Modela MDX-40A

Design bureaus that are looking for in-house Rapid Prototyping will certainly be happy with this machine: the attractive design and fully enclosed housing make office use possible. All control electronics are integrated. The machine can handle tooling board (chemical wood), which is the most used material for prototypes. In addition Concept Modelling using foam, and Jewelry creation using wax are possible too. The machine is too light for working in metals.

Its operation is by far the easiest of all available machines: it can be driven from the PC by just sending a file to the USB port, no extra software is needed. As the home position is fixed, no controls the machine are needed either. The NC file needs to be in Roland format, which can be chosen in most CAM packages. To directly drive the machine from any graphics application (2D engraving only) a Windows driver is included.
The current version MDX-40A also accepts NC files in G-code: the industry standard format for NC code. Now both the Roland format and the G-code format are supported. The previous version MDX-40 only accepted Roland format.

Differences with the very light MDX 15/20 and with the heavy-duty MDX 500/600 will be clear. Differences with the CPM series are that this machine is more accurate, and has a better quality spindle motor (no carbon brushes, much less noise) and spindle bearings. the other hand the system is less powerful than a CPM machine (lighter spindle motor and axis motors). The axes are driven by geared belts, compared to ball screws in the CPM.



The three axes move over steel bearings and are driven by stepper motors via geared belts (plastic). This limits the power of the machine, so tooling board has to be cut carefully, and cutting acrylic (perspex) is not possible. The spindle motor (100 W, max 15000 rpm) is a professional brushless motor, connected to the spindle by a belt. This separate spindle unit has made it possible to use high quality bearings, for long-life use even with drilling operations.

The machining table of the MDX-40 is a flat plastic block: the blocks to be machined have to be fixtured using double sided tape, if needed using positioning pins. A sensor for setting the Z=0 position is standard included.

Model:	MDX-40A
Max working area (X,Y,Z in mm)	305 x 305 x 105
Table size (X,Y in mm)	305 x 305
Max weight on table	4.0 kg
External dimensions (X,Y,X mm)	669 x 760 x 554
Weight, kg	66
Price	6.600,-

Prices in Euro currency, excl VAT and outside the Netherlands excl shipment cost.
On site installation and service are optional, available only in the Netherlands and in Belgium.
The machines are delivered with installation instructions.

Tool shaft diameter	Standard: None. Optional: Set of 4 collet chucks of 3, 4, 5 mm, and 6 mm diameter.
Max Feedrate	50 mm /sec
Accuracy	0.01 mm (mechanical resolution 0.002 mm)
Spindle motor:	100 W. brushless DC motor, with separate spindle bearings.
Rotation speed	4500 - 15000 rpm
Control software	Modela Player (MS Windows 2000/XP/Vista)

Interface with computer	USB
Type of axis-motors	Stepper
Computer requirements	Pentium PC running Windows (2000/XP/Vista or newer).
Power requirements	220 V, 50/60 Hz

For the MDX-40 options are available including:
a rotation axis
a 3D scanning option
the 123WaxRing system




As the control electronics inside this machine is already suited to drive 4 axes (only 3 axies simultaneously), it is easy to mount a 4th axis on the MDX-40. The rotation axis, mounted in the machine illustration above, can easily be taken off for three-axis milling jobs.

The rotation axis comes with a fixturing device to easily clamp rectangular material blocks to be machined. On the right side a centering point (with ball bearings) is present to support the block there. Extra sensors are included, with which you can automatically set the workpiece zero point exactly on the rotation axis (for Y and Z): very convenient.

It is very easy to place and again remove the unit from the machine table as needed. It replaces the machine's working table, attached by a few screws. Of course also a cable has to be (dis)connected from/to a connector on the back of the machine.

Weight	6.2 kg
Max stock size	cylinder of diameter 120 mm and length 270.
Max Feedrate	max 11.79 rev / min
Mechnical resolution	0.0225 deg
Price	2,400

For this machine a scanning option is available (like in the MDX 15/20). It is a Piezo sensor unit, that replaces the milling motor. So the machine can be either equipped as a scanner or as a milling machine.

Max scanning area (XYZ, in mm)	305 x 305 x 60
Scanning Speed	30 mm/sec
Sensor	Piezo controlled
Scanning method	Contact height sensing over a mesh
Resolution	0.05 to 5.00 mm for X and Y 0.025 mm for Z
Control software	Dr Picza (MS Windows 2000/XP/Vista)
Output formats	STL (ASCII), DXF (Acad V 12), VRML (Version 1)
Price	300

An extra option for this machine that has been developend especially for jewelers is the 123WaxRing system. This is a combination of a special fixture and CAM software, which makes creating jewelry wax models for rings easier then ever.
The fixture exactly matches the rotation axis unit of the MDX-40, and the sofware is a set of wizards that run within the DeskProto 3D CAM software.
For more information see the website www.123waxring.com which shows this products features, a number of pictures and also a clear instruction video.