I have some poetry for you fellasIf I'm not drillin' and I'm not millin'And I'm not even turnin' I'll be where I'm unseen,hidden behind my machineWhere my days aint a slog,and I'm crankin' muh hog
>>2849288We must rush and hurry and rush and hurry because they need to consooomSheklestein says you need to move and make faster or else it’s your job
>offered a job with an aerospace company as a machinist/engineering tech>offered a job at an international sheet metal fabricator to build their machining department and train/supervise new employeesWhat would you take? One seems like a path to engineering and the other seems like a path to management
>>2849776The former, the latter sounds like monkey wrangling.
why is this general so dead, it used to be pretty popular. also, where is the sewing general??
>>2852062Everyone got tired of having to read Sieg's, garbage opinions.
Inexperienced guy here. I was taking a cut on my cnc'd bridgeport, 0.450 axial by 0.020" radial in 6061 at 40ipm, 3200 rpm on a 5/8 stub carbide EM. Cut came out 0.010" too deep. Is my Z messed up or did the machine flex down? A 0.150" axial cut at the same radial came out 0.002" too deep.
>>2849776The latter, we’re in a recession If you play it right… you can stretch that first hire to 2-3 years of just being in an air conditioned room interviewing kids wasting their time and fucking off And the company will think you’re a fucking hid because you saved so much money in salary You can time thief the rest of the 2020s away
>>2852404That’s a really deep and fast cut for a Bridgeport
>>2852062Some of us have jobs and dont tend to look for time to worry about super important horseshit like fucking Jamaican basket weaving internet forum traffic and user activity
>>2852404It flexed down
>>2852404Is your quill locked? How thick is the material? Is it tight in the vise or is the material pulling up? What are you holding the endmill in, collet or sidelock holder? Also chill out on the speeds and feeds, it's a bridgeport not a high speed VMC.
>>2852436Thanks that's what I was leaning towards. I could test different DOCs and see what the flex is as a function of axial depth is. >>2852497This is an EZ-trak 3axis, so the Z is driven by a ballscrew + servo on the quill. End mill was held on a TG holder, checked height before and after to make sure it wasn't pulling out. Mat'l was round, held on a 5C collet fixture, also didn't show signs of pulling up. >Chill out with the speeds and feedsThe speeds/feeds calculator I'm using said it was a fairly conservative cut, but maybe the machine really is a "wet noodle" as someone on Practical Machinist said.
>>2852408Since this machine isn't in tip-top shape anyway, I'm tempted to run it raw and see what happens. Maybe I'll post results.
Post:1. How many years you've been a machinist.2. Current industry your shop serves.3. Your hourly wage.I want to see if its as bad out there as some people are saying.
>>2852578>8 years>aftermarket motorcycle performance>$37If you're just a button pusher, it's rough, but if you're even remotely an actual machinist, it's not that hard to find good jobs if you're near manufacturing centers.
>hardinge filed for bankruptcy How much longer before America can't even make the machines they need to make the parts they need
>>2852774You say that like they're the only US machine builder.
>>2852776Name 20 more
>>2852778Name 20 machine builders from ANY country that isn't Taiwan or China.
Anime I was watching had a lathe in it. On second thought, wtf is this?
>>2853397Left handed lathe with some kind of attachment on the carriage? That or just QUALITY
>>2853406whats lefthanded about it? carriage handwheel is always on the left except on gap bed lathes
>>2853406I'm guessing since it was only on for 1.5 seconds, they just quickly threw together a bunch of 80s machine tool looking things. Shame since I thought Japan had a lot of machines to reference.
>>2853417speed and feed controls are usually on the other side, but it could just be image flipped for some reason. Or I could have been thinking retarded and it could be carriage control
>>2852574Those things are calculated for "real" CNC mills. The quill z's are tiny and weak. DOC makes a lot of up force that flexes your cutter down into the material. Finish cuts are light for a reason: it minimizes various cutting forces that throw off accuracy. Your machine is pretty weak so that must be taken into account. Prototraks and other Bridgeport clone CNC's are good, but their use case is like, tool-making and prototyping. Not real hard core MMR.
>>285257810 Aerospace$50You get to around this wage at the 6 year mark though.
>>2853397Looks like a Mori Seiki with some sort of attachment on the cross feed that deleted and capped the cross feed hand wheel.
>>2852414never stopped no one before
>>28525785 almost 6 Hollywood- think Adam savage and Jamie type stuff not bad ass high end 3d printing, we utilize a lot of FDM but not that bad ass titanium powder winter aerospace shit or sinker EDM zero tolerance type shit most of my stuff is Disney super hero stuff (no not Logan no nothing badass) and a lot of straight to Netflix stuff, Netflix back end fluff I’ve only met like 2 movie stars $18/hr and I’m capped out
>>2852497He’s ducking titans of cnc programming a converted Bridgeport getting crusted it can’t handle monster cuts like his doosan >>2852774We’re already there… out side of haas which haas hasn’t been doing too well because they’re not good machines
When did "solutions" start being a thing to name yourself and put in every marketing blurb? I've noticed it in everything and I think it's a recent trend.
>>2853428It's good to know the limits. Don't have anyone to teach me. The Z-depth on this cut was irrelevant to the dimensions of the final part, so the part itself came out just fine. >>2853666Cause everyone wants to sell you a "solution" so they can charge you for bogus package deals like service contracts, subscription software and other "XaaS" garbage.
>>2853666I liked the name Doosan better, it had sovl. This has got me thinking, what machines does everyone use and what problems do you encounter on a regular basis?I use a Haas VF-3 and it consistently has encoder issues on the x axis. I've also heard that new Mazak's from a friend are made really shitty and they're not the Mazak they used to be.
>>2853710I don't remember any consistent problems other than having to correct for tapering. I hate how on the Puma 4100 I run when you reset it doesn't reset G41/42 so you have to MDI G40 anytime you reset in the middle of a program. Sometimes there's a problem with the tailstock that I have to use the emergency override to fix.The turret almost fell on me once when running a Hwacheon Hi-Tech 700. Something about the X-servo broke so if I hadn't turned it off in time (which I guess activates a separate brake) the turret would've slid right into the door where I was standing. I was stupid trying to run it to get to that point but hey it's night shift no maintenance no supervisor to run to if I get a weird alarm.
Bullets are usually turned on a lathe, but it's copper or brass and sticky so surface finish can be a pain sometimes. Also, for specific geometry (like hollowpoint scoring) you need to mill them afterwards anyways.Would it be feasible to just "grind" them on a fourth axis on a mill instead? Use a very small endmill as the tool, or maybe a very fine grinding wheel. Your opinion, lads?
>>2854051They're usually swaged. And then copper jacketed. Unless you're talking about the casings and then they're pressed and the end where the primer and rim is usually turned in a screw machine.
>>2854105I'm not talking abotu generic bullets, I'm talking about lathe-turned solids.
>>2854113They're usually swaged from solid copper or turned in a screw machine with a form tool?
>>2854051>Bullets are usually turned on a latheLol, no their not, do you know how long it would take to turn bullets on a lathe? Unless your talking about bubba turning a few in his garage, properly manufactured bullets are not turned on a lathe.
>>2854114No, they're not swaged, and most of the time they are CNC turned. Form tools might be possible but getting consistent bullets with tool wear is gonna be a challenge... Nevermind making the form tools. Hency why they use lathes.>>2854129Yes, by volume, most bullets are swaged. I should have said: when manufacturing solid metal bullets, these are usually made on a lathe.>Unless your talking about bubba turning a few in his garage, properly manufactured bullets are not turned on a lathe.Several of the best, most high end bullets nowadays are made on lathes from barstock. It's becoming a more and more common process.>https://cuttingedgebullets.com/pages/manufacturing-process>https://lehighdefense.com/reloading-bullets/match-solid.htmlThat being said, I'm a rather well-educated bubba and I wanna do this in my shed. Would it be feasible to do this on the 4th axis of a CNC mill, instead of on a regular CNC lathe, or a swiss style CNC lathe?
