The Mega V has been a very successful line of products for MillRight CNC, growing from its two original sizes all the way to the Mega V Full Sheet. Yet, we’ve come across several customers that are looking for certain professional level features. We took a careful look at the features that matter to “prosumer” or professional level users and have incorporated them into the first venture into the MillRight CNC Professional Line: The Mega V Pro.
First, a discussion on the “Pro” line. This term gets used a bit flippantly by some of the competition to sell machines. In our view, a manufacturer shouldn’t call their machine a “Pro” unless they expect to put it in the hands of people making their livings using the equipment. The Mega V Pro meets that standard. Quite frankly, we have many customers running full time businesses with our existing models. There’s no telling what they could do with a Mega V Pro! There will be more equipment released into the Professional Line in the time to come, with some increasingly exciting features.
Turnkey CNC System – Professionally Assembled
The machine comes assembled in a crate, already tuned, and tested. Uncrate it, plug in a couple of cables, and you are ready to go. We wanted to completely control the user experience in a positive way by making sure it comes to you ready to make you money. We could have chosen to sell this as a kit and reduced the price, but we believe the type of customer with the appetite for this level of machine will be more attracted to a turnkey solution. Imagine running a professional CNC machine 30 minutes after you take it off the truck. That’s what we are providing with the Mega V Pro.
Industrial Control
The new control, a Masso G3 with 15” touch screen, will blow you away. Over the years we’ve used a lot of machine controls: Grbl throughout its development and its various interfaces, Grbl 5X, Marlin and its interfaces, Mach 3, Mach 4, Syntec, Flow, Haas, Hurco, CypCut, and many others. It’s my honest assessment that the Masso G3 Touch is second only to one of the modern Hurco WinMax controls that you won’t get for less than many tens of thousands of dollars. Masso is thoughtful, intuitive, capable, and VERY stable. We were very careful about our selection of control, as we intend this to run the Professional Line for many years to come. A lot of the cost of the Mega V Pro is in the Masso control, but it is what enables the new features without trying to find unreliable workarounds to shoehorn the feature in. You do not need an additional computer to run the machine. The Masso IS your computer. You can even connect to it via Masso Link to transfer programs over Wi-Fi and monitor status.
There’s a lot that you don’t immediately see that’s built into the Masso. For instance, the Mega V Pro can achieve higher resolution and step rates on each axis based on the enhanced computing power in the control’s processor. This makes for smoother operations and transitions and a more accurate part.
Industrial Machine Spindle
The VFD driven spindle is here, and it’s fully automated! Start and stop it on the Masso control or from within your G Code. No need to write extra delays to your G Code for spindle speed up either: The control knows how long it takes the spindle to accelerate and decelerate and holds further execution appropriately. It’s air cooled, so there is no messing with water tanks and pumps. It has an ER20 collet that can hold up to ½” shank cutters and has ceramic bearings for up to 24,000 RPM operation. It has two horsepower and runs on 110V. If you do manage to use all that power and stall it, the VFD will alarm the control. It takes quite a lot to stall it though. We ran 700 inches per minute at 3/8” deep with a ¼” two flute cutter in MDF before we stalled it. That’s faster than any of our major competitors can even rapid traverse, and even faster than the Mega V (non-pro version) rapids! We’ve even cut 6061 aluminum with a 7/16” end mill at pretty impressive rates and the spindle doesn’t mind a bit.
Closed Loop Motion
Get smooth motion, just as it was planned with closed loop steppers! These stepper motors are 283 ounce inch with dual Y (so 566 on the Y axis). The machine is nearly step-loss proof because it compares the planned step to the encoder position on the motor and forces the axis back into position. The system will correct out of position errors of up to 2 inches before alarming. If for some reason it does alarm (like if you hit a clamp that the machine didn’t just cut through), the control allows you to restart your program from a particular location. The machine even uses differential signals to the motor for enhanced noise immunity. Closed loop motion is common in industrial machinery and is unique to the Mega V Pro at this end of the market.
Linear Bearings
The Mega V Pro sports 15mm linear profile rails on every axis. The original Mega V uses them on the Z, but they are now on the X and Y as well. We set them in place using assembly jigs, and indexed plates, so everything is set just right for optimal motion. The original Mega V wheels are pretty darn good for what they do and produce amazing results, but these linear profile rails are the next step up.
More Z Clearance and Stroke
Need to machine tall parts? No problem. The Mega V Pro has over 6 inches of Z stroke and nearly 5.5 inches of gantry clearance with the fixture plate table. The machine uses thicker Y riser plates and adds big frame gussets to enhance rigidity with the taller setup, along with some beefier plating on the gantry. There’s plenty of room to put big vises and thick parts on the machine. If you need even more clearance, a bed plate can be removed with just 8, easily accessible screws.
