A Dream Come True; Finally

[HollowPoint]

It's been a long time coming. I'm not really sure of the exact time I've been saving up for this purchase.

Initially I had planned on buying a larger Manual Vertical Mill with all the bells and whistles but, during the time I was saving up the funds I slowly became interested in CNC Mills. Over the past couple of years I've been informally studying G-Code and CNC machines on my own.

I even went so far as to download some freeware Cad/Cam/Simulator software to see if I could get the hang of it. Turns out that it's not that complicated after all.

There are several things that I'm still struggling to learn (circular interpolation at the top of the list) but, for the most part I'm confident I can getter-done.

I've been using a small bench-top mill and lathe for about six years; maybe longer. (I guess that's about how long I've been saving and dreaming) I've posted pictures of some of my projects here on occasion. The problem is that the projects I was doing on these smaller machines just took a long time to complete. In addition to that, these bench-top machines weren't as accurate as I would have liked them to be.

When you have to work an income-producing job during the week, it leaves little time to play around with these bench-top hobby machines.

In spite of that I don't think I'll be selling either of them any time soon.

Yesterday I took delivery of my new Tormach PCNC 770 Deluxe package. Actually it was just the Mill and the Stand. The rest of my purchase will be here on Friday; I hope.

Right now the Mill itself is sitting in my carport behind the house. I have to wait for the "Moving-Kit" to arrive with tomorrow's shipment before I can complete the assembly.

I've had the Ideas and Concepts, and I have the CAD/CAM Software; now I have the CNC technology to bring my ideas into being.

Sometimes posting things like this particular subject can come across like pure conceit, or even worse; it can be misinterpreted in any number of different ways that may cause offense to some. That was not my intent by posting this "Dream Come True."

The personal part of this dream has always been to be able to Dream it up, Draw it up and Machine it up; in that order.

Before, I used to Dream up some project, then I'd hope I could find the time to make some CAD drawings before the dream faded. If I got past that stage, then I'd hope I could find some more free time to set up my bench-top machines to at least get started with a given project. After which I'd start to loose interest in it because the following Monday I had to work and I most likely wouldn't be able to finish it anyway.

The process is still basically the same for me but, now with my CAD software I can draw them up in a few evenings after work. My CAM software automatically converts my drawings to G-Code and my Mach3 Software automatically tells my Mill how to cut my part.

This is over simplified but, I hope you get my meaning. My project "Start-to-Finish" time is alot more streamlined.

I have a list of small project that I've been putting off because I lacked the technology to finish them quickly. Now I'm left with no excuses and alot of anticipation.

The drawings for my first project in nearly complete. It's a mold for making synthetic bullet-tips. I'll post some pictures of it a little later if I get the chance.

I hope the UPS guy shows up early tomorrow. I took that day off so that I'd have the next three days to complete the assembly of this new mill.

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for taking the time share in my good fortune.

HollowPoint

[uncle jed]

Congrats. Hope to see some good stuff soon, after the required learning process and playing with it time. Best of luck to you. uncle Jed

[Matt3357]

What material are you planning on making the bullet tips from?

By the way, super jealous!

Someday....

For right now I am happy as a dead pig in the sunshine that I finally have a house with a garage rather than an apartment with a spare bedroom.

Baby steps.

Matt

[drhall762]

Actually, circular interpolation isn't a big deal. You can instruct the machine with a G02 or G03 to cut in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. If you are in the X,Y plane, and are only programming with X,Y coordinates and a radius, then the arc you program cannot exceed 180 degrees. If you try a circle in this manner the tool will not leave the start point.

With circular interpolation you add an I or J. These are the reverse axis to X and Y. Using I and J you tell the machine how far it is from the tool path BACK to the center of the arc.

That is about all there is to it. is a good example: http://www.cncezpro.com/g02m.cfm

Hope this helps,

[HollowPoint]

Uncle Jed:

Thanks for the kind words.