>>2854134chuck the stock in a spindle toolholder and clamp the lathe turning tools in the vise. use the head z travel for feed. bonus points to build a multi tool block that clamps in the vise for quick setup. poor mans gang tool latheor buy a cheap old hardinge style production lathe and barfeeder
>>2854215Well, I've done milling on a lathe, so you beat me to the idea of lathing on a mill. Turnmilling? It needs a stupid ass name.Anyways, it should work for prototyping some stuff untill I get a rough shape going. After that it's on to a turret lathe and barfeeder. Maybenot a Hardinge, Weiler turret lathes are dirt cheap over here.
>>2852404your cutter is sucking the quill down into the material.
>>2853666Some 10 years ago, probably moreGooks are lazy with meaningful translations so they put english words they like
>>2854134Smaller companies might lathe turn their solids. Companies like Barnes are swaging them.
>>2854296>thinks cutting edge bullets are unrefined junk>thinks barnes are peak performance
>>2849336>>2849776>>2851454>>2852062see>>2854302
I started working on a doosan puma thing, maybe 2 years old.Is it normal that the z axis shows high load?Spindle load is separate and shows normal changes and percentages, easy to spot when a drill got dull and easy to calculate sneeds and feeds.Z axis is always showing 45 or more %
>>2854309thats a manalso shell be 300 in under 5 yrs and knows its coming
>>2854344Is it a vertical? Ball screws are too efficient that power must be used to keep them still or it'll fall. Go to the servo tuning page under system and it'll read positive or negative on the load. Otherwise IDK and am curious too. Maybe certain sections are worn out so it's moving back and forth?
>>2854406>Maybe certain sections are worn out so it's moving back and forth?Oh 2 years old, my bad.
>>2854229I did this to shape a grinding bit to a specific profile, holding a diamond dressing wheel on a V-block. Worked out surprisingly well for my expectations. >>2854407Wait so if ballscrews are worn or not tight the servo will jiggle? Makes perfect sense and probably explains the hum...
>>2854425>dressing wheelI meant point.
>>2853710Haas vf-oe with a bad mother board, dying crt and a bad spindle grind A vf-7 with 2 failing counterweights. If you jog the z to the top. It will fall slowly towards the bed so you have to estop it Or risk your life and limb to refill those shocks (I don’t like to do it it’s a crazy amount of pressure and the hose on the tank is old) I think working with substandard equipment has made me a better machinist but also I have bad habits Like if I program a part on your doosan, you’ll wonder why the program has “M00 (remove tool from spindle, clean taper, grease pull stud, r&r tool several times)” Then a bunch of T1 m06 t2 m06 t1 mo6 in the program after every tool path And setup notes that say “ if over 90 degrees in the shop, watch current commands, if operator notices that cad line doesn’t progress, mother board froze again, estop machine, power off machine at cabinet and power cycle several times prior to cutting” “ remove tool , power up restart, disable door interlocks under settings, they do not function, haas does not sell this part anymore .. 1993 model” Also every inch of the machine leaks coolant I tried to weld where I can and flex seal sprayed where I can’t weld due to electronics or affecting the casting
>>2854498>crazy amount of pressureWhat's that in psi and for which component is pressure an issue? Leaks have sources, what precisely is leaking? If shop temp is an issue could you perhaps Peltier or otherwise cool the board as PCs are cooled to overclock CPUs?
>>2854532Nitrogen counterbalance that holds the z axis up, tank has about 4000 psi Each counterbalance tank needs about 1200 psi to hold up the z axis Most haas machines have 2 Smaller ones only have 1
>>2854406>Ball screws are too efficient that power must be used to keep them still or it'll fall.Makes sense i guess, it is vertical
How do i calculate deep drilling?Usually i drill 7mm holes first to 60mm depth, then 120, then to 160 sometimes 200, 3 different drills.Long one never broke or anything, but its too slowI tried drilling straight away, copied what titans showed on youtube, with a long drill, 8mm, carbide tip and 2holes troughout the drill for inner cooling, worked great, was stressful ngl, spindle load showed 5%, then at the 8th hole the tip was worn already and it went to 6 and snapped.I also have problems with programmers when they find out i have carbide drills, they give 0 fucks how long the flutes on those are and want me to start a program anyway, breaking them on the first hole.
>>2854616>copied what titans showed on youtubeAlmost everything they show on youtube is BS. 8xD is really deep for a pilot hole, that should be 3-5xD to make sure it's straight. If you try to start a hole with a drill that's 16+xD it's going to walk like a mother fucker, I don't care how good it is. What's too slow about the previous method? Too many tool changes?
>>2854616I fucking hate shops that have full time programmers Usually it’s like the bosses friends son who has zero machine time and gives zero fucks G81 holes at like f50. And not knowing there are parallels that you can also hit that are 0.125 thick Programmers are just so fucking worthless Imo you have to have time being a setup guy before you just click shit on cam and say the program is perfect because the simulation in cam says it is I make less than a McDonald’s worker doing this shit so I have zero say at my workplace in this manner CSM programmers are some kids that make like $75k
Good evening, if I wanted to make a 3d model of this fictional gun would Fusion360 be a good program to useUnrelated but I am a student at a community college and I will hopefully be a cnc programmer next year>>2854673Hey I know you, you're that fat fuck hapa. Dont mean to be mean but the first time I saw that pic I was 13 or 14, have you at least lost weight since then? Anyways take off the trip nobody cares
>>2854667Idk the right therm, but the drill goes like 3 to 5 mm then goes back up to the surface, then 2mm down from where it last was then drills another 5 mm (7mm at g1 f from 30 to 50 mm/min)At g0 when it goes down fast some chips may remain and it fucks up the tip and it might break, or it just chokes the drills flutes at deep, increasing the loadI had retards next to me not knowing they need to either slow it down or hold the program at top and blow out any straggler chippsSo it all slows down for each holeAnd tool changes too, depending on the depthI personally use carbide drills in one go as deep as they can reach for pilot holes>>2854673My programmer had 7 years experience as a machinist, he knows more than me, but it seems he forgot his wayI doubt he has time for consulting what is to get done and what isnt and when, he has to cover 18 machines a day, so its fix it yourself or fuck off
>>2854954>Idk the right therm, but the drill goes like 3 to 5 mm then goes back up to the surfaceThat would be "pecking" which you shouldn't be doing with carbide drills in general, and especially not with deep hole with good thru-coolant outside of specific scenarios. If you need to peck, you shouldn't be coming out of the hole, that's how chips get dropped back in. Stay 1-2xD inside the hole, that will allow the drill to pull everything out, but block anything from falling back in, then you can quickly drop back to the bottom. That peck is also VERY shallow for that diameter, unless it's some crazy tough/gummy material. It should be closer to 25-30mm per peck, if it's needed at all.What's the material, what style of machine (VMC, horizontal, lathe, etc) and what specific drills are you using? I can give you more specific advice if I know that.>I personally use carbide drills in one go as deep as they can reach for pilot holesI'm saying you should be using a shorter drill ideally, not that you're wrong for doing pilots.
>>2854972Tool steel, sometimes stainless, drills are cheap hss ones, mostly the cheapest variant
>>2854973You're doing 23xD holes with basic HSS drills?
>>2854973Forgot to mention, normal 3axis cnc mill, ancient deckel, has a tool changer but a lot of parts were swapped so i dont know which machine perticulary.I can write here what i usually get for lets say, a 7mm drill going in deeper than 60mm tool steel 1.2343M3 s570g0 z2, g1 z-15 f50, g0 z2, z-13, g1 z-25 f40, g0 z2, z-23, g1 z-30, g0 z2, g1 z-35, g0 z2 and then so on until the drill can reachIm just a button pusher so far, i can set up the piece, feed in the tools, dial everything straight, make sure the parallels wont get in the way of the drill, all the amateur stuffIve started this job not a month ago so i dont really know much yet and the people at work dont really have the time for a new guy
>>285497523 times the diameter of what? The hole? Yes?
