/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1788333
>msg
great, gotta worry about msg in the lathes now too.

>>1788361
yep

and my hydraulic pump motor is running pretty hot, 175 F. going to do some cleaning on it I suppose

>>1788369
Note: pump motor, not pump. Motor heats up, which heats up the pump and reservoir.

>>1788369
thou shalt check voltages. motor will run hot & slow with one phase disconnected.

>>1788369
It was a dad tier joke about monosodium glutamate. It was a bit esoteric for this thread.

Check the voltages, and grease the bearings

So, I'm just getting into the machining trade, going to classes for both manual and CNC stuff at the local community college (or was, until the wu flu cucked all lab-time until July), and I was wondering something.

How much of this can also be applied to turning and milling stuff made of various kinds of soft and hard wood as well? Are there any special considerations?

>>1788537
I've never machined wood with a cnc machine but I have worked in woodworking on an assembly line making cabinet parts and moldings, woodworking and machining are two different worlds. The only thing that applies is how the machine works and even then, the controllers for woodworking cnc machines are completely different then the metal ones, at least from what I've seen. Also, purpose built woodworking cnc machines are a lot less stiff and cheaper built.

Wood is softer and easier to work with however you have to be more careful with imperfections and chipping, it's a lot harder to mask your fuck ups, or so I'm told.

>>1788537
MDF wood I would imagine can be cut similarly to metal since its got a consistant structure but traditional wood straight from a tree needs to be worked much differently since youve got the grain structure to worry about.

Why are haas programmer manuals so bad? What’s the point of taking 3 pages to explain a canned cycle if you’re not going to include an example part and program? Can somebody please explain how to calculate feeds and speeds to single point thread? Every haas guide I can find wants to explain the letter values over and over

>>1788908
you have unreasonable expectations of the controller. it turns the handles for you, but it doesn't do your entire fucking job.
hit the reference books, call the material manufacturer, run test parts.

For the machinists and CNC operators in these threads; is this trade worth pursuing nowadays?

I already have a career in IT but just curious.

>>1788537
Wood and metal are two different things m8.

How come modern CNC is dominated by the milling machine while manual machinist work is dominated by the lathe?

>>1789207
>For the machinists and CNC operators in these threads; is this trade worth pursuing nowadays?
No, machining is bottom of the barrel pay and benefits wise compared to other trades. You could probably make as much or more with a good unionized factory job, if you can find one of course. However, it is a step up from working at mcdonalds and provides experience for other careers, for example: quality control, cnc programing, drafting/designing, CMM operator, tool and die maker, etc.
>I already have a career in IT but just curious.
You're probably making much more then any machinist in your area, I'd stick with it if you're happy.

>>1789210
cnc lathe is easy to automate, slap a bar feeder on it and go to town. prints money

urrm ehhmm y'know eeeh thisis ehh anyway hurrm

wait what? you can lathe ugly tumors like that? how does that not fuck up center of gravity and tear his machine apart?

>>1789887
you don't spin it as fast, plus it isn't gripped in there with a chuck so it should just pop out (hopefully) because wood lathe uses a screw on the spindle to drive it

>>1789675
Thanks Tom, I'm 5 good minutes away from having a usable CNC lathe but I'm pretty sure those 5 minutes will be expensive or take longer than 5 minutes.

>axes zeroed and everything mostly, C axis not responsive, try to turn on spindle
>EX 2018 Y axis mode [japanese writing]

So, how do I turn off this "Y axis mode" thing?

jesus.. one fucking hour in soft wood?
i think i should probably first run it with a bigger mill,
pic related is 1mm ballnose 3d adaptive clearing, if i want to run it with a say 5mm flat end before is just run 3d adaptive as well but set it to say 0.5mm stock to leave? is that it?

>>1789954
3d adpative is shiiiit look at that top, what the fuck is with all that left over material? why won't it clear it? it's not like the shape is so fucking complicated, the mill can reach it no problem

>>1789901
Y axis base block won't change to "OUT" position

what the fuck is a Y axis base block?

>>1789954
Set the containment larger so it doesn't try to ramp down into the material.

Those red spirals mean ramping which is stupid.

>>1789957
also, 3d adaptive is a roughing strategy it will leave material....

use a 3d contour or something to finish that shape

>>1790027
>>1790018
I managed to improve it somehwat by using 3d adaptive with 3mm mill to rough it and then parallel pass with 1mm ball mill to smoothen it, and then one more parallel 90 degree rotated to to finish it off

It seems decent in the sim, i will try to run it now to see how it turns out.

Still though one hour total for a SINGLE key cap (the whole thing is only about 2x2cm) but since i need only few of them it's fine

>>1790032
share the file with me and I'll work some CAM magic on it while I'm waiting to hear back from DMG Mori

>>1790034
Do you have fusion 360?

>>1790036
Yep

>>1790037
Alright: https://files dot fm/u/jjy9dbch

I only have 3mm flat endmill, 3 flutes
And a 1mm ball nose 2flutes, 600mm/s top speed at 10k rpm

>>1790039

It's not fucking spamm rree
Updated: files dot fm/u/p3p2us3y

feedrate on finish passes should be much faster, actually even the cutting feeds should probably be faster idk

>>1790041
>even the cutting feeds should probably be faster
not with nema 17 stepper motors friend

i'll give it a look, thanks

>>1790043
Can the part on the underside have chamfered edges so you can actually finish it without collisions with your small endmill?

>>1790043
Okay try this one on for size files dot fm/u/8p6a8qcz

>>1790069
>files dot fm/u/8p6a8qcz
nice, at it's much faster that my toolpaths too, thanks, hopefully i won't break my last endmills like when i tried to mill alu last time

guy in last thread was talking about a 9" south bend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dZtm42KBdI

here's one in action

>>1790032
rotate your parallel toolpath to a 45* degree angle so you arent doing vertical for one side and horizontal for the other .
also how do you plan to hook up your 4th axis?

>>1790180
>also how do you plan to hook up your 4th axis?
that's really simple atually, i have two choices, i use GRBL uno which only supports 3 axis so i am going to make a simple lever switch which will switch between wires going into Y stepper and wires going into A stepper since you don't need to move Y axis when you CNC on rotary axis, so super easy to do

second option would be i could buy arduino mega and use GRBL mega which can support up to 5 axis i think, but the grbl support is unofficial and i would have to make my own GRBL hat for the mega, which i could do, but honestly, since i will never need to run all 4 axis at the same time, it's simply not worth the hassle and i will use the very simple first solution

>>1790451
>simple lever switch
in fact i could even use a relay and automate it, since i don't use the coolant pin for anything, i could use it to actuvate the relay to switch between Y and A axis automatically depending if the supplies gcode uses Y or A movements in it

the first test turned out great! the keycap is smooth as fuck there are almost no toolpaths visible, (i fucked up with during tool change which causes that line there)
Also i will probably use laser to engrave the names instead of a V cutter since the readability will be better and it will look nice. The only downside is the rgb won't work, but whatever

>>1790462

Is there any decent software to generate 2.5D toolpaths out of an STL for Linux? Only need 3 axes.