Mat3357:

The materials I've been experimenting with are simply Hot-Glue-Sticks. I can get them in various colors. I recently ordered and received several sticks in green, red, white, black and the standard clear colors.

I know the common colors used by commercial bullet makers are red and blue but, I figured I could color code my bullets to the charge weights I was using by inserting different colored tips; while at the same time increase the ballistic coefficient . For example: clear for my plinking loads, white for my mild loads, red for my hot loads, etc..

I found that when fully hardened, the consistency of the Hot-Melt-Glue-Sticks is similar to that of the tips I have on my V-Max bullets.

By the way, I'm not being condescending but, don't be jealous. Take heart; I had to take some of the same "Baby Steps."

I look forward to reading of your good fortune in the near future.

drhall762:

Circlular Interpolation::killingpc

I must have some kind of dyslexia-mental-block going on because I've read and re-read, I've viewed and re-viewed just about all the information and tutorials I could find on this subject.

With the freeware software I eluded to above, I tried and tried to figure it out on my own. I even bought a CNC tutorial CD in order to try to grasp how it works. (I can almost get it to work but not quite.)

I kind of get it but, not completely. I kind of feel like all the good folks that I communicate with online that have generously and patiently tried to explain it to me just as you have must wonder how I can figure out G-Code in general but, not this particular nuance of G-Code. I wonder the same thing.

I'm afraid that with some subjects, my brain just isn't receptive to this kind of learning. I have to see it being done in order for it to click in my mind.

One of my brother-in-laws is a CNC machinist. I'm going to have to ask him to go through the process line by line, character by character, block by block until it sinks in. I'm kind of reluctant to ask though; then he'll automatically think that means my new mill is at his disposal 24/7. (It's a family related psychological thing)

For the time being, I'll be looking for "Wizards" or "Macros" that are already set up to run Circular Interpolation patterns so that all I have to do is enter the correct numbers for my particular applications.

Thanks again everyone; for the kind words.

HollowPoint

[drhall762]

The link I sent has a pretty good basic program. Mouse over the graphic in the upper left to see what it is cutting. Looks like an "eye" to me. Chop the program parts you need. I'll look to see if I can find my old teaching guides and send you the "plug and chug" section on CI. Trust me, you'll get it. All of my student did, eventually. Circles can be done just as easily on two lines.

[drhall762]

Here is the one I like best. It is for the Haas line but they use FANUC controllers so it should be close. Lots of stuff you may not need in the front but when you get to the programming it is very clear. http://www.haascnc.com/pdf/96-8000.pdf

I have it if you can't download it for some reason I will e-mail it to you. About 20MB.

[ph4570]

That's great HollowPoint. Periodically I go to the Tormach website to drool. I had saved enough money but then had to replace the roof on our house. I did not mind putting buckets out to collect the water but the woman..... I consider it hush money spent. Now I must start saving again.

We need pictures once you get it all set up.

[drhall762]

Just thought of something. Check out MSC. They have machinable wax. Very friendly to cut and when you're done, just re-cast it.

[Doughty]

HollowPoint,
Something else that you can use to practice or "prototype" on is soild house insulation like they sell at Lowes. A 4' X 8' piece is cheap and goes a long way. You can cut it into pieces or cut and glue to make about any size you need. I use the 1" thick blue stuff. The swarf is a little messy, but a vacuum makes for a quick cleanup.
Richard

[HollowPoint]

Before I can do any type of prototyping I have to get it in my back door first.

The moving kit I was waiting for showed late Friday afternoon. To late to attempt anything then.

First thing Saturday morning (that's today) I plan on being at the door of the equipment rental store for an engine hoist and a pallet jack.

My back door measured 31" across and the widest point of the mill table and its Y-motor housing measures 33" with the motor removed.

I'm hoping I can finess it in the door without having to dismantle it any further. I think I can get it to work; I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Time will tell. $25 bucks a day to rent the hoist and the pallet jack with a two-hundred dollar deposit. ($25 each)

I'd like to get the mill in the door and mounted on the stand today if possible.

