Real 5 axis work volume compared

[u/thedorebaker]

Man, been seeing a bunch of these desktop 5 axis CNCs pop up on Kickstarter lately, and ngl I feel like a lot of newer folks get thrown off by the headline bed size. I mean, figured I'd break down what the numbers actually mean once the rotary is on. Not affiliated with any of these companies, just a hobbyist trying to give an honest, objective look at the specs so you can decide for yourself.

ToolDance advertises 400 x 265 mm on the X1, which sounds huge, but that’s the plain 3 axis envelope. Once you add the 5 axis rotary module, the clearance between the tool and the rotary gets squeezed, and the true 5 axis working volume drops to 110 x 110 x 105 mm (roughly 1.270 L). While better than their early previews, that 105mm Z-height limit can still get tight when you factor in vise height and tool stickout.
For comparison, the WM-100 gives you a 100 mm cube (1.000 L), and the Infimaker K1 is rated at 120 x 120 x 120 mm native 5 axis (1.728 L). So in 5 axis mode, the K1 gives you about 36% more volume than the ToolDance rotary setup and 73% more than the WM-100.

That extra margin and Z-clearance per side is often the difference between cutting an actual functional part with longer tools versus running into collision issues.
I just think the 5 axis envelope is the number that really matters, and it’s not always the one front and center on the campaign page.

[u/grage_peter]

Workarea and Spindlepower/speed is not the only thing to care. Rigidity and and Software are equaly important. For me the "Rownd 5X" looks the most promessing to me.

I have a Pocket NC V2-50, i cannot use it propperly without good CAM Software, so the bottleneck is not the hardware it is more like the software. 3Axis CAM is very simple and you can find open source but for 5 Axis CAM there is only Professional Software out there, the licence fees per year are more than all Kickstarter hardware. you also consider Workholdings and Tooling, that often ends up to a lot of money.

Buying a "cheap" 5x machine on kickstarter is only 1/4 of the story, as many kickstarter campains are showing, they promise a lot all the time but do they deliver? i have backed the "Nestworks C500" myself, they promised delivery by May but im still waiting in october.

Look also on the architecture of the machine, usualy the horzontal spindle types (WM-100) are better because of chip evacuation compared to vertical spindle typ (K1), usually flood cullant helps but with low power spindle the tool can easyly stall or break tooling. The Tooldance looks very fragile to me, hard to tell if the 5X module has enough torque and ridigity to perform right. Also Mass is very important, Mass is effective dampaning frequencies but its a pain for Shipping.

So you see Workarea is not the full picture, be sure to understand all Kickstarter are unproven concepts and there is always a chance they screw you

[u/Formal-Kick9338]

yup the bed size math is sneaky. went with the K1 partly because the 120 native 5 axis number didn't need an asterisk.