>>1790464
good for you bro, looks like your toolpath instead of mine thoo

I bet mine looks better ;)

>>1790568
yeah i ran it first because i want to see the difference when i use yours since it's much faster, so i am curious if the quality will be as good

>>1790571
well yeah me too, check speeds and feeds and let er rip

>>1790583
fool, you just got infected!

>>1790589
sheeeeeittt

>tfw there's a whole city worth of pneumatics and hydraulics in this fucker

>>1788979
I just need the formula for how the spindle speed and feedrate interact to produce a certain thread pitch. This is all I'm asking. Depth of cut, number of passes, type of insert for material etc is shit I already know fromanual machining

>>1789207
Any job on Earth that pays equal to a career as a machinist will be infinitely easier and less stressful. Loading vending machines pays better than the top paying machinist in my area. Being a receptionist will pay more with more time off and better benefits than a machinist with 2 years setup experience. Machining is probably the worst job possible to persue.

>>1790733
*unless you own the business

>>1790764
>*unless you own the business
Which brings up the next point, any other trade is easier to go self employed. The amount of tools, machines, space and money needed to go solo is prohibitive.

>>1790769
Are you sure about that? The ROI on a machine tool is normally pretty ridiculous.

>>1790770
If you have your own garage and can do repairs yourself then yeah, but I don't think that applies to most people. A plumber, electrician, HVAC repairmen, and welder could load up a van or truck full of tools and would be good to go. A machinist needs a shop, or a really big trailer. Also, you need to be a good business man, but that applies to everything.

>>1790733
not to mention that after manual machines went CNC, the next step is to replace the meatbags withc omplete automation where machines will be loaded by robotic arms so machinists will be out of a job and machining will only remain as a hobby

>>1790780
I worked for a company that has robots and has automated some of it's processes and I personally believe that 100% automation will never happen in this trade. Machining has too many variables and you can't adapt for all of them. You have an indefinite amount of parts with indefinite amount of features and shapes. A lot of these will require custom jigs and clamps and jaws, both for the machine and the robot. If it's a small production then it isn't worth the money to make these to automate the job. Also, I don't think there is a machine that can 100% do it's own setup, there has to be monkey to load up the program and tools, and change out worn out tools. Where I worked we have a horizontal milling center with two robots, it can load and attach it's own jigs out of a rack, however someone has to supervise the setup. The robot we have work pretty reliably, however they fall in alarm often and have to be supervised and the parts need to be inspected regularly. Once, an operator left the machine to it's own device and it made hundreds of thousands of dollars of scrap before he realized something was wrong.

>>1790778
That image... Hnnggghhh

>>1790794
Yes shops will always need employees but they probably won't be stuck doing bullshit like tending a machine with a 5 second cycle time for hours on end.

I tend to view that as a good thing, as a bonus due to less labor costs the goods get cheaper and more available--for as long as employees really are still needed.

--
Also, update on the Mori, got the spindle working and the turret indexing and all the axes zeroing. Slight difficulty now is aligning the turret. Y axis base block wasn't moving due to finnicky air sensor on the back of the machine.

>>1790778
>can do repairs yourself then yeah

Free phone support from DMG Mori is pretty bad-ass.

>>1790733
>Loading vending machines pays better than the top paying machinist in my area
WTF? Where do you live, and how much is that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWpAoU_8xvE

>tfw japs don't have a forklift probably because they can't afford the extra space living on an island

>>1790733
This is me. Shit day at the shop, made this shitpost on my break lol. Had some time to think and what makes this trade worth pursuing is the unbelievable level of satisfaction that comes from being able to solve mechanical problems with skills you develope on the job. It's hard to understand until it happens, but eventually you'll come across a problem on the job or working on your car or whatever and there's simply no way to solve it without making some sort of tool to accomplish whatever task is at hand. When the part you make fixes the problem, the rush of satisfaction from self reliance is what makes this trade worth it. It's enough to make me shout and pump my fists and shit if the problem + solution is somewhat complex. Especially when it's for a friend that needs help on a job and can't figure it out and they get to witness first hand how useful this skill is. These moments make me love my job. I don't think an HVAC tech or heavy equipment operator etc really gets to experience this feeling as often as we do. That's my 2 cents, thanks for reading my blog

>>1790875
>make me shout and pump my fists

that happens every so often in my little shop too, it happened today when I finally got the Y axis sorted and the main spindle turning

>>1790668
funny enough the one of these I took a picture of turned out to be the problem

>>1788333
hey niggers free mastercam classes till june 30th, learn this, its good shit.

https://university.mastercam.com/

>>1790571
Are you ever going to run the new code?

can I ream a .230 hole to .250 or should I drill it first?

>>1790733
I'm making 20 an hour right now but I feel like I have it even worse, mostly because I'm working alone but still waging for someone else.

>>1791089
.02" sounded excessive so I looked it up and recommended is .005 to .008 undersized.

>>1791040
yeah, hopefully today, i wanted to do it yesterday but other shit got in the way
days are too fucking short

>>1791135
So i ran the top part and it pretty much looks the same to the naked eye, which is nice considering it's faster. There was a bit of chipping but i think that is because the wood is very soft. For the actual final keycaps i want to use some nice hard wood

>>1791336
The sides actually look nicer up close, toolpaths are almost non visible

Not necessarily machining, but how would I go about manufacturing parts from boron carbide?

>>1791336
if hardwood doesn't work out, try those fancy plastic-infused woods for pen blanks and knife handles and stuff.

https://www.knifehandles.com/

>>1791355
Diamond, EDM, laser.

>>1791336
Also you can probably go even faster on the 3d finishing toolpaths. 3d printers do fine at like 50 IPM, your little router might too.

>>1791362
Is there any way I can shape it prior to sintering?

Well shit. This is supposed to be in line with the hole I'm sure.

I wonder how out of alignment the turret is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UriWQVTSXQo

>>1791704
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqSYvX44dJo

https://www.mcmaster.com/hoist-rings/thread-size~m12/

>$80+ for a fucking hoist ring
>eye bolts are still $8/piece

I was gonna ask in /qtddtot/ or /sqt/, but there isn't one up right now, so forgive the potentially retarded question. When using a cheapo lower-end cnc mill, let's say at least under $1000 if those exist, how well would it handle making round (as in spherical) surface? Say if I wanted to make a figurine, obviously you can't do underhangs with 3DOF but would it be viable to, say, make two (or more) fully convex parts? Or is it realistic to reliably reposition the model to mill it from multiple sides?
Also, how tiny can you make details before the spindles can't realistically be smaller without breaking?

