When you typically think of a CNC machine, you’re likely to envision a gigantic monstrosity that makes its home in a corner of a factory and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. I mean, you wouldn’t be wrong. The SwissMak Desktop CNC Machine, however, seeks to provide the same milling quality at a significantly lower price point—just $3,000.
Built from solid metal, the SwissMak features an 8-station live tool turret, a swiveling 30 taper milling head, and a 5-axis mill-turn machine designed to cut your metal bits at any angle. Impressive, to say the least.
“The low-cost machine tool market is dominated by low-quality imports; the majority are copies of machines designed decades ago,” explains the SwissMak team. “There has been very little innovation. On the other hand, full-sized CNC machine tools cost tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars and usually require 3 phase power to run.”
Let’s break it down.
The main attraction of the SwissMak is the headstock—which features a 2” spindle bore designed for mounting four, five, and six-inch chucks on the spindle face plate.
The linear and rotary axes come with NEMA 24 stepper motors which plug directly into the control board. For the uninitiated, this means they are more precise while offering a lower cost. There are also backside shafts which allow manual handwheels to work with the machine.
