agilus for milling?

[di]

hi,
for those out there with good milling experience.
i want to buy the smallest kuka -ideally an agilus kr6 r900- that is able to mill hard wood such as teak.
can anybody tell me if that is a good idea? do i need to go with a higher payload? what would be the minimum? i don't really mind about the size of working envelope.   
thanks, best
di

[Johannes @ Robots in Architecture]

Hello,

We did plenty of milling projects with an Agilus, though never with teak.
I'd say the limit is mostly the weight of the tool, we used a Kress 1050 spindle on it. So I'd look around on the net if anyone has used that or a similar spindle with teak.

Best,
Johannes

[di]

many thanks johannes. we'll most probably go with a kr10 r1100 and a simple spindle to start with. so all good.
all the best
d

[Johannes @ Robots in Architecture]

Sounds good!
If you order a new Agilus, note that there's a new version around that looks a bit differently.
So you'll need to decide between the risk of being an early adopter and the appeal of having the most recent version ;)

Best,
Johannes

[werk5]

We have a highspeed watercooled spindle attached to a KR6 Agilus sixx R900 and it machines all nonferrous materials exquisitely. You need to do a little math to check loads on the bot. You'll need the KUKA CNC module if you want to do serious 3D work, it can look far ahead (150 points) and load massive files (millions of points), its not cheap almost 50% of what the bot costs, but KRL is limited to 5 CPs and/or JPs and you'll be loading files via Workvisual forever... or generating small CAM files forever.

[Johannes @ Robots in Architecture]

werk5 is totally right, just one remark: Don't update the entire WorkVisual project to copy new KRL files, simply use a USB stick (in Expert user group) or network file share and then copy it to your robot directory through the file brwoser.
You can add the KUKA.CNC software also afterwards, though KUKA usually gives you a better price if you buy it with the robot.
KUKA|prc can export code for both regular KRL and KUKA.CNC.

Best,
Johannes

[di]

thanks guys
johannes, regarding the appeal of a having the latest agilus version...well i guess my wallet will have to decide that :).
werk5, will keep in mind your input and quote the kuka cnc module. again it will be decided by budget. many thanks.
we're based in colombia, they are offering a kr6 agilus sixx r900 that they have used for fairs. will do a couple of tests on it with KUKA prc before deciding.
all the best
diego

[di]

we got a quote from our local kuka partner and it is quite high, we're looking at other vendors now, could anybody recommend kuka re-sellers either in the states or europe besides globalrobots and eurobots?

[Johannes @ Robots in Architecture]

Hello,

Small robots are unfortunately hard to find, compared to the typical 100kg+ robots that they use in the automotive industry. That also makes them rather expensive.
Have you asked at KUKA directly? They also have a got a list of used robots to sell and while not cheap they offer a limited guarantee.
I wouldn't recommend the small KUKA robots from before the Agilus series. The KR5 is a bit of a strange, rebranded Denso (but we used it for a few years and it never made any actual problems) and the old KR3 is known to be problematic (not to be confused with the new KR3R540 which is a really nice machine).

Best,
Johannes