What machine is best? What makes it better than the rest, and is that machine still being made?

TIA, Joe.

Hey, I think I know this one!!! (only because I did a search on it two nights ago and read up ;-)

The Hoenig. It is a 5 axis machine. I don't remember where the extra 2 axis come into play, but it is considered by some of the very best in the business (Chic and D'Arcy) to be the only one to use.

Do a search on stock duplication and you should find some information on it. You will probably also find names of people that have one and provide the duplicating service.

Red

JMac,
The Hoenig Rodman as Dago Red stated is the best by a long shot. Nothing else comes close. You can create a vertical plunge with the router bit, in essence, boring a hole. The others will not do that. You can approximate that on a Dakota by unlocking the axis and feeling your way down. The Hoenig is also much more accurate than the others. The downside is that it is slower and uses a smaller motor to do the cutting, which may or may not be a disadvantage.

Best of both worlds would be a Hoenig type with one of the 3-1/2 HP router motors. Easy retrofit.

Is the Hoenig machine still in production?

Gunnut,no it isn't. When it was made, he only produced 3 a year and the price for the last ones was around $17,000. Not exactly your
home shop equipment.

John, I am sure that George considered or experimented with that. I have run a Hoenig and imagine that vibration and cutting speed has something to do with the accuracy and quality of the job.

Anyone know where there are any photos of the Hoenig or, barring that, where one is that a person could go and look it over and watch it run?

I'm trying to get an idea how a Hoenig functions and pictures or a quick look would answer a whole lot of questions.

Thanks for the responses, Joe.

JMac,
Go here and then to the shop tour. Mark has access to a copy of a Hoenig duplicator. It is not exactly the same but close enough. The real key item that this copy does not have are the radial clamps. I have some digital photos of them I could send you. It helps shorten the distance between centers to one third of normal and thus reduce the vibration and error potential.