>>2854980Yeah that's insanely stupid of your management to be doing. It's not 1960 anymore, there's way faster and better shit.>>2854979>g0 z2, g1 z-15 f50, g0 z2, z-13 blah blahLike I said, don't pull all the way out of the hole and chips won't fall back in. If you're allowed to do edits, make it something like this.>drill pilot, we'll say 30mm deep for this example>call long drill>initial Z above hole>G1 Z-25 F300>G1 Z-35 F50>G1 Z-7 F200>G1 Z-33 F300>G1 Z-40 F50>G1 Z-7 F200>G1 Z-38 F300>G1 Z-47 F50etc, etc.
>>2854825>Good evening, if I wanted to make a 3d model of this fictional gun would Fusion360 be a good program to useBlender is best for just the shape, Fusion would be adecent entry-level program to make it functional.
>>2855036Got it.No g0 going down, no going up all the way out.Ill try it out, they do let me edit whatever i know.Thank you
>>2855159Thanks, i previously made a model with sketchup but that one was cosmetic
If I overheat a chisel using a bench grinder a little bit (corner turning yellow not blue) have I still fucked the temper?
>>2849288You guys do CAD/CAM as well? What do you use? We use Catia And Topsolid.
>>285257825 yearsAerospace prototyping and aerodynamics.About 40 euros before all taxes, 20 after, lmao.
Is it hard to cut ar500? I've only cut 1018 and 17-4 steel, and stainless
>>2855191I hope it worked out, anon.>>2855572Possibly, depends on the specific alloy. If it's a wood chisel, why are you using a grinder to begin with?>>2855627Yes>>2855618MasterCAM
>>2849288I am training on a 2 axis lathe at work. Is it possible to find any any FANUC simulation software that I can use to practice with the interface at home? That isn't going to cost me thousands of dollars?
>>2852581I'm training to be a machinist at work (currently a welder). The guy they have training me is absolutely a button pusher, and thinks he's the hottest shit in the shop. It's maddening. I want to learn to machine, not to cannibalize someone else's programs like a bitch.
>>2855618Solidworks surfcam
>>2855191You still g00 onto your safe plane and g00 out. But idk to me that’s a lot of feed for an hss drillI’m not the best programmer ever but I usually g83 hss drills at 1000 rpm with a q peck depth of like 50 thou in steels Everyone on earth is a better programmer than I though I enjoy fabricating more than machining, transfer punches, grinding, hand drills and welders, heating shit and jog bending, plasma cutters and grinders… if I were to make a bracket I feel more at home with a tig torte and hot rolled plate than a wrought or extruded bar of 6061 and a cam program To me it seems like cam yo cut tight tolerances is dorky
>>2855681Programming is basically cannabilizing other programs, 90% of all programs are the same, and I like to use the same tools program to program You can only face so much per cut You can only step over so much You can only cut so much on finish passes Everything humans make is a take on a box with a hole in it, everything on earth is just boxes with holes to bolt shit to iPhone, box with threaded holes Ar-15 receiver, box with threaded holes Car unibodies are just huge boxes with a ton of threaded holes
>>2855690I know what you're saying, but what I'm saying is that he doesn't write programs. He takes someone else's program, and modifies it. Every single machinist at work thinks this is pants on head retarded, especially when trying to teach a new person.
>>2849288Trying to learn blueprint reading can anybody point me in the right direction
>>2855685>But idk to me that’s a lot of feed for an hss drillIts in metric, not inches, retard.>I usually g83 hss drills at 1000 rpm with a q peck depth of like 50 thou in steels Your tooling supplier must love you.
>>2855644It's one from a cheap set I'd used as a general scraper and paint can opener. Was using a mates grinder to get it square and regrind the primary bevel. Took off the plastic handle and I intend to use it in a diy 'hags tooth' hand router instead of using anything nicer. \:)/Tl;dr it's definitely some sort of hardened and tempered steel on the cutting edge, but probably whatever is cheapest.
>>2855704>implying we get new tooling Fill out the tooling acquisition requestSuper visor looks it over Vetoes or approves tooling on list Owner sees it veteos or approves of tooling on list Office lady sees it, buys certain tools she deems are of an acceptable price and cancels tools deemed too pricey 1/2” endmills are sometimes too pricey sometimes not. Woman in office is not nor has ever worked on the floor
>>2855719Unless it's some really gummy shit, they'll last a lot longer if you do a real peck of 2-3xD. Only time I've ever had to do pecks like that was in copper.
>>2855696Honestly it seems stupid now But it will make sense to you later on why he did it this way Kinda like teaching someone how to drive, don’t hand them the keys and say get to the store Start off with learning gas and brake Then incorporate steering avoiding obstacles Then put them in public You’re kinda still learning gas and brake Otherwise you’ll do stupid shit like cutter comp on the wrong side of the line or conventional mill the whole part in a cnc machine for no reason Or forget to calculate tool width and roughing and end up with a block of nothing My first programs were stupid, inwas plunging like 100 thou with 1/2” end mills and cutter comping roughing passes I’d also face a part with a 1” end mill climb mill retract to safety plane g00 to start and step over like barely then take another pass Took like 8 passes for me to face a 1” block with a 0.5” end mill on my first program at like 10 thou at like f5. because I was so worried that if I went too deep or too aggressive I’d break the only 1/2” endmill I had available to me. Then I learned to relax a bit around the machines… My career path was kinda fucked up, day 1 I was setting up machines and I’ve never seen a machine before…. Day 7 was programming parts If I were to do it all over again I’d like to be a button pusher on mills and lathes for a year Then set up lathes for 6 months to a year the. Setup mills 6 months to a year Then learn basic programs on the mill Then learn basic programs on the lathe But they were losing employees left and right and were hiring dudes off the street to program parts if they had any trade or experience to speak off and held onto dudes like 1-2 years and were suffering so grabbed us and threw us in the deep end… Sounds like you’re getting good training done the right way he’s teaching you well
>>2855722Between your garbage analogy, and your garbage formatting, and that you are saying the exact opposite of machinists with 15 years experience, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you have no idea what you're talking about.
>>2855725He doesn't.
>>28525787Military, government, universities, domestic and foreign chemical and energy, machine building $22.75
>>2855725>>2855728A machinist with 15 years experience said to just go learn programming from neutral? From being a button pusher? Probably a bad idea He’s teaching you how to edit speeds and feeds, the very first step on going from a button pusher to an operator who can do minor edits
>>2855732Teaching someone programming from being a button pusher is already a bad idea. That's like teaching a lube monkey at Jiffy Lube how to tune a turbo V8 with nothing in between.Using existing programs and just changing a couple codes to teach is also stupid, because it doesn't teach any of the context or syntax of G-code.
>>2855734He ca learn context and syntax later, teach him clean formatting and get him familiar with reading and understanding the code. If you don’t teach him off existing code he will be one of those cam clickers and posters that can’t read the codeRemember you’re teaching someone who only knows Cnc machines- green button… something bad happens go get an adult He probably can’t identify stainless steel from aluminum yet
>>2855736>Remember you’re teaching someone who only knows Cnc machines- green button… something bad happens go get an adult >He probably can’t identify stainless steel from aluminum yetThat's exactly my fucking point, he shouldn't be being taught programming at all yet. Unlike you, I've actually trained people.
Do you own any machinist clothes
>>2855721I’ll give it a shot, These are 20 year old hand sharpened hertel drills though and I’m just copying my coworkers programs who have like 15 years exp here Like I said earlier this isn’t my chosen trade I like fabrication way more
>>2849288any book recommendations for basic applied metrology for a hobbyist? im interested in starting from tard tier stuff, like flatness vs parallelism and how to measure for both.