I tried loading the SprutCAM software that came with this mill package. All went well until I tried to open the program. I got an Error Message that just wouldn't go away so I ended up having to uninstall the software.

Being overly-anxious to get thing put together and have metal chips flying make it doubly frustrating when small setbacks like this rear their heads. As far as problems go, these are just Blips-On-The-Screen of the big picture.

I know I'll get them taken care of soon enough but, right now, "Soon Enough" can't come Soon Enough.

Thanks for the tips on the practice materials.

HollowPoint

[Fishman]

If you can get a 33" mill through a 31" opening, learning circular interpolation will be a piece of cake because you are a magician!

I know I know attack it at an angle and all that but your get er done attitude is awesome. I don't pretend to know anything about Cnc machining but I know all about realizing a dream. Good luck and I hope you get it set up before having to go back to work.

[dragonrider]

I am holding my breath for pictures. :-P

[deltaenterprizes]

Green with envy, but I am glad you got it, one day maybe I will have one.

[HollowPoint]

I finally got my new Mill in the door of my very small shop space.

I only had to remove the X and Y motors to do it; and I still managed to bugger up the lower parts of the door-jamb of my back door.

I was afraid I was going to have to take it apart into smaller pieces and move it in that way. Thank God I was able to finess it in the door.

The good news is, it's on the stand and leveled out. The automatic oiler is now installed. The 4th Axis driver and wiring are done; checked and re-checked.

Today I thought I'd tackle the computer/driver for the mill. I bought my Keyboard and my flat screen monitor off of ebay. I'm still waiting for the monitor to arrive.

In addition to that there were a few items on my purchase list that were on "Back-Order." I new in advance that the Tail-Stock for the 4th Axis and the Tooling kit/package were on that list but, it didn't matter to much.

I already have enough tooling that will work and it will be a while before I get up to speed enough to even think about using the 4th Axis. I had also ordered a gallon of coolant and a gallon of machine oil that I just realized was listed as back-ordered on my shipping receipt.

I still have to deal with my SprutCAM software issues on Monday. Once I get done with the Mill-Driver/computer stuff I hope to have some time to get to the hardware store to price out some components for making an enclosure of some sort. I already know how I want it. (cheap and functional and lightweight.)

With my manual lathe and mill, every time I used them I managed to track metal shavings in to the house. It's a real PITA to get them out of the carpet. Stepping on those metal shavings with bare feet is not fun either.

I just want to minimize that by building an enclosure.

Things are moving along now. I'll try to take pictures next week some time as time permits.

HollowPoint

[Frank46]

Glad you got your new mill (I'm Jealous) indoors. Some years back an indian family moved next door. Husband was a klutz with tools. I had to strip all molding and most of the frame so that they could get a sofa into the living room. Then put all the wood back. Wife was extremely thankful and made up a bunch pf chipattis easy or the curry powder that was well worth the effort. Bout once a moth could find a plate of the chipatties on the table. They were that good. Frank

[HollowPoint]

Hi Frank46:

The damage I did to my door-jamb is something I can live with. It never occured to me to remove the molding and such to avoid this kind of damage. Good idea.

Fortunately the damage I inflicted wasn't on the moldings of the door-jamb. It was mainly on the inside corners of the jambs.

In hindsight, if I would have just inserted a piece of cardboard between the jamb and the mill it would have prevented any damage at all. Oh Well; what's done is done.


I've gone as far as I can with the mill assembly. It's basically all put together and ready for its first run.

The software for the drivers is now all set up so there's nothing holding me back; except for the fact that I'm still waiting on my computer monitor to arrive; and the machine oil I ordered. Hopefully they'll be here today or tomorrow.

With the help of some of the guys over at the CNCZone website I think I may have a handle on my CAM software problems. It turns out that my computer-ignorance and SprutCAM's method of writing their instruction manuals sort of made for a "Perfect Storm" of mind boggling information-overload.

They seem to write their instructions for folks who know about computers and software. I'm an Auto-Upholsterer by trade. The intricacies of computers and software were just never high on my list of priorities. (until now)

I hope to be operational by the end of the week. Then I can start to experiment with the mill itself.

