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Alan Graham Modelmakers Expand with Pacer Cadet CNC Router

Based in Nottingham, Alan Graham Modelmakers have been building quality models since 1991. They do all types of modelmaking but specialise in architectural, product prototyping, tooling for vacuum forming and exhibition stand models. Particularly impressive are the models of proposed new shopping centres, housing developments and office blocks.

Producing such large models was proving to be very labour intensive. Parts were cut out by hand or were outsourced and a typical model may have taken 5-6 weeks to complete. Alan said “cutting parts by hand is sometimes not sufficiently accurate or consistent and when parts are outsourced, it costs money and total control with regard to lead times can be lost. It is getting harder to find skilled staff these days and so we believe CNC is definitely the way forward.” 
 

So, earlier this year, Alan started to look for a small CNC machine which would be able to address these problems and also to release his time so he could concentrate more on new business and expanding the company.

After looking at several machines, Alan decided that the Cadet from Pacer Systems was the most suitable for his requirements. The Cadet is the smallest of Pacer’s range of machines but has many of the advanced features of the larger machines. It is designed to be a dual purpose routing and engraving machine and can operate in 2D as well as 3D. This was important for Alan as he also wanted to use the machine for producing 3D moulds for vacuum forming applications.

The Cadet machine has ballscrew drives on all axes, making it very precise for extremely fine cutting and engraving and keeping maintenance to a minimum. The controller can use dxf or dwg files from any CAD package and for 3D work it uses standard g-code programs. According to Alan, “one of the main reasons we liked the Cadet solution was that Pacer were very easily able to modify the standard machine to give us the higher gantry clearance and longer Z axis travel that we needed for the 3D work. The standard vacuum bed was also important – this is by far the best way of holding parts in place while they are cut out.”

The 600 Cadet has been in use now for several months and Alan is already seeing the benefits. He says “lead times on a typical model is now almost halved – this is making us much more competitive and we can offer a faster turnaround. Another major benefit is the accuracy which we just couldn’t achieve by hand. We are really looking forward to completing projects in-house that without the Pacer would have been impossible”.