>>2855757Imma geightyfour till she mate's?
>>2856047foundations of mechanical accuracy is really the best text on for any knowledge level. it can be bought new directly from moore for cheaper than the typical used price. they also may still publish the holes and contours bookmachine tool reconditioning also does a fantastic job of explaining mechanical relations.
>>2856067>>2856047Seconding for Foundations of Mechanical Accuracy. You won't believe how many people I've met that don't understand the difference between flatness and parallelism.
>>2856067>>2856073found a pdf copy... where can i get a print copy? it's like $500 on jewbay.
>>2856080see >>2856067>it can be bought new directly from moore for cheaper than the typical used pricebeing your reading comprehension is total dogshit, youre probably not cut out for metrology
>>2856089i assumed it was more to get it from the mfg considering it's a boomer ass "email to inquire" situation. so how much is it?
>>28525783Oil/Chemical and associated logistics $28
>>2852774>corporate hq 30 minutes away from mehuh, never knew. maybe i should go plunder something while it's still there.
>>2856287Starrett is also leaving America for china due to the acquisition… go there too
>>2855680Nope. But if it's old enough you can find a pdf of the controller manual online.
>>2855702Look up gd&t symbols.
Walked out of a job today. I was their last programmer/engineer to quit, with the previous two leaving just months prior. Been there for just over a year but the owner is just horrible. She's ignorant to how machining works. She promoted a forklift driver to supervise the machine shop, even though he can't machine. I feel like shit but I'm starting a new job Monday building a machining department that currently has just one haas millAm I naive for wanting to run a machine shop that actually trains and cares for its machinists? I know they'll be more likely to run off, but that's better than just keeping them down, right? I don't know any shops worth a damn around here that actually does training well
>>2856879Idk man I’ve been at this 5 years and I still make less than a high school McDonald’s burger flipper Yeah my programs suck Yeah I scrap a shit load of stuff Yeah I listen to podcasts Yeah I destroyed a 5 gallon buckets with a caterpillar forklift the other month , yeah I hide from the truck drivers delivering metal so I don’t have to go fork lift it off their truck And yeah I listen to podcasts and not talk to any coworkers but I hope I’m worth more than $18/hr? Probably not though. The best part about machining is you make cool shit The worse part of it is management and the office politics But there is kinda a reverse golden handcuffs situation…. You know how in high school you didn’t give a fuck about your job I’m like 36 years old and everyday is like that for me
>>2853472>>2853428>>2852436>>2854262Well lads, apparently not. Just checked my Z with some gauge blocks and it is off by .014 in 1". So it comes out to 7 thou error in Z and maybe 3 thou deflection downwards, maybe a bit less.
>>2856879Don't listen to Sieg. Building a good workplace pays you. It applies to machinists and anyone else.
Am I supposed to put an Oring on this? What's with the indentation on the shaft
>>2858914>What's with the indentation on the shaftLikely a relief cut for grinding. It's easier on the edge of a grinding wheel if it never has to grind into a corner like that.The fact that there's a corner at all is fucking me up, though. Can't come up with a good reason why you'd want it there when the body of the tool itself is smaller than the shank. A tiny bit of extra rigidity when butted up against the toolholder and insurance against it creeping up into it, I guess.
>>2858914might be the camera angle, but that thing looks bent.
>>2858914See >>2858919>Likely a relief cut for grinding. It's easier on the edge of a grinding wheel if it never has to grind into a corner like that.It's just for manufacturing,
>>2858251How did that happen? How heavy is the stepper motor you put on the z
Is ISO 30 and NT30 the same thing? I'm buying tools for my old ass milling machine I bought, it has an ISO 30 taper. Chinks sell what looks to be essentially iso 30 tool holders but they always label them as NT30. Is there any real difference? I dont care about automatic change or drawbar compatibility (it came without one lol)
>>2859017Drawbar thread is differentNT30 will be 1/2 UNCISO 30 will be 12mm coarse
>>2849288Can you explain what your job involves? I thought that a drawing is loaded into such machines and everything is automatically turned out.And most importantly, will robots and AI replace this work?
>>2859070>I thought that a drawing is loaded into such machines and everything is automatically turned out.That's exactly what happens
>>2859070there is a guy that uses the pc to convert the drawing in a machinery movements program, it isnt as straightfordward as you thinkthere is the guy that makes the machine work, loads the raw material an takes care of the consumablesusually you have tooling make to that specific part you are manufacturing and that is often made by a different guyaint as simple you know? in fact for a single part is often way easier to do manually than cnc it
I heard you like vices...
>>2859127is there not a file, burr whip, or scotchbrite wheel in that shop?theres no excuse for not deburring your fucking parts!
>>2853397huh no prism for the carriage
>>2859036the Chinks state it's M12. I've ordered one, we'll see. I have a 1/2 UNC die just in case.
>>2859147deburring is for cowards
>>2859070Sure, we install the work holding (has to be trammed) , install the tooling (computer needs to know how far it’s offset) we have to hold it so it spins true, we have to square the blocks When we get drawing from the engineeers We have to individually draw a line and offset the distance away from the tool to get a good cut We often use trig and basic geometry to figure out where to put something like a drill mill to get a good chamfer We also need to know how metal moves and reacts under different speeds and feed rate of the cutters And program stuff like rough and finish passes It might take up to a few hours to program a part, an hour to locate a piece of metal and square it to cut a 1A out of and maybe 45 mins to setup a machine However we’re paid hourly so … you know The job requires an incredibly deep amount of knowledge, did you know that titanium is flammable guess what machinists do For the lathe you also need to be able to grind by hand precise angles for cutters out of an incredibly tough steel and know how to center it and use the lathes casting to increase ridgidtity of the cut All that for about $18/hr… sometimes a little less sometimes a little more if you work for a nice boss It’s not really a valuable skill. What I would focus on instead of making things. Is work on being an HR generalist, they typically make up ton3x the salary of a machinist and get to sit in the air conditioning all day And they get pizza parties when the company makes profit goals Machinists get to not get laid off for another week
>>2858914Who cares tighten that bitch down and strip out the grub screw That way it’s someone else’s problem. That’s what my coworkers do those fucking dicks
>>2859017>buying a mill with a nonstandard taperIm feel your pain anon. Maybe you can switch the drawbar to allow you to take in BT30 holders? Thats what Im planning on doing with my silly NMTB 30 machine. >>2858986No idea. The z stepper motor isnt the problem, it could be the encoder is off, the ballscrew is somehow misaligned (doubt it) or the timing belt is not proper, maybe it's worn so bad it is not really a "timing" belt anymore. I havent had time to really diagnose, but the timing belt definitely feels loose.
What is it like for you when you have to switch measuring units from imperial to metric for a speciffic project?We did something for an american company, some gears and shafts inside a box, idk how the company got it, we never did anything overseasI almost got a stroke trying to figure the measurements in my mindI imagine its the same for those used on the imperial systemIm just glad the machine and cad programs figure it out for most part, i had to make stock in metric to save time, half a tousand inch toleranceThe dude on the grinding machine will have to manage the same, he was always slow on his own
>>2859706Eventually you get used to converting back and forth and you do it so fast it becomes second nature. I routinely have conversations where thou and microns get used in the same sentence.