Or is this a retarded idea for milling in general?

>>1791748
yeah that's what most of milling with a 3-axis machine is, don't know about a cheapo machine but you can surely figure out how to set your new zero for the back side of the part or the sides whatever.

>>1791748
It's not completely impossible, but I wouldn't recommend it. Buy an SLA 3D printer, you can do all kinds of shapes with pretty good precision.

>>1791751
Can't print wood or metal - well, I realise industrial machines can print metal, but I'm not aware of any hobbyist-tier ones. I'm not about to drop $50k on an SLS. And nothing can actually "print" proper wood, you have to use subtractive manufacturing there.
I'm definitely not expecting industrial levels of reliability and quality, but it'd be nice to have metal models which are, at worst, no uglier than a quality FDM print. I'm sure any usable mill will have less layering but I'm wondering how thin you can make the detailing in comparison.

>>1791750
Neat, thanks.

>>1791755
I obviously didn't mean that you should be trying to print metal or wood, I meant that you should print plastic, like everyone else. It's really really hard to do what you want to do if you have no experience with metalworking.
Our resident retard made this >>1791336 after a whole fucking lot of handholding, but repositioning and rezeroing the workpiece accurately enough to machine another whole surface is going to be really hard. On top of that, the only metal you can machine, aluminium, will have really ugly marks on the surface even if you do manage to machine it decently enough. On a figurine there will be a fuckton of blind spots that you won't be able to reach no matter what, too. Using a printer would save you a lot of headache.
In regards to detailing, you can mill to about 100 micron precision if you have ballscrews and a decently solid machine, but you probably won't get that under $1000 unless you design the whole thing yourself or buy a really really tiny CNC.

>>1791760
Alright, fair. Thanks for the realistic assessment.

>>1791763
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWgL3_0bDY8 if you look around you can find some examples of people machining detailed stuff on routers, if this level of quality is good enough and you don't mind the many hours of fucking around to get it right, then you can go with the CNC.

>>1791755
People are using fdm and sla/dlp resin printers to do casting though.

How the hell do I get this cover off the turret?

Previous owner chiseled a little groove into it trying to get it off apparently, there has to be some secret holding it on.

>>1791977
god this machine is so sexy too

>>1791755
>And nothing can actually "print" proper wood,
Trees.

what do they use to make injection molds for figurines now? is it all edm or do they still use milling?

>>1792024
actually even more milling because they have better more accurate machines now, like those mag-lev way machines I think they can interpolate better than a modern linear way

>>1792027
do they just use ball endmills and toolpaths with .0005 stepover that take 3 days?

>>1788333
Why is titans of cnc always in these posts? I really fail to see what's good about that channel. nearly all of his videos are him creaming himself over some bazillion dollar machine nobody will ever use or care about. I watched his "inspirational story" and basically he's a decent programmer who got an angel investor to float him a three hundred thousand dollar loan to get started "because of his incredible vision" doing BOG STANDARD industry practices like maximizing your work envelope and doing high speed machining because he BELIEVES IN HIMSELF SO HARD, MAN. Now he's running an "inspirational" youtube channel to get people hyped for a job that earns less money than bartending or uber eats delivery or hyped to start yet another generic fucking machine shop to compete in the endless retarded race to the bottom slog that has every cunt with a bridgeport snapping at every rfq like a pit of retarded starving yorkies. This industry is hell and I want to fucking kill myself for not being a plumber or electrician or something with some actual earning power but I'm too far invested in the trade to switch now so I guess I'll just program 5 axis VMCs for what the night shift stockers at Aldi earn to put things on a shelf. Maybe I just need to go to prison first like he did, so I can learn to suck cock good enough to get a gay bay area investor daddy to pump my startup after pumping cum down my throat. I see he's shilling Tormach now, I guess saunders isn't driving sales as much now that he's big enough to do real work and upgraded from garage-hobbyist LinuxCNC forks to a real fucking machine.
yes I mad

>>1792130
Personally from the few videos I've watched, I don't get it either. His videos are all fluff and shilling and nothing else. You could learn more from watching literally anyone else.

What are those blue coated end mills?
A cobalt alloy? Or is this just a marketing gimmick?

>>1792194
mate you already know the answer so i'll take this opportunity to yell at clouds instead.
once upon a time a company made a single type of welding electrode, but half of them were dyed red and half were dyed blue. 30 years after the end of the production run, welders are still getting into internet shitflings about which electrode was better.
marketing works because humans are fucking idiots.

If an endmill has 10mm long fluters, the stick out is 5cm, and both the cutting dia and shank dia are 8mm, does that mean i can cut 5cm deep pockets with it? i am worried about shank collisions

>>1792194
From a chink supplier? Gimmick. From someone reputable? Yeah they're fucking great. I don't know what it is but we cut tungsten at our shop on a regular basis, we got one from YG with a coating like that and it lasted 4 times as long as the other endmills we use made for super hard steels.

>>1792097
>that take 3 days?
If you're doing that kind of work, you've got 30k RPM spindles and machines that do 500+ IPM. For something like a figurine mold, that's maybe an hour or two per piece.

>>1792097
That would still be faster than an EDM.

>>1792136
>>1792130
He's shilling his fucking academy, which is free btw.

https://academy.titansofcnc.com/

>>1792136
He provides speeds and feeds and tooling advice for cutting exotic materials.

>>1792136
>>1792256
you spiteful fags are just jealous of his success

he has his own company with cutting edge high end machine while all of y'all are just a bunch of green button monkeys loading in stock and taking out the finished part, nothing more that meaty forklifts

>>1792266
>BIGGER ENDMILL
>MORE FEEEED
>MORE SPEEEEEEED
>6000000 HORSEPOWER jk only 6 because burger mains
>WOOOOOOOOOOOO

>>1792267
>jk only 6 because burger mains

proofs

>>1792268

>>1792257
which nobody needs because machines people here can afford can BARELY cut aluminium

>>1792256
Don't forget your $15k proprietary tooling fork of linuxcnc goyim. Yes it has 6 thou of backlash, low hp and low rigidity, and steppers (!) on a hobby machine that costs what an economy car does, but it's perfect to learn g code with, just believe in yourself man just like have a passion, don't let anybody staaaaahp you, look at my whole fleet of autistic kids turning handles this could be you someday if you just think outta the box and rough cut at 1000 inches per minute you can do it if its your passion and you belieeeeeeeve.

>>1792267
this, it's placebo mostly
human eye can't even see more than 10 horse power anyway

>>1792270
Not true, they make those endmills in smaller sizes too and they are fucking amazing. Kennametal is a legit badass tooling company.

