New Toy

deckingman

This is my new toy.

and these to go with it

I'm currently milling aluminium motor mounts for my printer while the printer is printing collect storage holders for the mill.

Good thing I'm not a jealous man...

... you could probably also print motor mounts for the mill and stick a Duet on there

Veti

@deckingman
are you gonna put a duet3 on that?

DocTrucker

Nice.

Are you using open source tool path generators?

If so which ones? I've some contacts who are heavily involved with CNC coding. Both on the linuxcnc side and others on tool path generators.

deckingman

@doctrucker said in New Toy:

Nice.

Are you using open source tool path generators?

If so which ones? I've some contacts who are heavily involved with CNC coding. Both on the linuxcnc side and others on tool path generators.

Nah. This is a manual milling machine. To make it move, you turn wheels by hand. It might seem archaic to someone of your generation, but that's what I was weened on. It does have 3 axis DRO (digital read out) as a nod to modern technology, which was unheard of when I served my apprenticeship some 50 years or so ago.
All joking appart, I might convert it to power feed of the X and Y axes at some time in the future, but full CNC wouldn't be worth it for what I want to make. It's a 3 axis single tool machine so I'd spend too much time changing from an edge finder to various drill bits and then milling cutters. Then re-positioning the work piece and repeating that process. So I'd be constantly pausing the gcode file, changing tools or repositioning the work piece and finding new work space homing coordinates. Might as well just turn the hand wheels

thwe

@deckingman said in New Toy:

… my new toy …

Congratulations - that would be my dream too.

It does not always have to be cnc controlled. In my apprenticeship, we have made great parts with something - you just have to know how.
And the basic equipment is quite extensive, so you can start quite well.

Where is your internet shop to place orders

MiR

I think I have just the right youtuber to make you think again about not converting your nice machine:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0hguDEHeIJtMbYSpsPsbnc2gNPdG0nvh

Have a lot of fun with your new toy!

Michael

DocTrucker

@deckingman Horses for Courses.

My generation? We can only afford hand drills, hacksaws and files!

deckingman

@doctrucker said in New Toy:

@deckingman Horses for Courses.

My generation? We can only afford hand drills, hacksaws and files!

Wes, my heart bleeds for you

Keep working though - it's your taxes that are paying my £687.16 monthly pension which enables me splash out on such luxuries as a milling machine.

Seriously though, if you need anything making on a milling machine, give me a shout.

Dougal1957

@deckingman you may have just opened the flood gates Ian LOL, I still want a mill and a lathe for that matter

deckingman

@dougal1957 said in New Toy:

....................... and a lathe for that matter

Doug - That's on my list too. In fact I'd have had one by now if the model I fancy was in stock.

Also, the same applies to you too - if you want anything milling, give me a shout.

fma

What lathe model do you target?

deckingman

@fma said in New Toy:

What lathe model do you target?

Well I'm not 100% decided but this is the one I'm seriously considering https://www.warco.co.uk/metal-lathes-metalworking-lathe-machine/303313-wm-180-lathe-dro.html.

Like the mill, all these machine come from one factory in China, (Sieg I believe). There are a few re-sellers here in the UK but essentially they are all the same machine with maybe a different paint job. The Warco version seems to come with quite a few accessories that other vendors don't offer and I have no complaints about Warco's service. The machines are set up, adjusted and calibrated here in the UK and a full range of spares is available. The tail stock on that lather is MT2 which is the same as the mill so I can use things like drill chucks on either machine.

We used to have a company here in the UK called "Myford" which had a very good reputation but unfortunately they are no longer in business (couldn't compete against the Chinese prices I dare say).

fma

Thanks for the link!

deckingman

Well, my first bit of milling for about 48 years didn't turn out too bad.

6 (3 pairs) of new aluminium motor mounts (XYUVAW axes) to replace the plastic printed ones.

DocTrucker

@deckingman ha ha couldn't resist a pythonesk reply, you left the gate wide open!

Cheers though, I shall bare that in mind. I've a few ideas maturing but need to gather thoughts a bit more.

timcurtis67

@deckingman said in New Toy:

Well, my first bit of milling for about 48 years didn't turn out too bad.

6 (3 pairs) of new aluminium motor mounts (XYUVAW axes) to replace the plastic printed ones.

Those parts are looking good Ian. Fly over here to the states and I'll get you a job working here in the machine shop where I work .

deckingman

@timcurtis67 Thanks Tim but sorry - wrong part of the world. Now if you were in Australia where my daughter lives, I might have been tempted

Danal

Fantastic,

I have a Charter Oaks automation. Physically similar.

Also, I made the same decision: DRO, not full CNC. It's been VERY productive...

deckingman

@danal Thanks. Coming from you, I'm reassured that my decision not to eventually turn it into a full CNC machine is justified.
The only thing that I'm finding is a bit of a PITA, is that I need to produce some sort of dimensioned drawings to work from, and as up until now I've designed everything exclusively using OpenScad, this isn't as easy as it could be. I need to look into that.

fma

You can make cut in OpenSCAD, then export them as DXF, and load them in LibreCAD (very good software)...

Or switch to something much more powerfull, like Onshape/Fusion360 (not open).

deckingman

@fma Thanks, I'll give that a try. My current method is to import the OpenScad file into Freecad, then use an add on to make dimensioned drawings. It works reasonably well but I think what I need to do is just get to grips with some other Cad package and cut out the OpenScad step.

If you don't mind the cloud part of Fusion360 its hard to beat the value to feature ratio of integrated CAD/CAM.

It is a bit tedious to export openscad -> freecad -> fusion just because there are no common formats between openscad and fusion though.

deckingman

@bearer Yes I've tried Fusion. It's a big learning curve for someone like me who has never used anything other than OpenScad. But then, so is FreeCad and probably all other CAD packages.
For the motor mounts, I just exported an image from OpenScad, printed it, looked though the OpenScad code to get the dimensions, then just scribbled them onto the printed image. Slightly better than the back of an envelope sketch, but not much........

OBELIKS

I think that when you learn the basics, Fusion workflow is much easier.
For those mounts, did you just use the same thickness as for plastic ones?