Precision Part Probe
As a production machine shop with high-end Renishaw probing systems on our large industrial mills, we can attest to how easy an accurate XYZ probe makes setting up your work. Our Precision Part Probe is a tiny fraction of the cost of one of those probes, but still allows you to find edges, corners, work heights, hole centers, and more, and integrates directly into the control. Select the work coordinate system to update, and automatically configure it with the touch probe with the control’s well-designed probing interface. It’s just simple, and dead accurate. Our testing has shown it to be consistently more accurate than 0.0005”. This is an optional feature, but for many users, it’s going to be well worth it. You can even create a surface map file of a curved surface for adjusting G Code files or copying a contour using a separate program called AutoLevellerAE.
Precision Tool Setter
Getting the right tool length is crucial to accurate parts. Our Precision Tool Setter is a standard feature that lets you seamlessly change tools throughout the program. Imagine a complex part requiring 6 different tools. Once you pick up your initial zero (such as with the Precision Part Probe), simply hit start cycle on your program. The Mega V Pro positions the spindle over the Precision Tool Setter, asks for the next tool, automatically touches off, and resumes work. With Masso Link, you can even see that the machine is waiting for a tool change from your work computer.
Some other companies are using a tool setter, but few are doing it this smoothly. Our industrial control that seamlessly integrates this feature makes your machining experience so much better. We even wire in motion halting overtravel protection to make sure you don’t harm the precision of the tool setter by accidentally crashing into it.
Fixture Plate Bed
The Precision Fixture Plate Bed gives you 576 holes tapped 5/16” on the XL version and 256 tapped holes on the standard version to fixture anything you need, anywhere you need it. As an actual production machine shop, we know that half the battle of machining is holding down the part. We’ve liked the T Plate Bed used on our other models for years, and we still do, but there is just something incredibly convenient about just having your bolt hole “right there” and not needing to feed in nuts from the end.
The Fixture Plate Bed is an optional feature. The basic bed has fewer holes that use threaded inserts and is made of HDPE, but is still bolted to our aluminum half-lapped subframe. Frankly, the option is a bargain, and we are underselling it. Look at some of the other CNC fixture plates available on the internet. One popular vendor would charge you triple the money for a fixture plate bed of this size that doesn’t even integrate directly.
Air Blast
Keep the cutter cool and blast away chips with the air blast system that comes standard with the machine. The machine has an air solenoid tied to the coolant code M8, so you can control the air directly from your G Code. If you need a quick squirt of air to blow away some chips, just press the button on the control to activate it. You’ll need to supply your own regulated air (keep it below 70 PSI). This feature is going to keep your bits cooler, blow chips out of the way, and ultimately make for better cuts.
Rotary Axis with Planetary Gearbox
The optional 4th axis takes a big leap forward on the Mega V Pro. We’re using a closed loop motor bolted to a planetary gearbox for superb torque and precision. A planetary gear box introduces some very minor backlash, but that is completely compensated for by the control’s backlash compensation (See how everything works together?). The tailstock support is independent of the chuck body, so you can machine a round part nearly the entire length of travel. With the extra height on the Z, you’ll be able to machine a long part up to 3” in diameter with ID clamping.
Other Nice Features
There are more niceties packed into the Mega V Pro than can be mentioned. The 15-inch control touch screen is mounted to a swivel cantilever arm that can be mounted to your table or on the wall next to the machine. As you move around or switch operators, you can orient the screen to your preference. We’ve also provided an auxiliary output that gives a 5V signal linked to an M code. By connecting this to an IoT relay (not included), you could turn your vacuum on or off, activate a fume extractor for the laser, or trigger any other helpful accessory during your program or with the press of a button on the control.
We’ve even done things you’ll benefit from but never see. We media-fill the Y extrusions for vibration dampening and adding mass to fixed components, and spray expanding foam into the gantry extrusion as a dampening solution that adds very little moving mass.
Better Performance and Improved User Experience
These features translate into seriously enhanced performance. The machine rapid traverses at 800 inches per minute, can cut up to 700 inches per minute, and accelerates faster than the notoriously quick original Mega V. Nothing else comes close at this end of the market. The closed loop steppers provide better accuracy, and the industrial control gets you to work faster. If you’ve used our machines before, this will be an even better experience in every way.
Who Needs This?
We realize that not everyone in our existing customer base is going to need the Mega V Pro. We still provide a well-rounded line-up of more affordable machines that outperform anything near their respective price-points. Yet, we’ve had an increasing number of customers reach out to us in need of machinery that is extremely reliable and incorporates some of those “$50,000 to $100,000 machine capabilities” without the price tag or need for huge lifting equipment to set them into place.
The Mega V Pro is targeted to “prosumer” hobbyists that want a very serious, industrial level machine, education users looking to teach students industrial level machining on a budget, and prototype and production shops that need a quick return on investment.
The Mega V Pro does everything our other machines do, but better, faster, and easier. If time is money for you or your business, the Mega V Pro represents an excellent investment opportunity. The Masso control interface is superbly documented, easy to learn, and extremely capable. The machine itself out cuts anything on the market at the price by a mile. You are going to run production sooner on the Mega V Pro and finish it faster than you would with anything else you’d buy for the money.
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