I have an old 10" south bend and a 6" craftsman lathe, wire welder with spool gun, stick welder, and a diesel powered AC/DC 250amp Lincoln welder/generator. At work I have access to a cnc plasma cutter.
-dan
2006 Haas CNC Mini Mill 5 hp with 10-tool changer, 3-axis
2011 Haas CNC Super Mini Mill 7.5 hp with 10-tool changer, 3-axis
2010 Haas SR-100 CNC Router with 10-tool changer, 3-axis
. . .the reason we have these CNC mills at Parallax is because I started experimenting with CNC about 13 years ago with a Wabeco CCF-1210 3-axis desktop CNC at home. Next I bought a Wabeco D6000 CNC late for my home. Learned on these machines but found them incapable of anything but simple prototypes (however, a real machinist with a lot of patience can get a lot more performance from the same equipment). Sold both on eBay.
Finally, looking for the real deal I bought a Haas CNC Mini Mill off of eBay and put it in my garage, where we formed a close relationship over a period of a year. Spouse wanted the garage to be used for more traditional purposes of parking a vehicle, and it was time to put the Haas CNC mill into production so I took it to Parallax where it was used to make our first milled product, the CNC Motor Mount and Wheel Kit. Then we needed a second one to have more production space for prototypes. The CNC router was introduced to make Arlo parts and solar panels.
Today, the only machine tool I have at home is a little Taig lathe. I use it for turning standoffs and other small parts at least a dozen times a year. I feel very fortunate to be able to hand our machinist a drawing and get a part back in a few days, so I'm not doing the CAM part and loading material into the machine anymore. You bet I miss it!
I learned how to use a lathe at school when I was 15 (I'm 40 now). The satisfaction I got for working a piece of metal into something useful was incredible, specially for that age. Such a beautiful machine. Nobody lost fingers on them, something I cannot say for the machine to bend sheets of meta, though . A planer, yeah there was one, we where not even allowed near when it was not in use...
Sadly, I have none. I was considering a 3d printer though.
Yes, in school we started learning to use lathes and mills at aged about 13. We had a huge metal shop with two big floor standing lathes, a mill and a shaper. I really miss all that some times. Metal shop was where I learned most in that otherwise awful school. The metal work teacher spent as much time discussing maths, history, politics and philosophy as any metal work!
Over the years I have pondered getting a lathe for myself but really I have never had the space to put one that would do it justice.
But now I day dream about a tiny Proxon machine...
I'm not a finished product guy, I have always done experimental design and prototype fabrication (quick & dirty models that work great). Once something works, I hand it off to an industrial designer who does some renderings (drawings) of what it might look like. Sometimes we would continue to make a looks like/works like model, not always. I always had a full machine shop available when I worked for Mattel. Lathes, mills, everything. I may be the only person here who's ever used a Volstro rotary cutting head in a Bridgeport (to fly cut and CC Corvair cylinder heads).
Now that I'm working mostly at home, my "shop" is a Ryobi band saw & drill press, and a Harbor Freight belt/disk sander. Also Dremels and other hand tools. No surprise, the more I use them, the better results I can get. I can turn nice disks for wheels and cams on the belt sander. I have access to mills & lathes at friends' shops but I rarely use them. I can see getting a 3D printer this year to make duplicate items, but IMO, good hand fabricating skills will always be useful and in demand for prototyping. Not to mention critical for repair when some goofball in marketing breaks a product sample ten minutes before an important presentation to a customer...
This Brit made his own lathe on a 3D printer. Technically, it seems like a step in the wrong direction, but he uses it to true up rough edges on 3D printed pulleys. Lots of backlash those course right angle gears for lateral feed, but they clearly work well enough. Bravo!
Maybe he needs a PID loop and Propeller to make his motor run at constant speed.
Now who will answer the call and make a 3D printed mill?
Comments
-dan
2006 Haas CNC Mini Mill 5 hp with 10-tool changer, 3-axis
2011 Haas CNC Super Mini Mill 7.5 hp with 10-tool changer, 3-axis
2010 Haas SR-100 CNC Router with 10-tool changer, 3-axis
. . .the reason we have these CNC mills at Parallax is because I started experimenting with CNC about 13 years ago with a Wabeco CCF-1210 3-axis desktop CNC at home. Next I bought a Wabeco D6000 CNC late for my home. Learned on these machines but found them incapable of anything but simple prototypes (however, a real machinist with a lot of patience can get a lot more performance from the same equipment). Sold both on eBay.
Finally, looking for the real deal I bought a Haas CNC Mini Mill off of eBay and put it in my garage, where we formed a close relationship over a period of a year. Spouse wanted the garage to be used for more traditional purposes of parking a vehicle, and it was time to put the Haas CNC mill into production so I took it to Parallax where it was used to make our first milled product, the CNC Motor Mount and Wheel Kit. Then we needed a second one to have more production space for prototypes. The CNC router was introduced to make Arlo parts and solar panels.
Today, the only machine tool I have at home is a little Taig lathe. I use it for turning standoffs and other small parts at least a dozen times a year. I feel very fortunate to be able to hand our machinist a drawing and get a part back in a few days, so I'm not doing the CAM part and loading material into the machine anymore. You bet I miss it!
Ken Gracey
Sadly, I have none. I was considering a 3d printer though.
Over the years I have pondered getting a lathe for myself but really I have never had the space to put one that would do it justice.
But now I day dream about a tiny Proxon machine...
Now that I'm working mostly at home, my "shop" is a Ryobi band saw & drill press, and a Harbor Freight belt/disk sander. Also Dremels and other hand tools. No surprise, the more I use them, the better results I can get. I can turn nice disks for wheels and cams on the belt sander. I have access to mills & lathes at friends' shops but I rarely use them. I can see getting a 3D printer this year to make duplicate items, but IMO, good hand fabricating skills will always be useful and in demand for prototyping. Not to mention critical for repair when some goofball in marketing breaks a product sample ten minutes before an important presentation to a customer...
Ah, but don't get me started!
Volstro:
It is 6800$ CAD (5400$ USD) for a 2004 laser. I called the guy and he told me that it was used for hobby and have less than 30 hours use.
For the ones who own a laser (Phil?) do you think it is a good deal?
Maybe he needs a PID loop and Propeller to make his motor run at constant speed.
Now who will answer the call and make a 3D printed mill?