[ManicMachinist]

Manic,
I thaink they call that a "crouch', mounted in a lathe tailstock. It's used to center round material to machine (drill or mill) it. If i'm wrong some one will correct me.
Ray Hill

All right Ray,

Crotch center, thanx for playin'

MM

[mickygol]

new kid in town, dont know that much about foroums, been working as cnc operator, right now in need on figuring out how the m6 (tool change) command works in a takisawa mac v3, anyone that knows about it???

[Prop3]

Hi all, new member here. I've worked in the machine repair field for several years and am looking forward to chatting with you all.

[PerrisMedia]

Hello All,

I am completely new to the CNC realm. I want to find a CNC machine I can do photolithoplanes (PhotoVCarve) on and to carve negative molds to make carbon fiber parts.

The more I look at CNC routers, the more overwhelming it seems.

I am hoping to find advice on a setup and I expect I'll be facing some of the same hurdles those of you have jumped before me. Who knows... maybe after a few successful projects, I can even help others.

[shiney66]

Hello people,
i registered a while ago, but just didn't have time to read much, let alone reply.
just wanted to leave a few lines to introduce myself.

I'm a 50 year old female and i'm into modeling.
The modelbuilding kind, not showing off clothes
After a bad accident in 1993 i was paralized from the waist down for a few years and my right hand was severely damaged.
It took me untill 2 years ago to become fully functional again.
about 18 months ago i was able to start building again and i've been working on ways to make my idea's come true.
I have constructed a lathe from a sewing machine for a friend and i'm in the process of making one for myself now.
I got hold of a one of these devices (i don't know the word, translation from dutch to english would be cross-table)
The small things that you would find under a milling machine, but smaller.
it travels over about 5cm width and 9 cm length and i can fix a cutting bit to it.
That will enable me to turn small round parts in plastic or alumminium with more acuracy than was possible with the drill i used so far.
I also dabbled a bit in mouldmaking and casting and i'm gathering the mechanical parts to build a RepRap darwin (a 3D printer).
It eats up almost my entire budget for 1 year so the modelbuilding is on a slow burner.
I also would like to be able to mill out larger shapes in PU foam and maybe solid plastics so i'm also looking into the possibilities of building a cnc milling machine capable of milling into foamblocks as large as 25"x10"x5" .
It all has to be done from a minimum wage so there is an extremely low budget, i probably have to build something that is a combination of alluminium, polycarbonate or acrylic sheet, wood and steel bolts,nuts and bearings and i don't have access to a real lathe or milling machine.
The best i can do is a jigsaw, circular saw with table, one of these handheld milling machines to make profiles in wood and an industrial colom drill,.
The electronics probably will end up being arduino boards or something like it.

I haven't got a clue yet as to where i'm gonna start, so i hope you guys can give me some pointers.
I would appreciate it.

Admire your spirit of making things do and wish you well. try looking at joes http://www.cnczone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=346 hope this works for you, blind leading the blind springs to mind if you brows around this sit you will find you can build a machine without any machinery involved just a small drill and screwdriver and hand saw best of luck regards shiney66

[shovelman]

Hello everybody. Found this site when I was looking for info on my Hardinge Second Operation Lathe.
I'm a welder/fabricator of twenty years plus building custom signs (H.R.C. Guitars) and awnings. I also fabricate custom parts for my Harley and in the process of building an old school Triumph chopper. I enjoy building custom parts/projects for myself and for work. It's good for the brain.
I got this Hardinge Lathe from a friend and found out that I was missing a
critical part and that I'm sort of limited on what I want to do. But "Free" was good enough for me. I'll post a picture of it later.
Again, hello and looking forward to this site for helpful information .

[shadow3621]

hi all, i am just starting to learn how to use machining equipment, and i am also an avid collector of blueprints for anything mechanical. i am especially interested in steam engines, and military models. any help with plans or blueprints will be greatlly appreiciated. I will even consider trades for blueprints i don't have. thanks, and i am happy to be here, there is a lot of useful info here, and i am learning more every day.

Ed.

[tooldaddy]

Just wanted to swing by and say hello to the forum. Look forward to spending some time here.

[33jimb]

Hi, my name is Jim and I enterred this website to find people who are machining plastics. For the last few months I have been developing thick cast epoxy plates that are approx. 12"x12"x 1" thick. The material is almost water clear so when colored appears like glass. This epoxy is bubble free and easier to machine than plexiglas and I have had fantastic success with C&C routers and milling machines. I would like to talk to anyone with any questions about this material. Thankyou

[SherlineGuy]

Hi Jim,
Most everyone has a little plastics experience, some have a lot.
I have a small manual Sherline set, Mill & Lathe, but am tooled up quite nicely. I am making fiber optic cleaning heads out of polysulfone, an engineering plastic used widely in the medical and like industries. I use it because of its resistance to steam; I use the heads partially as steam nozzles to clean a fiber optic connector. I machine a lot of Delrin too.
If this experience is of service, please ask.
Gene

[youngengsales]

hi my name is bill
i have many years selling and working with cnc components and machines. I am now semi retired but still have alot things to sell and salted away. http://www.youngengsales.com/ has alot of the items
I also have a large shop in southern south carolina and would like to hear from anyone in that area with cnc experience. I would be interested in trading components for service work etc.