>>1792272
lmao I wonder how hard it would be to actually hit a 20 horsepower main spindle turning cut on my Mori?

>>1792271
>tfw maybe only another week and I'll have my live tool drive aligned back to the turret and I can start leveling the machine

>>1791748
well you can get a cheap desktop router and replace the why axis with a rotary axis and then you can mill pretty good figurines with it, it's still limited of course but much better than a regular 3 axis machine
You can also buy this 5 axis desktop mill that can mill almost any shape. however, it still won't be able to do every shape a 3d printer can, but it can get pretty close and it costs only about five thou in burger coins

>>1792270
Speak for yourself, I do exotic materials at work all the time.

>>1792280
yes all that styrofoam and balsa wood milling sure requires top tier machine rigidity

>>1792282
I machine tungsten on a regular basis.

Okay I've got a counterbored cover plate with a M6 threaded hole underneath it to use with a jack screw.

Need an expanding mandrel to fit the counterbore with a hole through it for the jack screw (set screw?)

>>1792331
tap an m10 thread in the counterbore and use the m10 bolt as the forcing screw, bearing on the head of the m6 bolt

>>1792335
Yeah I thought of that, didn't really want to modify it if I don't have to.

I made an ID expansion clamp which was very promising, got it to move a little--but the max OD with the screw down was too small. I think I'm just going to make another one.

The thing is it only started moving once the ID expansion clamp screw protruded through the end of the clamp and started pressing against the part behind it.

Need the right press fit to temporarily hold it while still able to turn the screw to jack it against the main turret body. I think I can do it that way anyway.

>>1792336
if not I will have to drill a hole through the clamp screw and screw a set screw that way

>>1792257
sneed's feed and speed

>>1792340
better than buck's chuck and duck?

shieeet i need to buy some parts but all stores here are closed due to coronachan and will remain closed for weeks, this is so fucking annoying i will have to order online pay for shipping and wait 3 days for it to arrive

>>1792453
is it for a job or personal projects?

>>1792277
>only about 5 thou in burger coins
Nigger, at that price, just buy an SLA printer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpVICoOM0w8

new edge precision, corona and broaching a key

why does it chatter so much when I'm boring?

Hi All

I am after a rather odd spring. What makes it odd is the wire diameter relative to the springs ID. The full specs are:
- Inside dia 13.5-14.0mm
- Uncompressed length 45mm
- Wire dia 0.5-1.0mm

So far the closest thing I have found is:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33042838408.html

With that said, would any of yous know another online retailer that has "small" springs? I found a few USA based ones but the min order/shipping is way too expensive to get it to Australia

>>1792753
Could be literally anything, you need to give way more detail.

>>1792778
use your telephone directory, call a springmaker. they'll make you one for about twenty dolla.
springmaking's an industry that resists change, you'll probably have to pay the invoice with a cheque.

>>1792853
yep, wolff springs makes custom springs for like $20 I think too

So it looks like aligning the live tool drive is going to be pretty involved, going to spend another week on the phone with DMG Mori because can't afford service visit unless Trumpbux arrives.

>>1792955
this is what you get for buying scrap
you could get a fully functional machine for not that much more

>>1793409
It's already functional as a normal cnc lathe though. Nice box ways, chip conveyor, etc. Oh and the subspindle drive and motor and Chuck works.

Really the live tool drive needing adjusted isn't so bad, just a pain to actually do it. It does work too I checked.

>>1792778
McMaster Carr.

shieeeeeeet Titan is finally getting into the smol desktop machining game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGR0xtNcM68
finally some fucking content from him that is relevant to me
LOWER SPEED
LESS FEED
<1 HORSE POWER
OH YEEEEE, LET'S MILL SOME MACHINE GRADE WOOD

>you can set up a desktop cnc for your kids fo under $3000 it's so fun!
yeah, specially when you can get a comparable quality CNC from chinks for under $500

Makes me wonder how much are people overpaying for the regular big western cnc machines. Probably $500k for a machine that is worth $50k

>>1793541
On the professional level, you overpay for support. Support for setting up the machine, replacement parts, repairs. It's not feasible to buy a $50k chink CNC and then spend half a year trying to get it running, and then something breaks, and in best case, you have to wait weeks for a replacement to arrive, worst case, the company you bought from no longer exists.

>>1793541
You do get what you pay for most of the time.

Nice thick cap and gasket keeping coolant out.

>>1793541
I was looking at cnc lathes a few months back on alibaba, there some pretty cheap ones however i think the biggest problem is shipping and support.

>>1793541
Imagine if his daughter grows up wanting to be a doctor or a lawyer or something and he will be like BAM BAM BAM STRAIGHT INTO THE FACE YOU WILL BE A MACHINIST BITCH
luckily his son won't be a problem, since he is legitimately autistic so he will 100% become a machinist

>>1793566
Don't do it. Compare weight and horsepower to comparable us/jap offerings and Chicom stuff doesn't normally compare well.

>>1793566
Obviously you don't buy them if you want to run a for profit factory, they are for hobby stuff or if you want to make cash on the side
Also why do you need support for? A cnc is literally just a pile of steppers (or servos in the better ones) and some driver boards controller through a main board from which you plug it into your computer.
If anything breaks you just replace it because the advantage is the chinks make everything from mass produced parts that are for sale all over china, no unicorns to hunt around.
And even if something like the main computer unit dies, you can always replace it with something like a laptop with linux cnc and plug it directly into the stepper/servo drivers
The problem is if you buy some really fancy machine for like $100k that has tons of custom hardware inside, like probes and complicated ATC systems and whatnot, but nobody buys that shit for hobby stuff anyway.

>>1793572
The commodity parts you're thinking of aren't commodity with the power requirements of a cnc. There is a plc ladder of safety interlocks on the industrial stuff too.

Of course the clamp screws are retard torque levels tight. Can hear them creaking when un doing them. Time to do a couple screw extractions

Trying to CNC some more complex parts and upgrading at the same time. Wondering if I should get 3-axis or 4/5-axis

I need some parts that are cut on all sides, but holes/pockets can be designed to be orthogonal to each other, so I can simulate 4-axis mostly by just flipping some square stock 90 degrees, if I had a 4-axis machine, all the 4th axis would probably do is flip some round stock 90 degrees a few times.

Is it worth it for me to get anything but a 3-axis machine? Do I just use a drilling vise with a backstop as a fixture? How do I zero over the pseudo rotational axis? Do I just take out the dial indicator and try my best?

Are ballscrews really worth it if you're not pumping out parts for 2 full shifts day in and day out? Say it's on for 10 hours a week or something.

is it a good idea to supplement a red seal in machining with a diploma/associates/bachelors?
thinking of getting a two year alongside trade school. I don't wanna get yeeted by automation.

>>1793835
>I don't wanna get yeeted by automation.