>>2859706For me switching from metric to inches was a little jarring because I had to get it into my head that a part being out of tolerance by .005" is actually 125 microns. When I checked parts in metric having something out by .005 millimeters was nothing. As long as you don't have a habit of trying to pass out of tolerance shit, then its still just numbers
We have a legit autist at work, but his autism is put to good use i hope.He says the probe lies on x, as in its lying.I checked today, turned it for 45 degrees by hand and it says 7 microns on x axis less than prior aligned as it comes out of the tool drum.The boss gave him our best mill holder from switzerland so he can use his range finder with it, rangefinder he himself made, even the spring inside it, heat-treated it with a blowtorch too and made around 20 parts for it in case they get spent and start lying too.I never questioned his wisdom everIs he right about the accuracy of the edgefinder being superiour than that of a probe?His logic is that the spinning is the undisputed mechanical and physical judge true and supreme while a probe although expensive and precise can indeed make mistakes because its a computer thing and not of mechanical, physical realm.He doesnt trust renishaw probes at all, hed rather get a chinese aliexpress one that beeps when it touches metal then spin it at lowest rpm possible and slowly push it towards the edge of the part until the beep is constant
Figure it out wagies, no company will care for you. just start contracting to people, so you can make your own money. just make good choices. 100k year off a $9000 2002 haas. Dont really wanna work harder yet.
>>2859739>Is he right about the accuracy of the edgefinder being superiour than that of a probe?Fuck no, for a variety of reasons.>I checked today, turned it for 45 degrees by hand and it says 7 microns on x axis less than prior aligned as it comes out of the tool drum.The probe isn't running true, you need a .0001"/.002mm indicator. There's 4 small screws in the body to align it like a 4 jaw chuck. You'll need to recalibrate it with a ring gauge after.
>HAAS makes chip clearing fansWhat were they thinking
>>2859833>he thinks HAAS makes any of their toolingLiterally everything in the tooling section is just private label from other brands.
>>2859127Are you making a vice in a machine shop class? Because that’s exactly what I’m doing
>>2859706When I worked for a Japanese automotive supplier I had to convert all the time since our tooling was metric. It gets easier the more you do it. I used a very simple calculation.1mm = .03937" so I multiply or divide by .03937If you have a metric dimension of say 17mm:17x.03937 = .6692"If you have a imperial measurement of .6250".6250 ÷ .03937 = 15.87mm Anyway that is was works for me when I'm trying to convert measurements.
>>285997425.4 is easier to type in.
>>2859873Why do they still teach you on that kind of machine in this day and age?
>>2860099Fundamentals are still fundamentals.
After dealing with several machine shops, I think I've finally got my million dollar idea for a successful business.I'll offer machining services using a drag-and-drop online estimator tool similar to SendCutSend. And then, here's the key, I WON'T be a massive asshole to all my customers.
>>2860106>using a drag-and-drop online estimator tool similar to SendCutSendLmao, good luck with that. That software alone would make you millions just selling it to shops if it was remotely accurate. (it won't be)
Would anyone review this g-code? Im fairly certain its already good because my teacher fixed it up but take a look if you would like, its generated with mastercamhttps://files.catbox.moe/d4fwfa.txt
>>2860173Are you being graded on feeds and speeds/actually running this on a part? Your feeds and speeds are all over the place. Too much rpm and not enough feed on the spot drill assuming it's HSS. If it's aluminum, 1500 RPM and 10IPM, halve that for mild steel.RPM on the drill is fine for aluminum, but the feed is 1/4 what it should be, bump that to 12IPM, and take the peck out, you're not even going 3xD deep.For the engraving, you'll be better off using a #2 center drill if they're available, it'll be cleaner, and turn on arc filtering for that tool path, it's near the bottom of the list in the left pane in the tool path menu. Default should be .001", that's fine for 95% of tool paths. You'd go smaller when using 3D tool paths that need high precision, and a little bigger for HEM roughing paths. Click the "line arc filtering settings" box to turn it on, and set the ratio to 40/60. That will turn all those xy points into arc movements and give cleaner curves. You'll want to bump the RPM a bit as well since you're just using the tip of the drill. .01" is also pretty deep for engraving, remember your spot drill isn't a fine point, it's a chisel tip. Start with .002" depth.Also you're missing M8 on the drill cycles, and doing the engraving after spotting will save a tool change
>>2860187Thanks anon. The material is aluminum. We use the haas mini mill. This will be my first cnc machined part. I appreciate the writeup greatly and will use it for next weeks class.The mark is more a participation mark, it just needs to work. Its some stupid certificate diploma thing but its fun and educational.
>>2860206Just to clarify the stupid certificate diploma thing refers to the program as a whole which is called cnc programming
>>2860206You're welcome anon. If you have any other questions or want some general tips, let me know. >been doing this for a decade
>>2859706Used to be a metric hipster (American) until I started working and I'm fine with standard as long as I don't have to use fractions. Just multiply or divide by 25.4. I'd think Americans would have an easier time converting because it's inevitable that you're going to need to use metric for something so you just end up learning both.
>>2859835Everything Haas sells is crap, tool holders, calipers, tools it’s all basically temu and harbor freight shit marked up >there is no way a machine tool company would slap their name on no-name china shit and mark it up to brand name prices to sell to their customers Lololol
>>2860106>won’t be an asshole to all my customers But Amazon has one similar and it’s only $14.99 Can’t you cut me a custom screw with custom dimension and features with tight tolerances for $5? I’m doing you a favor by giving you business here I could go to china
>>2860728>Everything Haas sells is crap, tool holders, calipers, tools it’s all basically temu and harbor freight shit marked upTheir solid carbide, taps, and drills, are mainly YG-1, inserts are a mix of Tungaloy, Carmex, and Iscar, their shrink fit holders and NC chucks are YG-1, those aren't really Temu grade names.
>work for a Chinese machining company>all our inserts come from China>it's 1/3 the price of tungaloy, kennametal, and iscar>it lasts 3 times longer than them as wellIt's just wild to me that this is even a possibility. Everyone says Chinese products are shit but I suspect they only sell the shit products overseas. From what I can tell, China can do your job for a lower price and make higher quality goods.
>>2861165Ball point pens
>>2861165Dude I keep saying Chinese stuff is on point but people say I’m full of shitThe problem is they buy crap and yeah that’s crap But if you go up market a little made in china isn’t exactly a bad thing In the 70s made in Japan used to mean heap dollar store frap I feel that china is the new made in Japan India is the new up and comer
Can I just walk into a machine shop and straight up ask for an apprenticeship I'm running out of options here.
>>2861525>"This is a business, not a school. Our goal is to make money"That was a response I got when I asked if they do training. Most shops that claim they do training are liers. Just ask for a job and try to go to trade school on the side. If you don't get a raise every two years, leave for a job that pays better
>>2861525Not really, if you’re chronically unemployed and have zero options just lie. Confidently lie to the HR girl she doesn’t know what the difference between a lathe or a mill is If you get an interview with an actual machinist you’re fucked though
>>2861165tell us brands anon, and we hobbyists would buy them in taobao
how bad/good is the vevor dividing head? I've read it's ok, but what does that mean? Anyone here have any experience with one? It's essentially the only option I have, old second hand ones are unreasonably heavy for my application.
>trying to hire someone with experience >it's all button pushers that can only do the fucking minimum of press start>had a guy like that today that couldn't read a measuring tape >half of the applicants have been foreigners How did we get here
>>2862210>try to hire for a drafter/modeler position>offered upwards of $70k salary>just for someone that knows CAD, no engineering experience/degree required>best candidate was a 70 something year old man>no one else even came close
>>2862213I'd have hired him and paid him just to train other guys.
>>2862216I would have hired him, but the owner vetoed it.
>>2862210I was a cnc operator for 5 years , I’m now in cnc machine sales. Aside from the owner and the tech I am the third most knowledgeable in the business… and I don’t know shit I know how to program setup and operate a haas but I can’t tell you the first thing about a VTL or program 5-axis They have me shadowing a sales person and I don’t think I can do this job man I don’t have the personality for it or the skill or the smarts The other salesman who don’t know a mill from a lathe sell these things because they talk so smoothly like a used car salesman I stumble on my words and say umm and like too much
Anyone ever have a need for contract CAD work or programming work? I have access to seats of solidworks 2022 and up to mastercam 2024 lathe, 3-5x mill, and mill-turn on my home pc and if it's possible to make some extra money with them I'd be all over it. Just don't know if that's something anybody does
>>2862231We've done that a few times, there's a market for it.