I see alot of topics in areas that interest me and in areas that i have done previous projects. I would be interested in getting some bandit one stepper controls and parts. I also need some help with fagor controls say 8020 vintage

bill 978 979 5691

[RHDesigns]

My name is Ryan. I came on this site to find out as much information as possible. Up until 2007 i built custom homes with my father until an accident paralyzed me from the chest down. I am going to school to program cncs and looking at starting a little company. I do alot of woodwork, design wheelchair accessories, some custom names, and whatever else i have time to work with. With finances low, im struggling to get started and need all the help i can get. Im trying to see if anyone has anything they would like to donate to my cause. I am trying to purchase some new medical equipment that will help me to walk, and a small set up may be enough to raise enough money from sales. I want to earn the money and i think this would be successful. So if anyone has anything they would like to donate. Used endmills, taps, and other bits, scrap material, older mics and things like. Any help will be greatly appreciated and will save me from having to buy everything new.
thanks
ryan

[Kris B]

- Hi everyone

I am new to the zone. I have no prior experience in machining, but am planning on purchasing a small lathe and maybe a mill to start making small tools and do small projects mostly in aluminum, maybe bronze, nothing bigger than a 1 -1/2" diameter or longer than 10" - predominantly boring 1/4 holes with maybe 1/2 depth. Any suggestions on a lathe or a lathe/mill combo to suit these applications? I am looking for a machine(s) that needs no additional setup out of the box and has high tolerances.

Thanks,
Kris

[chapped76balls]

Hello to all of you.....
I'm 57 and currently in the process of building a workshop with one thing in mind.....to build my own CNC plasma cutting machine to do metal art, fabrication, etc. I have mig, stick, both AC and DC machines and Hypertherm plasma machine. I know i'm gonna have me some fun on this site with all the conversations concerning pro's and con's on anything that may come up.

[SherlineGuy]

Hi Kris,
I am partial to Sherline products, they make a very small lathe, and mill, and a full line of accessories to go with them. If I need to do larger work we do have a full-size mill and lathe here at work. Most of what I do, tho, is handled nicely with the Sherline, and it does the softer metals and plastics just fine. It does lack rigidity to quickly cut harder materials like steel and stainless, although it will, and precisely; it just takes longer. They are also made here in San Diego County, and tech help is very easily had.
Most of the folks here would steer you onto the slightly larger and heavier machines made in China, and sold thru Harbor Freight and a number of other places. They are more rigid than the Sherline and might do a better job as your work gets larger, and the materials harder. Pricing is similar on both, but be prepared to spend as much or more on tooling than on the machine.

[LaserDon]

My name is Don 51 years old from Michigan
I am a senior cnc programmer. I started out on Strippit turret machines as an operator then became the programmer for 2 machines.
We now have 2 Mitsubishi Laser ML3718Plus machines with automation.
Twins if you will with 72 x 144 tables
I love the new lasers. Im looking forward to meeting everyone...

[Curtisleeroy]

Hello all you CNCer's

Can anyone tell me if they have experienced stringy chip issues with 17-4 condition A. The parts we're making are called out to be H900 heat treated but getting the material in H900 meant weeks long delivery so we opted to go with the condition A. Could this be why we have chips from hell?

Curt

[cnc_manual]

hello everyone, I´m a student/intern that has worked with many CNC machines before and loved it, luckily now I work in a company that it´s all about CNC machine rebuilding.

And I have a very hard task at hand, I need to write a service manual for a recunstructed and improved DM 2800. So I´m in a gathering information quest.

If anyone has a service manual, or part manual, (diagrams,circuit diagrams,etc.) of this machine that will be willing to share, I´ll be very gratefull for any information or help I can get.

So I dont mess anything up when I take the machine apart and dont forget anything when I rebuild it

[KOneemen]

Hi I have no experience working with CNC machines or CAD software but I would like to get into soon enough. I'm looking to buy a mill to do work somewhere around 18"x18" work. I live in Alaska and I airsoft (For those that haven't heard of it it's a military-type simulation game in which the players use enhanced bb guns that look like their real-steel counterparts.) and things break. Unfortunately we have to order all of our replacement parts from Asia or a company that ships through Asia. I just wanted to get a mill so I could build replacement parts out of stronger materials for a better price and have them ready for players to purchase. I was wonder what kind of mill would be good for cutting from pieces of steel, aluminum, titanium, or any kind of durable metal. That and what kind of CAD software to use for it.

[dave hamilton]

Hi everyone, my name is Dave, and I work in a marble and granite manufacturing company. We have 1 CNC (Brembana) for working with natural stone. I joined this group to get more information on cad/cam software. The machine has it's own software for cad/cam, but is limited when it comes to doing 3d type stuff. I know there's a bunch of stuff in the cad forum so that's where I'll be doing alot of reading. I haven't come across alot of stone info here, but it's all the same really.


If you want to see some of the stuff we do, you can visit www.marble-art.com and check it out.

Thanks

Dave