F5 Series CNC Router with Automatic Tool Changer

F5 Series CNC Router with Automatic Tool Changer

The F5 is a gantry CNC router built around an automatic tool changer, for shops that cut, drill and profile flat panels in sequence rather than one operation at a time. It is built in four bed sizes: 1300 × 2500 mm (F5-1325), 1525 × 3050 mm (F5-1530), 2070 × 3050 mm (F5-2030) and 2070 × 4000 mm (F5-2040), each with 200 mm of Z travel and 70 mm of material clearance under the gantry. A full sheet is loaded once and the machine works through the whole programme without the operator stopping to swap cutters.

Tool changes come from a 12-station linear magazine carried under the gantry, next to the spindle, so the head travels only a short distance between the cut and the pick-up point; a change takes about 4 seconds. The spindle is a 9 kW (12 hp) air-cooled electrospindle running to 24,000 rpm, with an ER32 collet in an ISO30 taper, and takes cutters up to 16 mm in diameter and 150 mm long. An automatic tool-setting probe measures each tool tip against the workpiece, so drilling and engraving depths stay consistent after a change.

The frame is welded from 6 mm steel tube on a container-style load-bearing layout, and the gantry is formed from bent steel plate; both are stress-relieved by vibration ageing, then sandblasted. X and Y are driven by Leadshine 1500 W servo motors through planetary gearboxes and module-2 helical racks, Z by a TBI ball screw. Linear guides are 30 mm on Y and 25 mm on X and Z, with automatic lubrication. Rapid traverse is 60 / 60 / 15 m/min on X / Y / Z; working feed runs from 3 to 20 m/min depending on cutter and material, with a working accuracy of 0.05 mm and a repeatability of 0.02 mm.

The vacuum table has six zones on the F5-1325 and F5-1530 and eight on the F5-2030 and F5-2040, so hold-down can be limited to the area the sheet covers. T-slots take mechanical clamps for work that vacuum alone will not hold, and 2 + 3 locating pins square the sheet on the bed. A Becker dry-running vacuum pump of 5.5 kW moves 250 m³/h, and a 5.5 kW twin-bag collector takes chips and dust away through a 150 mm port.

Control is by a Syntec 63CA CNC with an 18.5-inch screen and a wired handwheel. G-code from the customer's CAM software is loaded by USB, and the control resumes after an interruption, keeps its position through a power failure and works within soft limits. The machine runs on three-phase 380 V (220 V on request) with 26 kW installed in total, and the electrical cabinet stands separately. Automatic loading and unloading, automatic labelling, a pressing roller, a drilling block and an oscillating knife are available as options. It suits joinery workshops, furniture production and sign makers running repeat batches of panel parts.

Applications

• Cutting and routing MDF, chipboard, plywood and HDF panels
• Batch production of furniture and joinery components
• Machining acrylic, PVC foam board, ACP and composite panels
• Drilling, rebating and engraving with probe referencing
• Relief engraving and routing of solid wood, foam and aluminium sheet
• Board machining for advertising and display production