>>2862231Unless you have 20+ years of experience, there's no one who would want you. Those softwares can be pirated for free and there's free tutorials.
>>2862232What's the best way to get work? Just word of mouth and connections or is there a good way to find contract work online?
>>2862234I've been machining for the last 10 years. Firearms, medical, food industry, automotive mainly. Program full 5 axis mills, lathes, 9 axis mill turns. Stainless, plastics, cobalt chrome, etc. I haven't been at it as long as some people but I have some decent experience
>>2862234Also just to clarify the seats belong to my current employer but they don't mind me using them on my own time. I would never download a car
>>2862234Lol that's not true at all.>>2862235It's usually a word of mouth thing. You can try stuff like Fiver. Just be careful with multi-axis stuff, you typically need a very specific post-processor for them.
>>2862239Yeah I can usually figure out the quirks of programming a machine from the manual but I would potentially need to borrow a post processor or a mill turn machine environment for a machine if I don't already have it and I'm realizing that doesn't sound very feasible. Although then again I might know someone whose had to do that so idk. Probably case-by-case.
>>2862241>borrow a post processor or a mill turn machine environment for a machineThose are typically locked to the license for MasterCAM.
>>2862243That's unfortunate
>tell a new guy that as long as his machine is running and his parts are good, he can spend his free time jerking off behind his machine>he quitsDo you think it was what I said that ran him off
>>2862250Bud was on nofap no doubt
>>2856073Whats the difference datun or something
>>2862210cause we got guys 30 years in making $26/hr with no retirement only a moron or alcoholic would enter this field
>>2862330Lol I make $37 after barely 8 years and have had immediate offers for $50+/h from random managers I've met.>>2862329Flatness is a face relative to itself, parallelism is two faces relative to each other.
Hey dudes. I'm trying to use the mill I used to run for the family business as a sign maker for extra cash, but the technician we used to call is literally on the run from debts.Anyone recognize what could cause this? I reseated the shaft connector couplings but it didn't make much of a difference. The toothed belt is still tight.
>>2862330I make $40/hr but I can program and set up just about anything they throw at me.That's more or less what it takes imo
>>2862213>70kidk where youre at but have you been to the store lately? Also>70y oldsometimes, if theyre past retirement age and not retired, there's a good reason for it.
>>2862231Yes. If you have experience and are interested in picking up simple fixturing designs I don't have time for, I'll give you a call. Post burner and I'll send an email.
Vevor seems to be getting decent reviews as an overall brand. Anyone have experience with one of their small lathes? I've been watching machinist youtube channels for years, I don't really know what I'd make if I had a lathe, but why not pick up another expensive hobby? I figure I'd like to learn to make a metal chess set or some other doodads. I don't really have a specific use for a lathe but it seems like fun, right?Not even sure what I'd make other than a chess set and some attractive rods of some sort.
>>2863385Sounds good to me: emgmachinist@gmail.com
>>2863382>idk where youre at but have you been to the store lately?Are you really going to sit here and pretend that $34/h isn't a decent wage?
>>2864145IDK anon it could be decent, but it depends where you're at and what the local alternatives are. Tough to compete in a place where a do-nothing drone in a desk job can pull in 70k browsing 4chins.I'm usually on the hiring side of things, and though admittedly I'm in one of the most expensive parts of the country, I wouldn't expect much for 70k these days. I guess I don't know what level of experience >>2862213 refers to when he says "someone who knows CAD".
>>2864212>I guess I don't know what level of experience refers to when he says "someone who knows CAD".Like 2-3 years as a hobbyist/has a couple solidworks certs, our stuff isn't that complex. We're in the Chicago suburbs.
are there any mini or benchtop machines worth buying anymore? meaning either crap but cheap and upgradable or decent for +/-1.5k. or is everything now just dogshit for 2 grand or 3-5k for bare minimum acceptable?
>>2864367I have like 10 years experience and practically my own seat of solidworks. If you guys need contract work hmu
>>2864367And I'm a machinist so I design for machineability.It's >>2863766 this email.
Am fusion360 manufacturing dev, ama(I know barely anything about machining)
>>2864469arent you curious to at least learn basic machining?you are a dev, i guess in usa, for sure you can afford an old lathe
>>2864479I know a little bit, done some tutorials
>>2864488i mean actual machining, not just messing around in cam, is not the sameit will for sure help you in the development, specially trying to do manual work and you could even market to your bosses as job training
>>2864469Why is Fusion 360 so shit?
>>2864469Lucky. Set up a lathe at least once in your life.
>>2864543I think it's nice :(Lots of people worked really hard on it>>2864671I've done a thing of set the coordinate system, step through different operations and watch machine go brrr
>>2849288Why are used machining machines so goddamn cheap? For comparison, forging equipment (both artisan tier shit like anvils and industrial things like large power hammers, forging presses and drop hammers) is like 4x as expensive per pound of machinery, and often takes less precision in terms of manufacturing it. There are few if any ways to grind and scrape, at worst there is a hydraulic or air cylinder for a power hammer.I can pick up an industrial sized manual lathe (~18-20"+ swing, 72" between centers) for $3-4k all day and it'll weigh 6000 pounds.But for used forging equipment, $4k will hardly get you a 1000 pound (total weight, not the ram) power hammer, which will have maybe a puny 25-50 pound ram. You want a machine that is comparable in its industry to that 20"x72" lathe? Probably would be a 500-1500 lb (ram weight) power or drop hammer, which would likely cost $20k-40k used is this evidence that forging is still a viable business while machining isn't?
>>2864757Forging equipment is usually dead simple, and if there's something on it that can break, it's usually cheap to fix. A 100 year old anvil will function more or less the same as a brand new one. Precision machinery is the opposite, the more hours on the machine, the more likely something is, or soon will be fucked up/broken. Doubly so for anything CNC, regardless of how well you maintain it. It's like a car, shit just wears out, and it's usually a minimum of hundreds, if not thousands in just parts to fix it. Then there's just the normal wear which makes the machine less and less accurate over time. For manual machines, we made a metric FUCKTON of them in WW2. Yes, enough that they still affect the market today, plus the millions made and imported since then.>tl;dr>basic forging equipment doesn't wear out>machining equipment wears out fairly fast in industrial settings>there's a fuckton of various machines floating around that drives down prices>is this evidence that forging is still a viable business while machining isn't?HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA No.
>>2864771Yeah forging equipment is definitely simpler. Until the 50s, drop hammers were literally powered by pressing rollers (connected to electric motors) against maple boards that were connected to the ram. The only machined surfaces were probably the rollers/gears, ram guides, and anvil face/die holders.Did we make fewer forging machines in and around WW2 or did they just get scrapped more often than lathes and mills did? What's more is that it takes much more care and setup to operate forging equipment: the foundation of the building/machine is much more important, the zoning (for using loud hammers) is very important, etc.Meanwhile dudes with a single outbuilding can buy a Cinci #6 vertical mill for $10k and plop it in there willy-nilly and run it off an RPC
>>2864780"Generic" forging equipment like that isn't as useful as you might think for mass production. By WW2 and especially after, there wasn't a lot of forging being done with machines like that. The big, new thing was die forging with huge, 100+ ton presses and sequential form dies.
Cutting a lot of fucking chamfers are weird angles; 18, 33, 63, etc degrees for example. Is a copy mill going to be my best option? The bevels are sometimes as small as .700" but can be as large as a 4" by 6" chamfer. If considered putting the part in a vice at and angle then milling it but that's not going to work for every job. Speed is probably the most important consideration
>>2864797If surface finish isn't an issue, yes, especially for those huge ones if you can't set up the part for a parallel cut.
