Raise your hand if you have a mill or lathe
GordonMcComb
Posts: 3,366
I'm collecting some basic factoids regarding the prevalence of machine tools among robotics/electronics experimenters. Raise your hand if you own or use (business, school, etc.) a metal lathe or vertical mill to help construct your projects!
Comments
Hoping to add a 3D printer soon...
-Phil
Somewhere.
-markM
For my business I have 2 CNC mills with 33 inch travel; one has a 4th axis, so we can do contour milling. There is also a third one with 12,000 rpm 10 HP spindle on the way. Each has a 26 station automatic tool changer, and can handle 1000 pound load.
We also have a CNC lathe with 16 inch swing.
Cheers,
Peter (pjv)
My List of machines.
Grizzly G0463 Mill converted to CNC.
CNC Router a Pro4848 from CNCRouterparts.com. (24K RPM Max)
Grizzly Stroke Sander(Finish Aluminum for anodizing)
Bridgeport CNC with a Fagor 8055 controller. (Brand new as of last year)
Bridgeport from Woodstock era(manual control), its solid, just smells funny.
And a old lathe that I just stare at. I don't know how to use it.
In the spirit of full disclosure, though, nearly everything I make nowadays involves wood, foam, cardboard, PVC, or mud. So the tools have devolved accordingly.
I have a Myford ML7, old, but still a workhorse around the shop. Not NC. Also a drillpress with 2-axis cross-slide. Thinking about getting something like a Shurline to make NC for faster prototyping in PC and Styrene boxes.
I was deciding between buying a laser cutter or CNC mill for my first tool. Is there any reason why you are using the laser cutter more? What model is it?
The laser cutter seems nice for engraving stuff and cutting acrylic, but what else can it be used for?
Fred
@Gordon: I have access to both.
1. Most of what I was doing with the CNC mill was 2D cutting of FR4 fiberglass. Although the laser is a poor choice for FR4 (it chars), it can cut other materials that have useful characteristics.
2. I have a 35-watt Epilog Zing16.
3. I've used mine to engrave and cut acrylic, wood (including plywood), acetal copolymer (like Delrin, very handy for tough mechanical parts like gears), rubber (for gaskets), cork, mica, paper, Formica, nylon sailcloth, magnetic sheet material, matboard, leather, conductive foam, and rubber stamp material. I've also engraved glass, marble, and granite. Although it will not cut or engrave metal, I've used a spray material for printing on metal by fusing the dried spray to the metal, the rest of which gets washed off. (This would also work as an etchant resist for making PCBs, BTW.) You cannot cut anything that contains chlorine, such as PVC, due to the noxious and very corrosive fumes produced.
One huge advantage a laser cutter has over a CNC mill is that, once you have a ventilation system installed and a source of compressed air, there's nothing left to buy, except for exchanging the laser tube for a new one every five or so years. When I bought my CNC mill, that was just the leading edge of the spending spree. There's fixtures and collets and bits, oh my! Vises and wrenches and grease, oh no! The list goes on ...
When I bought my laser cutter, I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I just knew I wanted one. Now I could not function in my business without it. The CNC mill doesn't sit completely idle, however. The are still prootype PCBs to depanelize and the occasional metal-cutting job.
My only other stationary power tools are a drill press, disk sander, and horizontal bandsaw, all of which get used a lot. A small manual lathe would come in handy, as would a vertical metal-cutting bandsaw. I'd have to have a garage sale first, though, to make room.
-Phil
The laser gets the most use. Partly because it makes money to do so. The lathe gets used more than the mill but of course there are some things that only the mill and it's fourth axis can do.
Lets not forget the 3D printers, they gets lots of use too.
I think if I had to start over it would be Laser, 3D printer, lathe, then mill.
the most use are laser cutters, since there's so much simple prototyping(*) can be done quickly and safely
with them. Lathe is invaluable for some stuff, and milling I do a few little things under supervision at the
moment. That will gradually change I think.
(*) for instance its fairly trivial to make sprockets and gears in acrylic for light duty, bearing holders, boxes,
mounting plates, etc etc.
Atlas/Craftsman lathe with change gears
Home-made CNC router with Dremel attachment.
Welder too.