Learn to code lower level so you can Yeet boomers with automation software

>>1793829
plain bushings and leadscrew nuts are fine, as long as they're kept grit-free and oily, and you don't ask a stone cold machine to rapid traverse.

>>1793829
Ballscrews give you some 95% power transmission as opposed to 45% in trapezoid screws. Also they're not that expensive if you buy from chinks.

>>1793915
It's $400 for a 3040T vs $700 for a 3040Z. Not quite double the cost. That's a pretty big price difference, especially if I'm not using it for more than a project or two per week and not making any money from it.

>>1793919
Yeah those tiny ballscrews do not cost $300. You could swap them out yourself for less than $100 afterwards.

>>1793923
Is it reasonable to use the leadscrews until they get inaccurate then replace with ballscrews or are they something I really want from the start? Also I couldn't find ballscrews for all 3 axes that cheap.

>>1793936
They don't really get inaccurate on a hobby CNC, but you'll probably run into speed issues. Some job calling for a higher feedrate or more force than what your machine can supply. Then you either put on bigger motors, get ballscrews, or just suck it up and do shit slowly.
When I last bought ballscrews, I paid about $25 including custom machining, one nut and shipping for 600mm 12mm ballscrews.

>>1793936
>>1793947
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32283065623.html this is the exact listing I bought from, was about two years ago though.

>>1792853
>>1793505
>>1792953
Thanks for the help m8's

>>1793947
>>1793948
Thanks, I'll probably just stick with leadscrews for now and upgrade later if I feel they're holding me back. Speed shouldn't be an issue as long as I can get a part done in a single shift.

what are some decent plastics good for milling which you can buy cheaply in most places?
i wonder if there is anything better than wood but as hard to mill as metal

>>1794144
>but as
but NOT as

>>1794144
I'd love to help you don't I can't remember the names of the plastics I used to machine at work. In general, plastic sucks to machine. Make sure your tools are razor sharp and chip control is important as well. Plastic loves to melt and it expends and shrinks considerately with heat making precision hard. If you tap a hole you may have to pass the tap multiple times as it pushes the material instead of cutting making the thread unusable. Some more expensive and exotic plastic are easier to machine. I haven't machined hard plastics much, but I know they can be a bitch because they like to chip and break leaving a lot of pits in the surface finish.

>>1794144
>>1794160
Thinking about it, we mostly used nylon and acetal. Both seem pretty cheap, nylon is softer and more melty iirc. I think your best bet is to buy a little of each and experiment. I have no clue if they sell any at hardware stores.

>>1794144
UHMW PE 1000 is one of the best plastics for machining, but not the easiest to get your hands on. Nylon is the most commonly stocked I think.

>>1794144
delrin/acetal is top tier, cuts great, great finish, best plastic to cut
pc/lexan my second favorite because it doesnt crack easily so you can machine the shit outta it
ptft/teflon isnt bad, but its slippery as shit
garolite would be the top because it machines the best and is the most stable aside from delaminitaion, but its fucking poison and clogs the coolant tank despite my best efforts
uhmwpe fucking sucks i dont know what that guys on about
acyrlic looks cool but cracks easy

>>1794144
tufnol is cotton canvas laminated in bakelite, it smells like old timey medicine when you mill it.
it was cheap 30 years ago, not so much any more. at least it's not made in china!

fuck I spent most of the afternoon today trying to tram the head on the bridgeport at work. x axis was easy but for some reason I was chasing y all ove and couldn't get close.

How am I supposed to tell the different between NS/UNS and BSF threads?
Im going to single point turn 3/8-20, but UNS and BSF thread profiles are both different.

I have this old hand vise like this, im missing the mini secondary handle. Its Millers Falls brand and I dont know the actual vintage and I dont see a country of origin so I dont know which one it would be.

>>1794475
55 vs 60 degrees

>>1794505
Its an internal thread that I could barely fit a pitch gage into

>>1794507
so take a bit of scrap bar, cut bsf on one end and uns on the other, wham bam it's a go/nogo gauge. both ends will fit in an american hole, american end won't fit in a british hole, and neither end threads properly into a metric-pitched hole.

what do you guys think of my 3018 cnc upgrade?
1hp ridgid trim router mod

>>1794576
Very surprised that tiny NEMA17 Z-axis isn't dying when it tries to lift the router.

>>1794576
it's made from plastic so it has no rigidity i hope you don't expect very precise cuts and can deal with lots of tool deflection
for a frame like that a router is an overkill and cheap chink spindle would be better and MUCH quieter

>>1794577
had to turn the jog rates way down else it would struggle a bit.
>>1794582
the next step is replacing the chunk with something more hard woodish
the original spindle that came with this thing vibrated like a nightmare compared to that this is whisper quiet.

>>1794577
is there a better one that wouldn't i could buy?

my downcut bois arrived
no more fucking disgusting burr on everything
YES

>>1794585
chinks sell a great 500W spindle for about $80, i am using it on my cnc and it's pretty quiet, the runout is only about 0.01mm and it cuts anything

>>1794597
your disgusting burr will now be on he bottom. Why not just go full compression? You always go full compression.

>>1794634
>Why not just go full compression
because that only works if you mill certain depth to cross the point where the mill changes from down to up plus i don't be cutting the whole way through the thing so no problem with burr on the other side

>tfw going to have to pull the turret to get to the live tool drive alignment stuff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQkv4PXxweI

sweet

>>1793572
>Obviously you don't buy them if you want to run a for profit factory
Tell that to the boomer owner of the company I work for. Dude's literally having all of us R&D engineers re-fucking-tool the machine - which is really just a Taiwanese lathe with a shitty chink paint job - because the tooling they gave us was shit that was being eaten up as parts were cut.

>>1794885
that sounds pretty cool actually

What's the technical term for that nubbin left over on a part that's been cut off on the lathe by a part-off tool?

>>1794928
Nub.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReRcHdeUG9Y

>>1788582
In my limited personal experience cutting wood with a standard cnc mill, you gotta run the spindle pretty fast, but not fast enough to burn. If you take a chip that's too big you'll get tearout, but that's pretty much the only limiting factor. Just take a scrap and dial in the properties with your machine and tooling, starting with something that'd work for plastic and reducing the feed by 25% and bumping of the speed by 25%

>>1794885
I can relate.
>get hired on for a microbiology position to help this new botanical garden produce more.
>can build soil ecology, test soil and water, even grow mushrooms, plants on tissue cultures, build compost and craft oc fertilizers from pretty much anything we have access too.
>all I need is a little bit of space to set up a basic lab and even have most of the equipment ready to go from the last time I did something similar
>boomer boss keeps giving me the run around about when he'll give me access to the space
>instead of any of the stuff im hired for have just been used as a glorified laboror

Jokes on him though since I pretty much get paid some mad money for moving some plants around and getting smoked out by my army coworker every day can't really complain besides missing lab work.

