing them.

I am also wondering if you found the Carbide CNC hosted forum of any interest. I have only just started looking at it, but my initial impression was that most of the Nomand users were new not only yo CNC but to machining generally (not meaning to be a criticism - we all have to start somewhere). On the plus side I also got the impression that the company is very supportive of their customers. And related to this topic, are you aware of any other useful forums for desktop CNC out there, because I am not finding much useful stuff so far.

Finally (for now!) I would appreciate your thoughts on the software provided with the Nomad - how well does it work, does it meet all your requirements, etc.