HollowPoint

[Cap'n Morgan]

With the help of some of the guys over at the CNCZone website I think I may have a handle on my CAM software problems. It turns out that my computer-ignorance and SprutCAM's method of writing their instruction manuals sort of made for a "Perfect Storm" of mind boggling information-overload.

Don't worry that you don't "get it" when it comes to circular interpolation, you won't need it. Of course it's nice to be able to punch in the numbers for a simple profile when you're in a hurry, but if the profile has more than a few elements just fire up the PC...

Most, if not all CAM systems has their own CAD system implemented. Most of them works so, so... If you already have a CAD system you feel comfortable with - stay with it. 95% of the time you will probably be doing 2D stuff, and all you need is a "flat" DXF file to work from. Later you can start adding taper (2.5 D) before going full 3D.

Use the built-in tool path verification software as much as possible! This is important as it will give you a good visual understanding of what is going on - and you won't ruin any parts or tools in the process. I take it the CAM software was a part of the package and it includes a post processor?

Good Luck - CNC is FUN!

[HollowPoint]

As I had hoped, the Mach3 driver software that came with this package has "Wizards" that are set up to do circular interpolation. All I have to do is enter the dimensions I'm working with and the computer takes care of the rest.

It's a relief because in the past few months I've been having to learn a total of four different softwares. One of them was the TruboCAD software for Mac computers. It wasn't to difficult to pick up.

I have since switched over to SolidWorks. It's a little more complicated but I finally figured it out enough to make some decent looking drawings. One of the other softwares I was fiddling with was the Mach3 software that came with this mill. I down loaded a free copy last year so I could use the simulator feature to see if my hand written code was done correctly.

Now I have this SprutCAM software that I have to learn. I'll be able to make my drawings with this software as well but, the Solidworks CAD software allows me to make animations with my drawings, do stress analysis and several other more complicated features.

Your are correct. This SprutCAM software does the post-processing. It too has a Simulation feature, as well as "Wizards" and "Macros" that shows tool paths and such to help me avoid crashing my new mill.

I finally got the SprutCAM software to function without giving me Error messages. Now I'll have a chance to do some of the tutorials to get up to speed.

It's true; "CNC is FUN" but, the learning curve is not.

I look forward to making my first part.

HollowPoint

[frankenfab]

The hard part to grasp with G02 or G03 is that our first line of code for the arc is split between data that is about where we are going to and where we started from. You get used to the next line of code being all about what point you are going to next.

In a G02, G03 line, the X and Y coordinate refer to the point you are going to, while the I and J refer to the point we started at. (to the center of the arc, + or- direction included)

That is how I try to break throught the mental block that most students in classes I have taught seem to encounter when we get to that topic. It was the same for me, when I was trying to learn it.

I will also add that I feel it is imperative to learns to write G code by hand. A person neeeds to have that familiarity with writing programs in order to be able to troubleshoot problems with programs written by software. They WILL happen.

[PatMarlin]

Congrats on the Tormach! Be great to follow you progress on it.

I'm glad now I sat for hours and days on end leaning to write G-code. It's nice to be able to read through line by line and find a problem.

I still haven't started programing for my Mill yet. Hope to soon.

[HollowPoint]

"I will also add that I feel it is imperative to learns to write G code by hand. A person neeeds to have that familiarity with writing programs in order to be able to troubleshoot problems with programs written by software. They WILL happen."

frankenfab: I couldn't agree with you more.

Hi Pat: I've been trying to lean G-Code on my own for the past couple of years leading up to this purchase. During that time there would be periods where I really had a handle on it, then I'd get complacent thinking I had it down.

Unless I made a conscious effort to study it a little every few days, I'd forget what I'd learned. And since -at the time- I didn't have a CNC mill to keep me focused and wanting to practice my G-Code, I'd easily loose the ability to do so. There are alot of distractions in life.