I'm planing to make a nice fat stack and get the hell out of there once the opportunity presents itself.

>>1788333
im looking for a long snout die grinder that has a ~.75" or ~1" diameter of the snout. reason being i want to be able to grind work on the lathe and the best way and easiest to attach it to the tool post is this unused boring bar tool holder i have (also making it cheap). the natural diameter is a cunt hair under 1" and it has a squeeze collet whatever to use a smaller size tool that is about .75" id. preferably the extension would be slightly undersized so it would fit right in, but it can be right on or a few thou over and i can just turn the diameter down if needed (but not way oversized of course, like 2 inches or something).

is this really compression mill?
looks like downcut to me
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32897605899.html

>>1794588
yes, nema 23

nema is not a motor brand it's a category name, nema 23 is bigger so you will have to do custom fitting
youc an also get longer nema 17 whith about double torque that will fit there with no adjustments, except for stepper driver tunning, your thing probably uses those shitty a4988 drivers but they should probably handle it with some cooling

the question is if stepper upgrade is even worth it with low machine rigidity like that

>>1795001
That is downcut.
Compression endmills have a sharp change in the middle and are MUCH more expensive, they cost 3 times more than upcut or downcut

Are there any small double angle cutters 1-2mm thick that will fit in an ER-11 collet? Trying to cut some nonstandard female threads with a mill because I don't have a big enough lathe.

>>1794285
I'd say 'Micarta' is a better genericization than whatever bonger brand that is. There's tons of makers, just look up phenolic laminates.

fucking destroys cutters and delaminates and frays like a bastard too.

phenolics often have glass fillers. if not that abrasive minerals and shit. so you're making fine dust of abrasive hard fabric and minerals.

the dust is awful. Much, much easier to pull it out of a mold than ever touch it with a cutter.

The 'old timey' smell is either:
>the acrid smell of Formaldehyde you've smelt in funeral homes or old people's homes
>the sickly sweet smell of Phenol which is used in some cough drops and septics. which some people say smells like mothballs(naptha/camphor)
>the pungent smell of ammonia

Likely a combination of all of them, heightened by the heat/vaporizing from a cutter.

>>1794955
time to bust out the old jig that nobody knows how to run anymore.

>>1794955
Slick idea. If you can't find the diameter you want you could machine a suitable clamp. It's a fairly common mod. Here's one way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP4RPSYwa3g

our dutch bro is back screwing up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uh8jSFBJEk

If I bought a USB China CNC without software am I fucked? Seller said it came with software, but demo only, and apparently linuxcnc is parallel only.

>>1795352
Try the demo version of mach3. If it works pirate or buy it later.

>>1795353
That's the demo I got with it. I see rips of Chinese CNC CDs in a few places, but they're loaded with tons of .exe and I'm already broke from buying the machine

>>1795360
I don't know what to tell you anon, if you have no money, try looking around locally for an old Pentium 4 machine with a parallel port to run linuxcnc, last I knew people where giving them away. The demo version of mach3 limits to 500 lines of code, it should be enough to get you running in the meanwhile.
https://www.machsupport.com/software/mach3/

>>1795352
>apparently linuxcnc is parallel only.
its not. but youll be fine, what ever the chink software its either opensource or pirated mach3

>>1795368
That's the problem. The CD is just the mach3 demo.

>>1795381
post a link or take some pics of the electrical

So, it looks to me like aligning the live tool drive is just a matter of rotating this ring to the right orientation and then clamping it back down...

>>1795769

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLjvnhUA5AQ

I'm trying to transition from 3dp to making metal parts. I've seen some videos of modded 3018s cutting aluminum, but it seems like they require major mods.

I'm wondering what's the cheapest machine that can 2.5d mill aluminum with a similar or larger envelope (300 x 180 x 50) with ~0.1mm precision, even if it needs many many passes and is slow?

What's the cheapest machine that can also cut 6-8mm steel plate 1020, maybe 4130 or even 304 or 316, but just mild steel works too.

I'm just looking for a machine that can make a part to be hand finished at this point, and give better dimensional accuracy than trying to make parts by hand.

I'm trying to transition from 3dp to making metal parts. I've seen some videos of modded 3018s cutting aluminum, but it seems like they require major mods. I'm just looking for a machine that can make a part to be hand finished at this point, and give better dimensional accuracy than trying to make parts by hand.

I'm wondering what's the cheapest machine that can 2.5d mill aluminum with a similar or larger envelope (300 x 180 x 50) with ~0.1mm precision, even if it needs many many passes and is slow? What's the cheapest machine that can also cut 6-8mm steel plate 1020, maybe 4130 or even 304 or 316, but just mild steel works too.

>>1796142
We donnow maybe a shapeoko or something?

>>1788333
How much does CNC stations cost? It would be cool to try and make some metal replicas of video game guns like the covenant carbine from Halo

>>1796453
You're looking for the 3D printing thread.

>>1796453
With all the tooling, software and installation you could be looking from anywhere of 20k to 100k+ for a basic setup, and that doesn't include the skills, experience and knowledge needed to run the machines. Some industrial machines can be upwards of 500k before options.

>>1796464
You could get a used one for around 10k

>>1796472
What about shipping? Electrical installation? Repairs? All the tooling require, even if its used? Shit ain't free.

Base model Tormach 440 and 770 start at 5k and 8k, but you're lacking a bunch of stuff.

>>1796472
Gotta be very careful with used CNC. Unless you have years of experience using them every day, knowing how they work, and fixing common issues, you're very likely to get something that works on paper (or even on the showroom floor), but is nigh unusable in real life.

And these ain't used cars. You can't just go to the garage and get it fixed up for a couple hundred bucks. Chances are you'll have to fly a qualified guy in, thousands of dollars in basic parts, etc. If they sell you a machine with a spindle that's really just on its way out and it dies after a few hundred hours of use? That'll be 20k for a new one + two days at 100 bucks/hour to get it installed properly. What if the casting is cracked? Castings can crack if the machine isn't shipped properly or if a forklift operator just accidentally bumps it.

It's risky in the best of cases.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLYdhfgF6Pg

ABOM spray welding a shaft

>>1788333
How do i open my own machine shop? What tools do i need and how do i get customers?

so the boomer who owns the shop where I work finally realized the machinery is worn out shit (because the dro died when he was working on a personal project kek) and wants me to find a company that will come in and service them. where do I even look for one though? just searching for "machine tool service my area" either gives me shit in completely different states or repairs for sewing machines and shit.

>>1796660
forgot to mention it's just manual stuff. we have a bridgeport and some chinkshit lathe.

