[metalworkz]

Hello supertechster,
The Gingery machines are a series of machines designed by Dave Gignery. Each machine is the topic of a book and he made the metal lathe, metal shaper, and horizontal milling machine books. Prior to doing the build for these machines he also has a 'make your own foundry' book that teaches you how to make a small foundry and use it to melt scrap aluminum, make green sand molds, and cast your parts from wooden patterns.
The pictured machines in the previous picture are the shaper and the horizontal milling machine, so that is actually 2 machines. The milling machine actually has lathe characteristics and can be used for turning and facing, but I have not finished the tailstock for the miller yet. They are good metal working machines but like any machine they have their limitations, although the milling machine has saved the day for me when my SX3 CNC mill motor electronics went bad.
If you do the Gingery series of machines the metal lathe is the first machine to build and then you use that to make the shaper and milling machine. Along the way as you get a machine done or partially done you are shown how to use what you have to get further along. I would recommend the Gingery series very highly, but I'm sure glad I am not just starting with the Gingery machines.
It took me probably 10 years to get the Gingery machines I have built done just working evenings, weekends, or whenever time permitted. It is a lot of work including wood pattern making, green sand molding, and then pouring the molten metal. The catch is when the casting is poured, it is still not done, but there is a lot less work left to do than some other methods of fabrication and the part is a solid piece. Sorry, I didn't mean to go overboard with the reply. I'll check back tomorrow.

Regards,

[brihoo2k]

Hello supertechster,
The Gingery machines are a series of machines designed by Dave Gingery. Each machine is the topic of a book and he made the metal lathe, metal shaper, and horizontal milling machine books. Prior to doing the build for these machines he also has a 'make your own foundry' book that teaches you how to make a small foundry and use it to melt scrap aluminum, make green sand molds, and cast your parts from wooden patterns.
The pictured machines in the previous picture are the shaper and the horizontal milling machine, so that is actually 2 machines. The milling machine actually has lathe characteristics and can be used for turning and facing, but I have not finished the tailstock for the miller yet. They are good metal working machines but like any machine they have their limitations, although the milling machine has saved the day for me when my SX3 CNC mill motor electronics went bad.
If you do the Gingery series of machines the metal lathe is the first machine to build and then you use that to make the shaper and milling machine. Along the way as you get a machine done or partially done you are shown how to use what you have to get further along. I would recommend the Gingery series very highly, but I'm sure glad I am not just starting with the Gingery machines.
It took me probably 10 years to get the Gingery machines I have built done just working evenings, weekends, or whenever time permitted. It is a lot of work including wood pattern making, green sand molding, and then pouring the molten metal. The catch is when the casting is poured, it is still not done, but there is a lot less work left to do than some other methods of fabrication and the part is a solid piece. Sorry, I didn't mean to go overboard with the reply. I'll check back tomorrow.

Regards,

Also the lathe helps to make its self. I have always admired the Gingery line of machines. I think it would be awesome to turn one of them into a cnc machine. Kind of a machine that is self replicating that evolved from bits and pieces

[brihoo2k]

Oh by the way nice cable carrier I thought of doing something like that with discarded soda pop bottles. But after seeing your pvc pipe idea I like that idea even better.:cheers:

[metalworkz]

Hello,
Yeah, I have had ideas to add stepper motors to my Gingery machines, but if I do go that route I will do it so that the machines maintain the manual abilities. There are a lot of minor machine operations that can be done without the need for programming and the extra planning that sometimes goes into a CNC cut part. Simplicity makes those machines easy to take some of the machine work to. The metal shaper actually has an automatic feed mechanism that feeds the work table left or right so it is great to have for doing flat surfaces or other work where I can let it do the work basically un-attended for most of the work. It does not shut down automatically so someone needs to be there towards the end of the pass.

[metalworkz]

Hello,
The X axis ballscrew/carriage assembly was mounted but I needed to get the stepper motor mounted to the base. I wanted the work table to slide above the motor and originally had thought of placing the motor below the base or offsetting it to the side. Then after placing the motor on the base surface I could see there was just enough clearance between the bottom of the worktable and the top of the motor if I could keep it close to the surface of the base. I envisioned a bracket to mount the motor at this level and bolted to the surface of the base and then set out to draw a workable part. I got the parts laser cut and formed from .125" thick aluminum and it works very good. Here are some pictures of the drawing and the part.









Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello guys,

Here is another part made for the Small CNC router Y axis drive. I needed a cog wheel for the stepper motor, and decided to use some .50" material I had to try and make the wheel. I created the part drawing and toolpaths with VcarvePro and cut the small wheel on my Syil SX3 CNC mill. I cut the profile from the blank and then mounted it between centers to mill the radius's from the first toolpaths. It worked very well and I have the pictures showing the part cut and assembled to the Y axis drive. Still not many comments or many questions?











Regards,

[DIYaholic]

metalworkz,
I am speachless....actually clueless. Having no machining or cnc experience, my knowledge comes from reading the many great posts here on the zone. My limited knowledge leaves me to watch (lurk) in awe of your build. There's really nothing I could say except "Great Job"!! Leave it to say, your build is impressive, thanks for the postings and pictures.
Please continue with the updates. If you build it....
they will come (viewers, comments and critiques)!

Edit: That first picture looks like a "PacMan" is eating your machine!!!!

Randy,

[metalworkz]

Hello Randy,
Thanks for the kind remarks. I didn't notice what you said about the first picture until I saw your comment. LOL, it really does resemble a Pac Man getting ready to take a bite our of my machine!

Regards,

[gmfoster]

Hello again,
I guess there are no comments or questions? Maybe nobody is interested, but I will continue just in case.
I believe the mounting brackets for the X axis ballscrew/actuator was next for the build. I did not want to wait to have the parts lasered and I had some .50" thick aluminum stock and I decided to cut the parts with a jig saw and finish them square in my homemade Gingery metal shaper. These brackets worked very good and allowed me to keep the height of the worktable fairly low. Take a look at the pictures, and if you have questions or comments please post them.









Regards,

Maybe we are spell bound...
Neat concept.

[metalworkz]

Hello guys,

I am now thinking there is a big difference between my first CNC build and the average DIY first build. Perhaps the average first build is usually done without the aide of other machine tools or CNC machines. I was fortunate to have a small SX3 CNC mill to use for intricate parts, and I also have built the Gingery lathe, shaper and horizontal mill so I have a well rounded small shop that many others may not have in the beginning. I would just say don't let this stop you from reaching your goal. There are alternative methods and designs that will work and it just takes a little thought to figure something different out. When I started my Gingery machines I did not have any machine tools at all, and the lathe was built with a hand drill and other manual methods.
By the time I had the Gingery metal lathe almost competed I decided to buy a floor drill press to do all the drilling operations that are needed in the everyday build operations for those machines and I was lucky to have enough cash to procure one at Harbor Freight on sale. The drill press was the only machine other than hand methods and the Gingery metal lathe I had made used to finish building all the rest of the gingery machines. I just mention this to show that I have learned if you really want to do it, there is a way. It may not be as easy as with the machine tools but you can do it and you will have a sense of accomplishment when it is done. It will also give you experience that you take with you throughout your life, and as you build those so is your knowledge and thought process being enlightened too.
Anyway, I hope anyone that sees this build will realize that although I have spent more time and work on individual parts of the build than some would on the whole build, just realize there are alternatives for almost everything and you can find what works best for you. Also realize that if you start with something a little more simple you can move up or upgrade those simple parts to something better as time moves forward or as the money becomes available. Just try to build with the ability to modify the design as needed etc.
I normally don't have a lot of cash to work with and so I needed to use scrap or things I had or could afford to make the things I needed. Most of the time if thought out well the 'homemade' alternative works great, and other times it might just work, but either way it gets you past this obstacle and moving forward!
Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello guys,

I guess it's time to add some more information about the build. I had removed the work table to work with the mounting of the X ballscrew assembly and the motor mounting and I needed to get it re-mounted to the slide and ballscrew carriages and shim it up so that it clears the X motor and bracket. I got the hole pattern dimensions from the carriages and got some thick metal shims lasered out of .375" HRS and .105 CRS. The shims fit well but when doing the final fitting of the worktable I decided to use some .375" aluminum stock I had on hand to lighten the weight of the table assembly a tiny bit. Here are some pictures of getting the work table fitted and mounted on the machine and the shims. In the pictures you can see the larger HRS shims and the .375" square aluminum rod was used to replace the larger HRS shim. A very small weight reduction, but the 425oz.in. motor does not seem to have any trouble moving the .375" steel worktable and it is a very sturdy work surface with plenty of clamping holes. The 1/4-20 tapped holes should last a lifetime in the steel table and if we switch to an aluminum work table we may want to use PEM hardware inserts.









Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello,
There was a post showing some interest in the Gingery machines and I thought it might be appropriate to post pictures of my Gingery machines. The lathe is a simple lathe and only uses a face plate and whatever jigs or fixtures I can implement along with work between centers. I have wanted to add a 3 jaw chuck for concentric work and have made the wooden patterns for the 4 jaw Gingery chuck but haven't begun to cast the parts yet. The metal shaper is mostly just build per the book but I have done a few things differently and added some things. The lathe and shaper are finished and the horizontal miller is almost complete but lacks the tailstock with the adjustable center. I have all the patterns done but the build got interrupted and I just never had the work to need the tailstock yet. It would make the machine much more versatile and I really should work on getting the tailstock cast and finished. I have also made the Gingery hand brake and that did not take any castings just some welding and metal fabrication. I highly recommend all of the Gingery books and machine builds. Take a look and please keep the thread alive by posting comments or questions.









Regards,

[FandZ]

What exactly is a metal shaper? Is it to fold sheet metal?

So since it's all done, when do we get to see your little bad boy cnc cut some stuff up?

[metalworkz]

Hello FandZ,

A metal shaper is very similar to a metal planer, except the metal planer usually has a reciprocating work table and the cutting head on a gantry type structure, whereas the metal shaper has a reciprocating toolhead and a table that moves left to right and back. The work table is adjusted up and down for the cut depth. The shaper uses a single pointed lathe bit for a tool for most work so the tooling is cheap and can be ground to the needed shape for the job. Mine is pictured on this page of this thread as it is being used to machine the X axis ballscrew assembly brackets flat on the inside surface or the 'L' bracket that is clamped in a vise.
I have a couple pictures of things I have cut so far and will post some with this reply.
The maple leaf is a small(approx 2.5" square)3D carving we did one of the first nights after getting the motors tuned. We made an X axis direction plate and the small RC wheel adapter the same week but different night. I then did the 3D carving for the Lady in the Woods in some redwood I had on hand and it turned out fairly well, but I was not real happy with the results and it is due to my lack of preparation of the file for the toolpaths.
The large wood carving(about 5" x 7") took about 30min. rough cut and just over 3 hours for the finish cut and was done at about 42 IPM. I have not had a lot of time to use the machine yet and did not want to push my luck and possibly lose steps etc.
I did the metal embossing to possibly use for a vent cover on the driver control box but made an error when I tried to cut the embossed cover out and was not able to use it. The embossing with the machine worked fine and I have some tools I have made specially for metal embossing that I want to try on some special items soon.

I want to get some videos done of it so I can post them on Youtube, but haven't got around to it yet. I am also trying to finish up a rotary indexer that I plan to make a portable unit to use with my SX3 mill and this CNC router so I have not had a lot of spare time. I wonder if I should post the rotary indexer build also and what would be the best forum to post that in? I get the feeling from some of the replies that I might have put this build in the wrong place??











Regards,

[brihoo2k]

Very nice Wes. When I mentioned adding cnc to one of the Gingery machines the thought in my head in particular was the lathe for threading and and indexing. Your right though in the thought of keeping the Gingery machines purely mechanical. The addition of limit switches would allow you to set up an operation and let it do its thing with out having to be there to stop it. I envy you in the fact that you actually made the machines while I took the easy way out and bought a mini lathe and a mini mill. The shaper looks like something I may someday (actually year) try to tackle. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZdbNWoySo0"]YouTube- Finished Modified Gingery Metal Shaper[/ame]

[DIYaholic]

metalworkz,
I hope this is not too far off topic! Would you be able to shed some light onto the building of these Gingery machines, namely time and expense of building each machine? Obviously, an individuals building skills/expertise, tools/machines available for the build and sourcing of parts/material will vary, but is there a ballpark figure you could throw out?