Right now as I write this I'd say I've retained only a very small amount of the CNC related stuff I made an effort to learn.

I'll be relying heavily on the abilities of all the software I'll be working with. But still, I don't want this software to become a "Crutch." I would rather be able to read and write G-Code on my own instead of being dependent on the software.

Well, I'm off to work for now. I'll talk to you all a little later.

HollowPoint

[PatMarlin]

There's no doubt Tormach has built an excellent machine and support system for the home shop and hobby/ commercial prototype, market but I myself and other folks are waiting to see how the machines hold up to the next level of daily production. I know they are constantly improving the machines.

It interests me because I may want to take my ROCKDock to the next level of marketing and production, and I would like to move into a new type of machine instead of relying on my old industrial equipment like I have been.

A new, small footprint footprint machine with low power consumption would be ideal. And the cost is reasonable.

[HollowPoint]

I decided on the 770 model because of some of the same reasons; small footprint and it runs on 110V. Plus I already had some tooling on hand that would work with this mill.

The next size up is the 1100 model. It runs on 220v. If I'd have opted for that model I would have never got it in the door. Not only that but, I would have had to hire an electrician to run some wiring to accommodate the larger power consumption.

They just came out with the Series 3 model 1100. I think that would do well being used for production runs.

Although my small mill should hold up well doing small runs of this or that, it's basically a hobby mill on steroids.

HollowPoint

[PatMarlin]

You're gonna have a lot of fun with that puppy.

I've had my share of electronic CNC component issues due to the age of one of my machines this year. It was the last of the original old stock items that had not been retrofitted as well as a Z axis encoder going out a few weeks ago. Used equipment will test your resolve, and normally I'm up to the task as long as I get some decent mileage in between, but lately it can make a guy wish for something new.

THe encoder this machine uses is by a company that makes them up on demand. So I've been down with this one for 2.5 weeks. Just got her back up and rolling this evening.

[HollowPoint]

Before buying this mill I'd religiously scour our local craigslist ads, backpage ads and news paper ads hoping to stumble onto a good used CNC mill.

I did manage to come across a couple during that time but, being a novice at CNC I did have some apprehensions about buying a used machine. Mainly because I wouldn't know how to fix it if I had problems.

At least with a new machine I have a few months worth of warranty and tech support while I get familiarized with the workings of it. By the time the warranty expires, hopefully I will have learned enough to fix any mechanical problems. Answers to most user related problems can be found online.

My flat screen monitor is supposed to arrive today; and the machine oil and coolant is scheduled to arrive today as well.. My tooling package won't be here till next month though.

In the mean time I hope to be using some of the tooling I have on hand to play around with the mill till then.

HollowPoint

[HollowPoint]

It's been a while since posting anything new on this thread. I finally got everything but my tooling-package in. That's still a couple of weeks out.

I did manage to fire it up for the first few times just to jog the axis's around and check to see if the tooling I had on hand was going to work for me. It does.

The "Circular Interpolation" I was stressing over is now a non-issue. I found out the Mach3 software that came with this mill has "Wizards" that allow me to program this kind of thing by simply entering the numerical values I'm needing cut and, Presto; I have a Circle cut.

It was suggested that one of the materials I could use to practice on was that Blue home insulation you can buy at the hardware store. As it happens, I had some old partially deteriorated pieces in the junk pile out back. You were right, it makes good practice material.

Not to terribly messy. I used it to run my first "Circular Interpolation" test. I didn't factor in my tool's diameter but, it worked non the less.

Here's a couple of pictures of my new girlfriend. Both were taken before I had it completely assembled.

While waiting for some of my parts to trickle in, I took the time to put together a make-shift enclosure. $65.00 worth of easy to work with materials and I now have what I hope will keep me from tracking metal shavings all over the house.

HollowPoint

[PatMarlin]

How's the new mill going?

[HollowPoint]

Hi Pat.

All is well.

I've completed a number of small projects with it; scope mounts for both my K31 and my Enfield. Also a set of front sights for both rifles.