>>1796660
Where you at? Ill do it

>>1796662
northern va

>>1796669
Ah, shit nvm. Im in washington state

>>1796659
you get the work first, then go to a machine tool company and ask them for a solution then ask them for the financing for the solution, otherwise a bank for the financing.

>>1796479
I'm 0/3 for buying cheapshit used cnc machines and having them be usable. In the middle of totally rebuilding one.

>>1796695
that looks like it would have been unimpressive new

>>1796704
might be a perfect job shop machine though, manual tool change probably 40taper, box way, simple to work on probably doesn't even a PMC ladder of interlocks.

>>1796704
Yep it's not the most impressive machine in the world but it's big n heavy n rigid and beats the pants off a fucking round column mill-drill. Picked it up for about 2K. Spent 500 getting it into my garage. Spent 1500 on clearpath servos and 400 on a centroid board and it'll be a nice little starter machine for home. When I'm done with it, it'll beat a shitty tormach for a tiny fraction of the cost (altho with a huge amount of my man-hours in it).

>>1796708
30 taper otherwise spot on. It's a counterweighted bridgeport clone head on big box ways. I'm one dude in a two car garage trying to make some shit at home after work.

>>1796708
I'm back to a bridgeport without even a power draw bar after getting used to a 20 tool umbrella and fuck manual tool changes. I'm a manlet so I can't even reach the top without a booster. every time I have to change tools I want to die.

>>1796714
we're all manlets on 4chan, just use the wooden step stool box they should have next to the machine.

>>1795772
Damn, I wish the solution was more obvious to me.

Going to have to pull it out and I don't have a good way to keep it from dropping as it is fairly heavy.

>>1796719
harbor freight engine hoist puts in work

I once extracted a heavy ass rotary phase converter out of my hatchback with a squat rack and a come-a-long winch

>>1796723
ugh I guess I will have to try to tie some lift straps to it or something.

Is there such a thing as a bad vice? i want some generic vice for and my local supermarket is selling these for $50

>>1796856
yes all the ones we have where I work are garbage where the movable jaw lifts up when you try to close them

How would a beefy brushless RC motor fare for light milling on a tiny CNC?
They're cheap, have very high RPM, and are very silent.

>>1797134
No idea, does it have precision bearings? What kind of load cap do the bearings have?

Might want to use it to drive a real beefy milling spindle or something.

>>1797134
A very high spindle RPM is usually not a positive thing on a CNC. I don't think you ever need more than about 20k even with the smallest endmills. But you can mill with any kind of motor assuming you can adjust all the other parameters freely. Some small CNCs use tiny cheapo regular DC motors with just 20-30W. That said, you can get a much better 500W spindle for like $30, so no real reason to go with the small one most of the time.

>>1797150
>No idea, does it have precision bearings? What kind of load cap do the bearings have?
I'm looking at chinky models, they don't have very detailed specs.

>>1797157
It's for V carving PCBs and I've seen people recommend speeds of 60k to 100k for that.
And the machine is right next to my pc, so I'd like it to be as quiet as possible. Which is why I'm looking at brushless motors.

>>1797164
lol what
you can v carve pcbs with 5k rpm easily

>>1796856
a shit fitter's vice will still squash things, but the mechanism is sloppy even under tension and the jaws are unhardened with halfassed serration, so when you try to hold a bolt and wind a nut off it it just smears the metal around instead of biting in and holding. the jaws are so far out of parallel that you have to batter the handle down with a hammer until it crushes the part a little bit. if you grind or hacksaw on the loose side instead of the grippy side or pull on a part sideways instead of front-to-back, the part rotates out of the vice. and then sometimes it backs off for no reason and drops your shit on the ground. maddening.

I am tired of getting the CNC lung from milling all that wood without any dust collection so i purchased this cheap cyclone vacuum and i'm going to mod it and create a small quiet shop vac for my desktop mill
i hope that shit works

>>1797522
shieet the mod worked and the speed reduction made it very quiet, but adding the thinner hose is a problem, it sucks fine but it emits this incredibly loud whistling sound, it's crazy

>>1797602
shit, it doesn't work too well, i think a shoe around it is mandatory in order to create an air vortex or some shit

>>1797729
yeah probably

Manual machinist/CNC programmer here, I want to get into CAD drafting and modeling, specifically parametric stuff. Getting REALLY FUCKING TIRED of individually fixing shit manually. So far I've seen engineers commonly use

Pro E
Fusion 360
AutoCAD
Solidworks
Rhino
Catia

But I'm not sure what's the most popular. I'd like to be able to do parametric blueprints with GD&T and make models out of that so I can easily go into my CAM software to do the toolpaths as usual.

Small business here so we don't have our own drafters or engineers, I have to do everything (CAD, CAM, tooling, workholding, quality control, etc) and shits getting out of hand. Any good online classes our there for whatever would be a good choice for the actual software? Leaning towards ProE right now.

>>1797955
most popular is probably something with CAM, like Fusion 360 or MasterCAM or Inventor with Inventor HSM or something.

How tacky would it be to make one of these like 4 inches in diameter and give as a gift?

>>1797961
I'm pretty damn good with MasterCAM but it's not really a CAD software and it doesn't do parametric at all. For CAD, I'd be looking at whatever is the most popular and powerful, price isn't too much of an issue.

Tbh if you make it and it looks nice, it's hard to go wrong. Moms typically don't go "it's tacky lol" when their child makes something as a gift.

>>1797962
mmk

>>1797961
I've made worse for my family

>>1797955
I'm doing a drafting course at my trade school and we use solidworks, so does most companies in my region.

>>1788333
opinions on this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi-CmIeht24

>>1798027
Unless you're dirt poor or have nothing better to do, you can get a cheep wood lathe for a few hundred bucks, you could even get a good deal on a used one.

>>1798027
>builds ghetto drill press
>still hand drills the other vertical holes

>>1798027
eh it seems to be working

Sweet, DMG Mori guy is up early and emailing me.

>>1798218

>>1798219
Yep there's nothing to adjust on this end. Another week or two digging into the backend of the turret I bet.

https://youtu.be/GSccYuKZBfg

Pr3pp3rchan Reporting

>>1798643
pretty sure I know the guy in that pic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_mJAQan--U

ABOM making some cable sheaves

>>1798643
>hairline
>low test eyebrows
>clearly weak jaw even behind a mask
damn

i was watching random youtube videos about machinery (lath, cnc, manufacturing, etc) and there are SHIT TONS of people selling their machines on youtube (from Vietnam, China, USA, Russia and others) and people in the comment are asking for price or quote
So, are the buyers fake ? Is it that common for people to buy small-scale industry machine ? Are the sellers scammer ?
Anyone know ? Anyone is doing that ? Buying/Selling

Bit of advice lads. Doing a restoration on a 1micron Mitutoyo micrometer. 2 of the screws on the front plate are seizer solid, and they’re approx M1 size. Going to strip the head if I try much more. Any ideas on how to get them out? Not sure on drilling because I think the bolts and casing are hardened.