Randy,

[metalworkz]

Hi brihoo2k,

I did think of adding or making the electronic leadscrew and possibly a motorized cross-slide for the gingery lathe, but just have not spent the time to go any further than think about it. Now that I have built my first CNC machine I may feel a bit more comfortable with the electronic aspect of adding to the Gingery machines and see what I can come up with.
Thanks for posting the video of a very good looking Gingery shaper in action so others will be able to see how it works. My Gingery shaper does not have the motor beneath as he has done and he has put a little extra time into handles for the table cross feed, but the machine is basically the same. If you have the cash why not but what is available? I was broke but wanted my own metal working machines, and I had nothing to lose by buying the series of books and investing my time into the builds. I figured when I first saw the add that it was surely another gimmick to take my money, but it was the 'real deal'
and I learned so much from his books and building these machines. If you can find the time I would recommend any of the Gingery machine books, but the shaper is a very versatile machine that can do things that may be difficult with other machines and with cheap lathe bits.
Regards,

[metalworkz]

metalworkz,
I hope this is not too far off topic! Would you be able to shed some light onto the building of these Gingery machines, namely time and expense of building each machine? Obviously, an individuals building skills/expertise, tools/machines available for the build and sourcing of parts/material will vary, but is there a ballpark figure you could throw out?

Randy,

Hi Randy,
If you are interested in doing something like the Gingery builds, you will need to devote some of your spare time to the build. First of all you will need to get the Make your own Charcoal Foundry book, and construct the foundry. It amounts to taking an empty 5 gallon bucket and adding a hole near the bottom for the tuyer inlet(a blast is provided with an old style hair dryer) using fireclay and sand to make a home made refractory and a metal sheet form to create the inside and you fill this form and then let it dry somewhat and fire it with some charcoal. You also make a refractory lid that is removable and you can fire it in the kitchen oven. It is all explained to you step by step by Dave Gingery and he makes suggestions for alternatives etc. I would suggest buying the books for the build you are interested in and then spend some time reading through them.
If the books are available at a library that may be an option to buying them. The time it takes you will depend on a lot of variables and everyone is different. I started building these machines back in about 1982 and by 1983 I had cast the headstock for the lathe and was at that step of the lathe build. Look at the machine and realize that every part you can see needs to be first made into a wooden pattern with allowance for shrinkage of aluminum. It is not that difficult to do and it is shown to you step by step, but it takes time to do. Then the part needs to be molded into sand and finally the aluminum is melted and poured into the mold. If the casting comes out good then you need to clean it up and finish it. After the parts are cast and cleaned you will have to fit some of the parts by doing hand scraping. It is a long involved process and perhaps one should read through the book and decide in his own mind if he can manage this task and estimate a time-line for what you think you can possibly do. The more tools you have the better, like having a table saw will make things easier, but you don't really need it. I did not have any large tools like a table saw and did it all with a hand drill and other hand tools. I am terrible of estimating the time it took but I do know it took me roughly 11 years to get through up to the horizontal mill. That's the foundry, the lathe, the shaper and the mill in about 11 years. It was a great experience and I would do it again.
Sorry I can't give a better detailed time frame but take a look at the book and you will have a better feel for how much you would be able to do in what time frame. I don't want to discourage anyone interested as it is very rewarding and well worth the effort. Also keep in mind that the things you learn can be applied to any other project you have in your mind and I have even made side covers for Kawasaki motorcycles and RC car wheels with my castings. The foundry and being able to make aluminum castings opens up a huge
set of other things that are now possible. Good luck and go for it!

Regards,

[DIYaholic]

metalworkz,
Thanks for the info!
So, I think your'e saying I should allow more than a single weekend for this project! lol.
With the way I procrastinate, a project like this could take me well into the next century (or at least early retirement). I will take your advise and at least read his books, perhaps I will find the motivation within the pages.
Again, thanks for the insight.

We now return to our regularly scheduled metalworkz updates!

Randy,

[metalworkz]

Hello Randy,
Yes, I believe it will be more than a weekend just reading and digesting the material in a single book. If you are a fast reader maybe less to just read it, but to really absorb the content and have a feel for what is going to be done it may need to be read several times, and maybe you are one that will be able to do it after the first reading. Whatever you decide to do you will be fine and there will be another project that will fit your situation at that time and place.
Regards,