Synthetic bullet tips mold, Action Wrench, aftermarket components for my Daisy RedRyder BB gun plus several other knick-knacks.

I only wish I had more free time to play around with it. Some of the projects I've listed were posted on the "Projects" section of this site. The projects that weren't related to guns or shooting were kept to myself.

Now I find myself wishing and praying for the money to buy a CNC hobby lathe. The manual lathe I have just isn't accurate enough to do the type of turning I'd like to do.

My next project is a set of Boat-Tailed Gas-Check dies. I think I may have mentioned this to you before at some time.

I did get around to turning a prototype set of dies; and with alot of cussing and tweaking I was able to get them to work but, only on copper gas checks. These particular dies just tear the aluminum checks to pieces. I think if I anneal the aluminum before working it, it may solve that problem.

My main consideration for making these Boat-Tailed Gas Checks is Accuracy. I'm just not getting that with my present bench-top hobby lathe. I can look down the center of my prototype dies and visually see that my holes are off-center. This makes my checks come out out of round.

For now I'm working on accurizing this little manual lathe and working on finding the time to fire up my CNC mill as often as possible.

Thanks for asking. I thought this thread had long since died.

HollowPoint

[PatMarlin]

Sounds good.

Yep- there's a lot of hard AL out the that tears like all get out with any dies.

I've considered getting a Tormach, but I have an industrial Cat 40 mill here and I can trade up to a new Fagor control for about $6k, and the machine is in real good shape, so I think I'm sticking with it.

[HollowPoint]

Even though there's no way in heck I can afford it right now I still surf the internet in search of a "Small-Foot-Print" CNC Lathe I could fit into my already crowded Laundry Room/Work Shop.

I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had to wipe my saliva off my computer's key board as I watched these Hobby CNC Lathes in action.

Oh well; That's how it all started before buying my present CNC Mill. It all starts with a Dream.

HollowPoint

[smokeywolf]

HollowPoint,
Tracking chips into the house has never been an issue. The Mrs. is Japanese, so shoes are taken off before entering the house.

Don't have NC capabilities yet. Hoping to do a conversion on my Bridgeport one of these days. For several years I designed and built 3 and 4 axis motion controlled camera stages for film scanners in the motion picture industry. Much of my knowledge from that I believe will transfer to building motion control into my milling table. Not sure about a conversion on my 17x40 gap-bed engine lathe. I'm pretty much an old conventional machinist and have only run a Tree NC mill and a couple of Bridgeport 2 axis EZ Traks.
Because I've used and for a time taught AutoCAD, it would be nice to be able to plug a .DWG file into MasterCam or one of the other CAM programs to produce the needed programming.

Anxious to see some pictures of your mill and some of the parts output from it.

smokeywolf

[HollowPoint]

Greetings smokeywolf:

It sounds like you have the expertise to convert a mill or lathe to CNC. I thought about doing that just to try to save some money but in the end I figured it might be cheaper in the long run for me to buy one already put together.

I haven't had any problem with tracking metal shavings into the house ever since I made up my enclosure for the mill. Another thing that helped was pulling all the carpet in my home and replacing it with tile.

If I ever do track anything in it's just a matter of sweeping it out rather than getting on hands and knees and picking it out with a magnet or the tips of my fingers.

Now days any pictures that I post are taken down after a couple of days. I got into doing it this way to conserve the space made available by the Cast Boolits website. Since they went to this new format though, there seems to be a little more space to store images.

I still have a couple of images posted of the scope mount I recently built with the help of my CNC hobby mill. It's listed under, "My New K31 Scope Mount" title in the special projects section. I long since took down all the photos I had posted of my mill.

Thanks for the interest and input.

HollowPoint

[PatMarlin]

We've been at the control of my Omniturn/Hardinge lathe all week and now it looks like a mother board in the control. Sheesh.

CNC has it's share of gremlins.

[smokeywolf]

Ummmm, Hardinge.