>>1798989
Pic of micrometer as recieved

>>1798989
I'd try drilling, it's the method with the least potential of fucking the whole thing. I assume you've already tried WD40. Could also try cutting the driver slot deeper, which could double as a head removal process.

>>1798995
Want to leave that to the last resort cause it'll be a mare trying to redo the internals with taps etc. I can't find any info on what the internals look like, until I've opened it, because it was produced directly for Gillette, this type was never sold to the public.

Might go for the old whack the screwdriver into the screw with a hammer to try and break the rest trick then go for it.

>>1799003
Have you tried penetrating oil? PB blaster is pretty good.

>>1799010
No, but it's not the threads that are seized, they seem pretty well protected. It's the actual head of the screw, looking at >>1798989 in my hand, it's about 1.5mm tall and that whole length seems rusted together to the casing body.

>>1799013
>seems rusted together to the casing body.

Penetrating oil can't distinguish between threads and other parts. PB Blaster is very effective. I suppose other products are as well, but I just used some PB on some frozen exhaust manifold nuts and it worked wonders in minutes.

>>1799016
I don't have any and probably won't be able to. I'll see if we have any other penetrating oils about but normally we work on bigger stuff, torch and a breaker bar are the usual answer. WD40 is probably it.

so uh hypothetically if I lost some of these plastic spacers that go in between the bearing rollers... how would I obtain more?

>>1799141
hypothetically the cost of new bearings is coming out of your paycheck

How much torque is required for 7" mini metal lathe longitudinal axis and cross slide steppers when doing a CNC conversion?

>>1798989
penetrating oil
heat
use screwdriver with bit the exact size of the slot

if that doesn't work drill through the middle and try to tap it with a left hand thread. if that doesn't work try to get as close to centered as you can get and drill exactly or just slightly under the minor diameter of the thread.

is there some material that can be milled that would work as a decent stamp?
or i could maybe mill a cast from wood or mdf and pour silicon in it to make the stamp? but silicon would probably make a shit stamp and i want up to 0.1mm details

how big of a piece can you work on a milling attachment for those mini lathes?

>>1799369
any ideas how much heat i should apply to something so small? again, normal sized jobs for me it's the oxy-acy but there's not a hope here. Normal lighter or small butane torch?

Thinking the tap with left hand thread will end up being the one, but i really don't have a lot to work with - M1 bolt

>>1799448
84% lead, 4% tin, 12% antimony
>isn't that poison
yes.

made myself this cute little dustshoe

that shit better work like i see in all those routering videos

>>1799597
simplicity in every sense of the word.
i may copy you.

>>17945763018
same poster
after 8 days of making things out of mdf and particleboard i can safely say that it has not broke it doesn't deflect at all and the cuts are clean as fuck.

>>1794576
>>1799612
this poster

>>1799608
It's not exactly creative masterpiece, most dusthoes i saw are just a slab of acrylic, wood or plastic with two holes in it, for the spindle a hose and then you make a skirt out of something.
I used paper organizer plastic sheet since it is transparent

>>1799597
second and probably final version
i replaced the thin hose with a regular size vacuum one, because the thin one was just shittier at vacuuming and made an incredibly loud whistling noise for some reason, like deafeningly loud
it's magnetic for quick removal
i tested it and it actually works pretty good and i can see the drill bit easily
i am pretty happy with it since it cost me about $1 to make
no more lung cancer from milling wood, yay!

>>1799657
my cnc is just sitting in a vacuum chamber (repurposed miter saw station)
i just put a piece of wood in front so the fine stuff gets sucked in to a cyclone to a bucket.
I'm gonna see if a vacuum shroud is a better idea.

>>1794948
>nice fat stack
Wish I was as lucky, planning on getting out when I have enough experience as well. But I'm only getting to my 1 year mark in a month or two. Mostly getting pissed off because my friend (same school, same degree, same general metropolitan area of work - been friends since grade school) is getting paid $15,000 more than me and he started 3 months later and through a temp agency. Fuck my shit up senpai.

>>1790818
>Yes shops will always need employees but they probably won't be stuck doing bullshit like tending a machine with a 5 second cycle time for hours on end.
This

>>1796856
>Is there such a thing as a bad vice?
Yeah, ever cheap crappy vise is dreadful to use and is a ticking timebomb till casting break under normal usage.

If you want a cheap crappy general purpose cheap vise, get the 5" multi purpose vise from Harbor Freight. Itll be versatile till it breaks at least.
Yost sells the same pattern out of Ductile cast iron which is called the 750-DI, and its pretty good general vise. But its much more expensive.

I want to get a lathe with my stimulus money. I've heard the 7" and 8" lathes are basically different animals, because they 8" ones are much more rigid with more mass and bigger leadscrews. Is there same true when you go from 8" to 9" as well? There are a few 9" ones I should just barely be able to fenagle into my space.

>>1800291
Buy as fucking big as you can

this downtime is killing me, I want my live tool drive aligned and operating for some sweet 4-axis lathe milling but it has become clear that digging deep into the machine is going to be a problem for me alone.

>tfw trumpbucks haven't arrived and can't afford DMG Mori service tech
>tfw jobs aren't coming as regularly

>>1800755
stop buying broken shit then son

>>1800760
I'm pretty sure it was my fault, I didn't remove the live tools after losing and then loading the parameters so when I indexed the turret a tang on one of the live tools smacked into the drive.

I don't think the damage is permanent, but the part I need to get to is buried in the enclosure behind the turret.

>>1796453
Look into green sand or styrofoam casting instead
Cast in pieces, bolt together and hacksaw and sand the bolts off

Whats a good price for small amounts of aluminum and such?
I bought some 6061 from a guy today.
1.5"x2.5" was ~$1.20 an inch, and it came out to ~$3.10 per pound.

I really havent bought much proper stock, always just played around with whatever scrap I could find for the mill.
I got his card, is this a good end user price for small batch orders or is it too much? Shipping online just ruins the price for online, and I dont know of any metal suppliers nearby that would deal with me. Im thinking about going and buying a bunch if its a good price.

>>1801059
I pay about $4 per kilogram at a manufacturer's direct supply store. Something like $2 per pound. I don't think it gets much better than that for small amounts.

>NEW

>>1801315
>>1801315
>>1801315

If i want to do engraving like this, what sort of patching do i use in fusion 360?
I am going to use 1mm ball endmill. The wood is oak.
Do i simply use 3d adaptive clearing and let it rip? will i get a nice result like this?

don't mind me just testing something

>>>1801326

test #2

>>1797488

>>1789887
Screwed in at the headstock, low rpm, big roughing gouge until you start to get some concentricity, but yeah, perfectly doable.