[hfjbuis]

if i may, what is your agenda ? maybe it seems "a simple" question, but, i am after veteran tricks & tips, ideas, etc, why did you have to wait so long, why was not it possible to do them while you were hired ?

@deadlykitten

When I was hired i had to do things because the company would benefit (and so it should be), not because I was curious to try out something new. Now I am retired (at 47) i don't care if it is economically or wise to do because I waste my own time and money.

My agenda is to have fun and grow old on a healthy way.

I created the wizzards because i like doing it and now my lathes can do things, like turning a timing belt pulley cutter, that can't be done manual and are difficult to do in CNC code.

I have send you a pm for the other questions!

[deadlykitten]

retired (at 47)

omg man, arround here this happens at 60-65yo, and even so, most retired guys are still working ... maybe they like what they do, maybe pensions are ( really ) low, maybe both

well, netherlands ? maybe is not so bad

[deadlykitten]

so, you basically took a normal lathe, and you have done all the wirings + software, control, mechanical improvements, etc, so to make it run in cnc mode ? nice

a while ago i also wished to do the same, and i believe that many persons from this kind of area had tried, or wished, or actually deliverd such a thing ...

i don't have experience with electronics, or things like that, thus i can hold a batery in my hand, maybe change a lightbulb, and that's all but one of my friends had, and we got some arduino motors, tried to make them move, but i needed to make it move from delphi, and he was using a different software, and this was a problem, we hit a wall. i wished to build a cnc pantograf ( something like attached ), thus a paralelogram mechanism + cnc ( ratio 10 : 1,etc ) , and this would easy deliver accuracy < 1um. Also the arduino was playing everithing like a casete, and i was looking for feed-hold functions, etc. This custom thing required too much time, and i could not make it work back then ( circa 10 years ago ).

Meanwhile i started my way through the cnc machines, and now most of my time goes into them i try to deliver some custom methods, etc, but developing them is time consuming ... and when i think i got it right, it takes a while, and i have to re-consider well, i just hope to achieve a finish product soon, and "bring it to front", so to be analized by more experienced persons

if i may, about your work, is it all ok ? could you convince also others, so to let you convert their machines ? is it worth it / pleasure ?

[hfjbuis]

if i may, about your work, is it all ok ? could you convince also others, so to let you convert their machines ? is it worth it / pleasure ?

I basically only do things for my self but helped some one getting his retrofitted (industrial) CNC mill to finish after he was disappointed by some people, but that was just once because it was fun to do. I don't want to make a habbit out of it because it is time consuming and my clock is ticking!
I have made a "site" about retrofitting my first lathe and some small modifications I made to get more accuracy. It shows, things can be done without the need to spend lots of money. It takes some time and if you like doing it, I think it is worth doing it because you learn a lot and after doing it your self you can better decide what to do next. If you are a company you should really consider buying a CNC machine because hours spent are costly.

.

My Lathe - Metal Worker Tools

[deadlykitten]

hy hfjbuis, yup, i saw yesterday all those modifications and the cncl thread; one tip that i liked was that about reducing backlash by rotating the nut

If you are a company you should really consider buying a CNC machine because hours spent are costly

depends .... for example, arround here was a factory ( now is closed ) that used to produce machine tools, that are still being used today in many shops. After a while small automation appeared, making it possible to assist with simple tasks.

There still exist some shops that deliver specific parts, by machining them on special machines. They can't replace them with cnc's, because of their complexity, etc...

Almost a year ago i had been at an exposition for metal cutting industry, and there i met a person that was building thematic cnc machines. I started talking with him, because, his 'lathe' looked normal from the outside ( front covers, etc ), but after you would open its doors, you could see that things where different inside. He said that he can deliver specialized machines.

At that moment we were running some setups that required the parts to be rechucked, in order to remove burs, cut a small chamfer, and a lot of time was lost because of such auxialary operations. So i showed him the parts, and the discussion concluded that we could took one of our small lathes, put some automation on it, and a mechanism that would keep feeding parts into the machine. It sounded really nice and palpable, but i could not convince others that this project will actually free at least 4 classical machines, because day by day there were 4 classical lathes blocked by this auxialary operation.

Not everybody understands things, and there are people that don't care if a thing can be made faster, they simply care to see the machines working, without looking into process reliability. Running a bussines, and all those bills, makes some people a bit nervous, looking only into the "today" time, instead of looking forward ... well, whatever, what's done is done / kindly

[hfjbuis]

There are things you can do to speed up

cut a small chamfer

• If you use a quick change toolholder, you can setup the chamfer tool to replace the current cutting tool without any setup adjustments.
• I make my own HSS and insert tools by milling. I can adjust these tools so that all tools are equally in length and width. These tools can be swapped "without" adjustments depending on the accuracy needed.
• You could also add DRO's to the lathe and use a different Work Position (G54 like) for each tool. This makes life easier.
• etc.

I am not saying this is the way to do it, but just consider alternatives that are easy to implement and don't cost so much.

a mechanism that would keep feeding parts into the machine

These mechanism are usually custom made and dedicated to just a single part. I have learned walking step by step. I believe moving to CNC requires the same process. Just do a small upgrade, test, learn and then try the next step. Along the way you find out if it is the right way and if not, you can adjust the direction a bit. Once you start with a full automated production line, it is hard to change the direction because the cost of the machine, tools, education etc are hugh.

If time is not critical (yet) and the machine hasn't to run for 10 years, you could consider using a cheap (used) CNC machine just to get started.

[deadlykitten]

back then, i was looking for an alternative, that would debur/chamfer the parts that were machined on the cnc lathes; problem was that all parts that were delivered by the cnc needed deburing, and for this task were used 4 classical lathes, daily ... money was not a problem, but there were other kind of problems. Such an investment would definitely pay-off, at least for those types of parts that were being machined : just imagine, parts would come out finished just like pop-corn one after the other ...

my clock is ticking! ... if time is not critical (yet)

what's the deal with time ? are you in a rush ? should i be aware of something ? kindly