I've run Hardinge 2nd op tool room lathes, HLVs, chuckers and even a Hardinge Cataract Tool Room Lathe. Inspected by Hardinge reps who came to the MGM Studio Machine Shop in 1972 and because of no serial number and "Chicago" cast into the bed, they dated it to approx 1898.
I was the last guy to run that lathe before it was retired to storage in 1986. I single pointed a 1/4-20 thread on a piece of 20 inch long titanium round stock. Yep, that 1898 lathe still had the original follow rest.
NC may have its hickups, but I've never heard of a bad Hardinge.

smokeywolf

[PatMarlin]

MGM Studio Machinist?

Now that's a resume... :mrgreen:

I love em'. Got one 1955 chucker, and 2- precision tool room cnc's. Gonna buy one more and that's it.

Got the Omniturn back online last night. Finally.

[HollowPoint]

I know this topic is about CNC machines but, I mentioned my little 9x19 metal lathe being inaccurate.

I got a chance to take a closer look at it today; day off. I discovered that my tail stock was out of alignment.
Not only that but both the V-Belt and the Cog-Drive Belt had stretched to the point that they were both skipping.

That's what happens when you don't keep up with the up-keep of these machines. It makes me glad my little
hobby lathe isn't CNC. It might have made it a little harder to troubleshoot.

I've ordered some new belts. Once they arrive I'll align my tail stock and I should be good to go with my next
project.

Hollowoint

[smokeywolf]

Yep, gotta keep up with the belts, headstock oil, way oil, lead screw, cross slide screw, feed rod and tail stock grease points. Since I don't even have DRO on my lathe, I also have to check the wiper pad on my Trav-A-Dial.

smokeywolf

[PatMarlin]

I've got Travadials on my Bridgeport. I like em'.

My control freaked out again after running for quite a few hours yesterday. Sheesh. I think it's new computer time for it. Good news at least it's PC based and used PC boards will fix it.

[smokeywolf]

The Trav-A-Dials are great. Used them on several of the lathes in the MGM/Turner/Lorimar/Warner Bros./Sony Pictures Shop.
When I closed that shop in 2002 the studio management asked me to liquidate the assets in the 6,000 sq. ft. machine shop. My payment for that task was a low hour Bridgeport with Mitutoyo DRO, a 17/25 x 40 Webb (Mori Seiki MS850 clone) engine lathe and literally "all the tooling I could carry". I think I ended up with 5 or 6 Trav-A-Dials. Put a brand new one on my lathe, gave one away, and sold the remainder on ebay.
I did a year in the Universal Studios Machine Shop and they used to use Trav-A-Dials on their mills and lathes.

If I could afford it AND justify it, I think I would consider an NC retrofit package for my Bridgeport. Two problems with that is cost and I don't like being dependent on non off-the-shelf proprietary electronics that the company won't want to support 5 years later.

smokeywolf

[PatMarlin]

Makin' chips with Bugs Bunny... :mrgreen:

My manual Knee Mill is actually a WEBB and it's a fine machine. Every bit good as a Bridgeport if not better.

I'm going with a new Fagor control on my Supermax YCM40 mill. They have a trade in deal that is hard to beat. THey just stopped supporting their 8025 which I have on 2 machines, because it's 1990 electronics and no one can get parts for them. Awesome controls. They just keep running. Omniturn is PC based and you can go to the bone pile or eBay and keep those running, but they rarely ever have a problem.

[smokeywolf]

I had 5 knee mills in the Sony Studios Machine Shop: 2 Bridgeports, a Summit, an Index, and last but not least a Webb. The Webb had the box ways, a 54 or 58 inch table and had a Midutoyo DRO on it. I almost took the Webb but, the Webb we bought used and the Bridgeport was purchased brand new, so I know its complete history and every machinist, of which there was only 5 or 6, who ever ran it. I have all of the papers on the Bridgeport; right down to the shop's copies of the RFQ, the quote and the original MGM Studio Purchase Order. Also have the original chip guard, rotary table with its right angle (vertical) attachment, collet holder, knee crank and draw bar wrench.

