I pulled the trigger on the CNC mill yesterday...
10-21-2003, 06:34 AM
#1
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
I pulled the trigger on the CNC mill yesterday...
just too good a deal to pass on. Even tho I shouldn't have done it as it's a HUGE bite out of my retirement income and it'll run me short till my next dividend check but I couldn't help it. Besides, I haven't lived on a steady diet of PB&J sammies since college.
But GAWD, what a BEHEMOTH this thing is!!. In contrast my little Austrian mill thats mounted on my lathe weighs 160lbs while this giant is closer to 3,000lbs. But all the reports were accurate. Only 8.04 hours total use on the clock and even the static cling protective overlays on all the dials, read-out screens and gauges are still in place and haven't been removed.
Nary a scratch, blemish or cosmetic flaw to be found. Have to get a power inverter mounted on it so that I can use 220V single phase power as my condo isn't wired for 3 phase. And a longer power cord to reach my dryer outlet till I can get an electrician out to install yet another 220V/50A outlet in the garage. Already did that once for the lathe but my circuit breaker box is out of useable spaces so I'll need to go to a larger box. Meanwhile the dryer runs so rarely and is only 11 feet inside the door from where the mill will sit so a HD 6-8ft extension cord will work for now and I'll just swap plugs in-n-out for dryer/mill use.
Very little else I'll need initially as all my tooling will work with the new mill since they are both R8 spindle machines. I will require a new Kurt AngleLok machine vise, speed dial for it and a new set of table clamps as all my existing ones are for 12mm T-slots and the new machine uses 19mm t-slots. A pair of halogen machine lamps mounted to it since it'll be going in the darkest corner of the garage and thats it. Certainly not the HUGE outlay in cash for tooling I was expecting. For most of you that don't know, any machine tool is relatively cheap. It's the tooling for it that is expensive. Rule of thumb is "plan on spending 5-10 times more on tooling than initial machine costs." So you can imagine how relieved I am that all my tooling will transfer and work with this machine. With the above items I'll have to spend less than $2k for the few items I need. HUGE relief as I was anticipating 6 times that amount just to get started.
To help expalin the complexity and capabilities of this machine I'd be hard-pressed to desribe it any simpler than to say I could make an Audi head from a solid billet of aluminum... or a MAF housing or a throttle body from blocks of aluminum. Well more accurately at this point the machine can, I cannot... YET!!
But just wait till I figure out what I can do with it. Funny how you never think beyond your own capabilitites when designing things. I only conceive and spend time pondering enhancements I'm capable of making. Well my capabilities just increased 10,000-fold.
This is exciting, intimidating, fun, scarey, challenging and daunting all at the same time.
Something wicked this way comes...
But GAWD, what a BEHEMOTH this thing is!!. In contrast my little Austrian mill thats mounted on my lathe weighs 160lbs while this giant is closer to 3,000lbs. But all the reports were accurate. Only 8.04 hours total use on the clock and even the static cling protective overlays on all the dials, read-out screens and gauges are still in place and haven't been removed.
Nary a scratch, blemish or cosmetic flaw to be found. Have to get a power inverter mounted on it so that I can use 220V single phase power as my condo isn't wired for 3 phase. And a longer power cord to reach my dryer outlet till I can get an electrician out to install yet another 220V/50A outlet in the garage. Already did that once for the lathe but my circuit breaker box is out of useable spaces so I'll need to go to a larger box. Meanwhile the dryer runs so rarely and is only 11 feet inside the door from where the mill will sit so a HD 6-8ft extension cord will work for now and I'll just swap plugs in-n-out for dryer/mill use.
Very little else I'll need initially as all my tooling will work with the new mill since they are both R8 spindle machines. I will require a new Kurt AngleLok machine vise, speed dial for it and a new set of table clamps as all my existing ones are for 12mm T-slots and the new machine uses 19mm t-slots. A pair of halogen machine lamps mounted to it since it'll be going in the darkest corner of the garage and thats it. Certainly not the HUGE outlay in cash for tooling I was expecting. For most of you that don't know, any machine tool is relatively cheap. It's the tooling for it that is expensive. Rule of thumb is "plan on spending 5-10 times more on tooling than initial machine costs." So you can imagine how relieved I am that all my tooling will transfer and work with this machine. With the above items I'll have to spend less than $2k for the few items I need. HUGE relief as I was anticipating 6 times that amount just to get started.
To help expalin the complexity and capabilities of this machine I'd be hard-pressed to desribe it any simpler than to say I could make an Audi head from a solid billet of aluminum... or a MAF housing or a throttle body from blocks of aluminum. Well more accurately at this point the machine can, I cannot... YET!!
But just wait till I figure out what I can do with it. Funny how you never think beyond your own capabilitites when designing things. I only conceive and spend time pondering enhancements I'm capable of making. Well my capabilities just increased 10,000-fold.
This is exciting, intimidating, fun, scarey, challenging and daunting all at the same time.
Something wicked this way comes...
10-21-2003, 12:35 PM
#7
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
"by the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes" Ray Bardbury...
From the book; Something Wicked this way Comes. Finished June, 1971. First published 1973.
But we all agree it's an apt quote.
But we all agree it's an apt quote.