>>2864798Thanks, I'm told the surface doesn't matter as it's just for welding. The only surface call-out I've seen on maybe a dozen parts is for 128 ra which is insane compared to my usual work
>>2864785It's great for hobby tier stuff though, since the presses that took the stage after WW2 were the size of factory buildings. Meanwhile, you can just take a small part of the roof off a barn, and fit a 1000+ lb drop hammer in it. Sure it'll weigh near 20k lbs. and need special rigging. But the two operate by the same principle, closed die forging/stamping.And open die power hammers are even better, their 500-1000 lb. versions are roughly the size of a large mill. They require very big motors though, depending on the style of power hammer (pneumatic vs mechanical)In any case you either can't find this equipment or it's $60k for a machine like I've described, despite being on the same order of size as a $5-10k machine tool. It almost makes me wonder if reviving some expired patents and using a local foundry would be the cheapest way to get this older style of equipment, and possibly even sell some if the foundry wanted to do multiples. But I'm sure the casting + final design fees would bring the price near $2/lb or more.
>>2864838Machinery like hammers are easily constructed from weldments but before modern welding processes and fillers casting those shapes was the efficient way to get them. Many local machine shops had their own foundries until the Clean Air Act made their ancient designs not worth cleaning up given the reduced need for castings at local level . Of course foundry mandated a pattern maker which is highly skilled work suited to a machinist. Antique casting patterns are collected as art and some are very cool.
>become machinist because I want to make my own guns and inspire people to make their own as well>3 years in and haven't made a gun
>>2864865Right, it's just that weldments look ugly as sin and don't add weight with the same linear investment. To make a 500 lb ram hammer, you need at least 7500 pounds of anvil. Finding that weight in steel stock is nearly impossible given it will have to fit some predetermined anvil shape to minimize welds across the anvil working surface (which would crack or break under the hammer action eventually). On the other hand, casting a 15,000 pound hammer frame and anvil involves the same steps as a 1,000 pound one. I have a foundry near me whose max casting capabilities are 15k lbs, somehow I think they'd ignore my quote request though. I wish it was still $0.10/lb to cast, we have lost something great for sure.
>become machinist because I like playing with industrial equipment >spend all day playing with industrial equipment
>>2862424The x axis is out of tram with the bed?
Do you think my neighbors would hear me running a mini mill in my apartment? Do you think they would complain?
>>2865518The haas mini mill is actually pretty big it’s almost the size of a vf2 it just necks down near the base for a smaller foot print and has a smaller build envelope but the sides and back still are about vf2/vf0 size The min mini ones can only do machinable wax and is aimed at schools
>>2865190I became a machinist because I’m anti-social and I don’t like talking to coworkers But now I’m back in an office managing people and nobody leaves me alone now People come up to me and tell me to solve x problem , solve Y problem call this guy call that supplier I’ve resorted to hiding behind some of the unused mills to enjoy a soda water or some fruit or listen to the joe Rogan podcast and dudes are pinging me on my radio and shit trying to get me to fix some new hires fuck up in 5mins Kinda want to go back to being an operator I keep having to talk to office girls to get my job done > also any overtime I do isn’t 1.5x anymore it’s just salary now
>>2865565Salary fucking sucks
>>2865575If I could do my career over again I’d just operate. No setups, no programming, no lead anything, no management. Push green button and play on phone for 8 hours or do 10 hours if I was bored no fork lifts no nothing Talk to nobody down monsters
>>2865190>love video games and math and programming and want to be an artist>fail out of college due to brain problems>become machinist due to neighbor having a job opening at his workplaceCutting metal is pretty cool I guess. You learn to like it.
>>2865585I always hated operating and getting to set up and program is like a breath of fresh air for me
>>2863469don't buy vevor, it's real pain. The motor is too weaky you'll struggle with drilling 12mm holes, the chuck has pathetic 15mm clearance, the tailstock is not centered properly etc. Small older lathes are a bit more expensive, you'll probably spend similar time getting them to work but you will end up with a capable machine in the endt. had a mini lathe and bought a large lathe
>hire a new "machinist">he worked mass production, making the same part for 20 years>can't read a blueprint, change inserts, tell you what any g or m code means, gets confused with basic concepts, and says this place needs more engineers to work on things before it gets to him so there's less problems I've about fucking had it
>>2852578>Make 22/hr as robot setup/operator>Get laid off >Get an interview at a shop and come in for a pre-employment testing period for 25/hr>I have about year of CNC setup and a year of manual, plus a CC cert>Start off okay, some mistakes (newfag to CAM)>Get stock for another set of parts>Saw guy cut them around +.003 -0.30 from nominal>Actual tolerance is +-.010>Try to piss with the cock I've got>Because it's so close to nominal, I can't do a J corner pickup, so I have to do an indicator split and watch my toolpath like a hawk to see if the sides are actually being milled>I fuck around with the setup and my g41 offset to make it work>Takes hours to get right>If I actually had enough stock, I could just ballpark the pickup on the first setup, put it to an end stop, set it and forget it >Boss tells me he can't hire me, because of the time taken>Says he would like a few more years for the pay rate.>Shake his hand and >Also my ass was showing (fuckin lathe guy pointing a laser pointer at me told him)If you're a saw guy and you get a print, that's the print for the finished part. Leave 0.100" of stock on each cut dimension.
>>2866964*Shake his hand and take a check for $2040
>>2866964>not willing to bitch at the saw guy for fucking upNGMI>>2866965It took two weeks to decide if they wanted to keep you or not?
>>2866970I guess he just wanted to test me. I have a fairly mixed background for my few years of manufacturing experience so that might explain it. Also I don't like being a dick. The saw guy was cool.
>>2866972Sounds like the saw guy cost you your job.
What do you need for a home machine shop and what would the approximate cost be (used)?I want to use my tools to make more tools to make more tools to make more tools to make more tools
>>2867118Probably start with a lathe and bridgeport. Eventual cost? Unlimited. Cost of used tools depends on the local market and economy. $5k if you are lucky for a manual lathe and bpt. Likely more. You can easily double the cost of the tools for measuring instruments and tooling, and you will still be very limited. I always recommend starting with welding and fabrication because it is cheaper to get going with - and you really need that stuff anyway. For welding/fabrication $3k could probably get you going with mig&tig and a reasonable set of grinders, etc.
Could use some advice. I want to buy a taper tap to open a thread from 7/8-24 to 15/16-24 in 17-4 stainless steel. Can I just use a HSS tap to accomplish this task? Who makes a quality tap that I can purchase to get this done?
>>2867142>not pictured: $400k for a house with a garage big enough for a shopHow viable is it to buy an industrial space and secretly live in the back
>>2867381I purchased industrial space and very briefly lived there. Doing that was a mistake. I think it would have been better to buy a house in suburbia or outside of that with a garage (my friends told me to do that at the time). Any city with cheap industrial space is probably going to be poorly run. Certainly in my experience.
Can anyone give me advice on getting a part made? Pic related is what I'm trying to make. It's an attachment for a heat press the outdoor industry uses to put heat activated tape on the inside of rain jackets (to prevent water coming in through the seams of the jacket). The area circled red is a standard heat press. The area circled green is the aftermarket attachment I'm talking about making.The way this thing works, is you lay down adhesive tape over top of the seam you want to make waterproof. Then you hit the tape with the heat press, that activates the adhesive on the underside of the tape and melds it to the jacket. The problem is you have to wait a few minutes for the tape to cool down and for the adhesive to set. It makes taping up one of these jackets extremely tedious. This is where the aftermarket arm & press comes in. Instead of a heat plate it has a cold plate. After heating the tape you hit it with the cold plate and it instantly sets the adhesive, allowing you to quickly move onto taping the next seam. Generally you get 2 or 3 of these plates made and you keep them in a freezer. When you start a seam taping shift you put a plate on the arm and when it eventually gets to room temp you swap it for a fresh plate from the freezer.So I'm trying to get some of these plates CNC'd but I'm not sure which metal I should use and if there's a special finish I should get. From what I can tell it seems like Steel would take the longest to go from freezing to room temp. As for the finish I have no idea. Is there something that would keep the metal cold longer? The plates are going to regularly butt up against hot adhesive tape, so I'm kind of unsure about any sort of finish that could rub off onto the tape or jacket and leave some kind of stain or imprint. Anyone have any thoughts? I was thinking A2 Tool Steel with silver plating possibly. But I legit know zero about machining parts. The brackets I was just gonna get done in aluminium and powder coat.