The Webb was sweet. I did some hole placement on microscope stages that most people wouldn't attempt without a jig bore.

smokeywolf

[PatMarlin]

I installed a 3hp perm mag DC motor on mine when my shop was off grid. It sips power in 110VAC,.


http://www.patmarlins.com/1install.jpg



http://www.patmarlins.com/2install.jpg

[HollowPoint]

Last year, with my manual bench top 9x19 lathe I tried making up and installing a set of DROs just to try to get a little more
accuracy out of it.

I used some cheap harbor-freight digital caliper parts. By cutting off the heads and just using the digital scale I was able to
mount them on both axis' of the lathe.

It worked for a little while but as the lathe loosened up with use, the digital caliper parts remained accurate while the slop in
the lead-screws increased. I went back to measuring my stock manually.

In order to tighten up this lathe even further I'd have to make up some new tighter-tolerance gears and nuts. I'm thinking it
might be cheaper in the long run to just save up for an upgrade to the lathe I have now; and if I'm going to start saving up for
something new, it may as well be a new CNC hobby lathe as apposed to the manual lathe I have now.

HollowPoint

[PatMarlin]

Still use mine.


http://www.patmarlins.com/3dro.jpg

[HollowPoint]

Yea Pat:

That's exactly how I had mine set up. I may try to set it up that way again once I get
my machine tightened up again.

HollowPoint

[smokeywolf]

Love those linear scales. Have a Mitutoyo scale on the quill of the Bridgeport.

smokeywolf

[Willbird]

Last year, with my manual bench top 9x19 lathe I tried making up and installing a set of DROs just to try to get a little more
accuracy out of it.

I used some cheap harbor-freight digital caliper parts. By cutting off the heads and just using the digital scale I was able to
mount them on both axis' of the lathe.

It worked for a little while but as the lathe loosened up with use, the digital caliper parts remained accurate while the slop in
the lead-screws increased. I went back to measuring my stock manually.

In order to tighten up this lathe even further I'd have to make up some new tighter-tolerance gears and nuts. I'm thinking it
might be cheaper in the long run to just save up for an upgrade to the lathe I have now; and if I'm going to start saving up for
something new, it may as well be a new CNC hobby lathe as apposed to the manual lathe I have now.

HollowPoint

Your machine should have gibs to take up the slop in the cross and compound slides ?? There should be no gears and nuts involved in the linear motions that would stop a digital readout from working correctly ??

Bill

[PatMarlin]

WHat may be happening is those readouts.

The ones in my pic are the old HF black ones and they were great. They still read dead on within .0005 much of the time. Harbor Freight ran out of those, and the new ones were complete garbarge. I installed one on my Hardinge chucker and it never did read reliably.

I quit using those HF ones all together as hand held dial calipers and went to a Mitutoyo digital which is real nice, but my favorite is a mechanical gold ring dial caliper from Mitutoyo. No batteries, but real accurate.

Those old HF scales on my lathe keep working, 4 years later.

[HollowPoint]

The digital calipers I used on my lathe worked fine. It was the slop that developed in the wheel (not the gibs) that made it difficult for me to rely on the digital read outs.

On the cross-slide itself, the small nut-like fixture that the threaded rod runs through actually broke apart. I had to make another one out of real steel. It appeared to have been cast out of some kind of cheap alloy because the pieces looked like real brittle pot-metal.

All the little chinese made bench top lathes I've ever used had some back-lash but my particular 9x19 lathe just seemed to have enough to need constant upkeep to keep it from becoming overly-sloppy.

I just finished re-aligning every thing the best I could. I test-turned a piece of aluminum rod yesterday and put my indicator dial to it. I got only faint amounts of run-out so I think I'm good to go for now.

I've been working on my taxes this week but as soon as I get that out of the way I'll start back up on my Boat-Tailed Gas-Checks project. These damn taxes have been giving me sleepless nights so while I'm up I tend to think about how I can best go about turning the dies I have in mind.

I think I've got it figured out but, time will tell.

HollowPoint