>>2867383Well I guess this hobby just isn't for me at the moment. No space and only enough money for the bare minimum.I'll try again in 10 years maybe
>>2867425It's probably going to cost you more to get a couple of those plates made than it does to just buy it properly, unless they want thousands for it. I'll give you some advice though.>you don't need A2, it's a fucking cold plate pressing on cloth>not sure why you want it silver coated, that's going to be expensive as fuck>as long as it's clean, it shouldn't leave residue that wasn't from the tape itself>you'll probably want stainless steel rather than tool steel>make an actual drawing with dimensions and call a couple, local machine shops, if it's just a block with a couple, tapped holes, it probably won't be horrible price wiseHonestly though, if you're going to DIY it, instead of getting multiple plates and freezing them, I'd probably make up an aluminum block with water channels, get it anodized, and get a computer waterpump, and stick the radiator in a cooler with ice in it or something so it's just always cold.
>>2867426Best plan of attack is grow your options to complement each other. For example you can save mad cash DIYing car and other repairs with equipment that fits easily in a dorm room or small apartment. Consider learning welding before machining because welding makes fabbing the equipment to easily move machine tools and other heavy equipment very low effort. Welding equipment is cheaper and need not take much space. I don't pay riggers (which otherwise could cost more than my auction buys) and move most anything easily because I study rigging and how others move their machinery. Keep an eye out for surplus medication carts (fantastic indoor tool boxes often with space for an SFF PC, display arms and battery backup locations) which have non-marring casters and roll easily. A very common noob error is lack of storage and work surfaces which are important effectiveness multipliers.
>>2867426iirc the youtuber nyccnc started out in an apartment in NYC. I'm not saying it is a good example, but he did it. Also isn't too soon to start learning. Go take some trade school classes. I'm fully self-taught, but it would have saved time and money had I done that. Also if you can get work in a mfg place you will effectively be paid to learn. Again, do as I say, not as I did.
>>2867425consider what the other guy said. But also maybe a peltier and fan to keep the plate cool. If you are thinking about silver due to thermal conductivity, I personally don't think it is important. I would think of something like chrome plating to be extremely smooth, hard, and wear and chemical resistant. I don't think you need tool steel. 4140. or maybe use aluminum and use a hard anodize (~.002" thick iirc) for wear resistance and then you get the thermal conductivity of the aluminum plate.
>>2867538>>2867584You know what they actually do have a professional version of this machine that's water cooled exactly how you guys described. Pic related. The problem is the machine itself is $20,000 and the water chiller is $5,000. It pumps freezing water / coolant into the cold plate so it's always ice cold and you never have to swap it out. They actually use aluminium for their plate but I'm assuming it's because it's more conductive, not because it would take longer to warm up (which it never would anyway with the water chiller running).I'm going the DIY route because it's just vastly less costly. One of those heat presses from the printing industry is $2,000 new and they show up all the time secondhand for as low as $500. So I don't mind if the attachment costs me a couple thousand to get it done properly. I've worked in huge factories that do stuff for giant brands and even they're using these repurposed machines (although they do have their own in house machine shops to be fair) rather than buying the actual device purpose built for this manufacturing process. I thought about trying to DIY the water cooled plate as well, but I'm just kind of iffy on the amount of complexity it adds. I think I actually found the manufacturer that makes the plates for the machine I attached:https://www.kawaso-texcel.com/en/product/liquidcoldplate/index.htmlYou think it really might be as easy as buying one of these, getting a cheapish water chiller, and then having a bracket CNC'd to attach it to my heat press? Cause I might go that route rather than getting a bunch of stainless steel slabs made that I'd rotate out from the freezer.
Mfw I did g90 g00 g54 h07 z3 instead of g43 in place of the g54 and it nearly crashed the spindle into the part at full speed and the z was 0.126 after i hit stop (mightve been because i forgot to input the TLO but not sure)
What's with machinists and bbws
>>2867762Counterpoint: Has anyone met a female machinist thats was cute
>>2867806Yes but one was a meth head and the other was a cunt
>>2867806Yes but they have this in better than you because I’m a female in a male dominated trade and act like they have a chip on their shoulder the whole time I find that most office girls look cute from far away but the closer you get you can see that they all have this rat face type look
How long should a new setup take?
>>2867897Depends on how complex the setup is, 30+ tools and like 6+ ops a day or two if you really stretch it (machine shops are slow en it’s a good idea to slow down and not rush work or else management starts talking layoffs)
Should I get an X2 mill? What lathe should I go for to compliment?I want to use them to convert the X2 into a DIY cnc setup. I also want to use the both of them to construct my own 2x72" belt grinder. Is this viable?
>want 40hp mill turn in my garage shop. >everywhere wants 8k plus for rotary phase convertersCan I just buy like 5 VFD's and run them to the same 3 phase panel and run that to the machine to power it? It would be line 2k vs what the companies want for the rotary phase converters
>>2868286vfd smoke leaks out when you start downstream switching just find a couple 50hp old 3ph motors and do your own rotary. if you turn the spindle accel/decel all the way down, you probably could get by with a single 50hp idler or a pair of 30s
>>2867897How long is a piece of string?
>>2868196>Is this viable?yes>Is this effective or comfortable?no.I blame cheap chinkshit machine tools for people getting frustrated with machining and leaving the hobby.The xl2 is the bare minimum mill, reasonably good for aluminium, you can do steel but it's painfully slow. The dials are weird, the motor is underpowered, it doesn't even have a rpm readout so you will be guessing cutting speeds. The pillar that the head rides on is out of tram from the factory and adjusting it is real pain. The gear train in the head is very loud even at medium speeds, if you push it faster it just screams at you, my 1950s milling machine runs waay quieter even with the feed engaged.Obviously you can solve most of these issues, but you are still limited by the fact it's just a very small mill. With a belt drive (3d printed ones exist), rpm readout and maybe a dro it's a reasonably capable machine for aluminium and non steel materials like brass, bronze, silon etc. You can make it work on steel but I recommend you go with a larger one. All the problems I mentioned will be present as well, but you get some rigidity.I also have the mini lathe, it's pure chinkshit down to the tailstock not being aligned with the spindle. massive backlash in everything, non existent rigidity with the compound, laughable pass through the spindle, the same weak motor as the mill...Again, you can make it work. See artisan makes on YouTube for his pimped out mini lathe. Companies that import quality chinkshit exist, I like cyrrtec, the machines are similar but everything fits, works, is actually calibrated, everything has a hight torque servomotor, even the small lathes have 38mm pass through the spindle. Check if you have something similar in your country
Why do machinists love corn so much? I cant get enough of it and I find it hilarious when my shit looks like an indexable mill
any of you complete a formal apprenticeship through the department of labor?
What kind of lathe would be suitable for making model train wheels? I need something portable that can screwed onto my desk in my bedroom.I want to 3d print model locomotives in resin and inorder for the model locomotive to run the tyres of the driving wheels (the wheels that make the locomotive move) have to be made out of metal inorder for it to be powered by the tracks.This guy and sams trains have done this https://m.youtube.com/@Brumachannel