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CNC machining projects *PICS*UPDATED*

31K views 318 replies 64 participants last post by  samfreese 
#1 ·
Lots of stuff going here. I attached some pics, so it's a bit more friendly here in the first post. Only original project I have left is stevenma188's heatsink, which I should be finishing soon. I'll be starting some new projects of my own here soon. Look out for DICE pots and waterblocks.
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#152 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by radodrill View Post
I'll admit that Pro-E is pretty strict about everything being defined correctly, but it's not really that bad.
It's a little old school as far as these things go, but I've encountered more evil programs

Quote:

Originally Posted by samfreese View Post
WHOA!! So close. Mach3 Bridgeport conversion. That deserves some rep...
We have one of those turds sitting in the back of my shop... I hate when we have to fire that thing up... the buttons wore off about 15 years ago and everything is drawn on with magic marker and has clear packing tape over it to keep it from rubbing off
 
#153 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by iandh View Post
It's a little old school as far as these things go, but I've encountered more evil programs
so I take it you've used Pro-E before; I actually like it
 
#154 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by radodrill View Post
so I take it you've used Pro-E before; I actually like it

Yeah, it's really similar to some of the other old cad/cam suites I've used... you pretty much have to hold their hand as they run toolpaths.

It's like it was designed by a dude who was around before they realized that using cad/cam software didn't have to be like extracting your own teeth without anesthetic
 
#155 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by iandh View Post
We have one of those turds sitting in the back of my shop... I hate when we have to fire that thing up... the buttons wore off about 15 years ago and everything is drawn on with magic marker and has clear packing tape over it to keep it from rubbing off
The Mach3 control is really actually slick. I did the retrofit using a serial port on the back of an old Dell. The machine is a total dog, though. It blows transistors constantly. Nothing like losing Y position in the middle of a 5,000 line program. The spindle bearings, bushings and keys in the head, and the oiler are all pretty much shot. It's basically a giant piece of scrap iron, with a Dell strapped to it.
 
#156 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by samfreese
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The Mach3 control is really actually slick. I did the retrofit using a serial port on the back of an old Dell. The machine is a total dog, though. It blows transistors constantly. Nothing like losing Y position in the middle of a 5,000 line program. The spindle bearings, bushings and keys in the head, and the oiler are all pretty much shot. It's basically a giant piece of scrap iron, with a Dell strapped to it.

Oh, not a Mach3, i was talking about the maxmill, my friend down the street has one too, we always joke about them. For his normal production he has a row of Haas VF's and whenever one of his employees gets in trouble he makes them operate the maxmill as punishment


We have an Atrump we use for prototyping, its basically a generic taiwanese mill with a centriod m400 strapped on, very solid mill but I swear I've replaced every damned bearing, bushing, and shim on the whole machine. I've had the head apart three times in the last five years to rework the power drawbar and tighten the gearbox.


Quote:


Originally Posted by radodrill
View Post

so I take it you've used Pro-E before; I actually like it


Just to elaborate, I wasn't saying Pro-E is "old", it's actually a very powerful package... just that it isn't as smooth to use; it kind of reminds me of the early cad/cam packages where you basically had to demand it do everything, the program doesn't do as much thinking for you.
 
#157 ·
Haas is one company I could do without. Those mills are junk. Every machine we have has box ways, which are the most rigid way to go(rigidity is EVERYTHING in machining, for those who don't know), and Haas is still using linear guide ways. It's nice to see the mills are assembled here in the states, but there are Taiwanese companies who make a comparable, if not better product, for 30% less. Chinese mills are another story... Sorry for the rant. Most of what is in my the shop is Japanese or German. I've had incredible luck with OKK, Okuma and Mori-Seiki. DMG(Deckel Maho Gildemeister) is the most accurate machine I've ever used. The Okuma I'm using for these projects has been an absolute workhorse for 12 years, and it's still running great.
 
#158 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by samfreese
View Post

Haas is one company I could do without. Those mills are junk. Every machine we have has box ways, which are the most rigid way to go(rigidity is EVERYTHING in machining, for those who don't know), and Haas is still using linear guide ways. It's nice to see the mills are assembled here in the states, but there are Taiwanese companies who make a comparable, if not better product, for 30% less. Chinese mills are another story... Sorry for the rant. Most of what is in my the shop is Japanese or German. I've had incredible luck with OKK, Okuma and Mori-Seiki. DMG(Deckel Maho Gildemeister) is the most accurate machine I've ever used. The Okuma I'm using for these projects has been an absolute workhorse for 12 years, and it's still running great.

He actually prefers linear guide ways for the work he does... I think it's one of those debate things that can go either way, I've heard good arguments for both.

As far as US made mills go, I think Haas are amongst the best, but trust me I know very well that they are not anywhere near the best machines money can buy. I do think they provide a good value for the money though. I must say, linear guide ways or not, I'm very impressed with some of the parts I've seen come off of his machines. He does a lot of aerospace work, high speed machining in titanium and inconel, waspalloy, and the machines seem to handle all of it very well.

Our Atrump has box ways; I keep the gibs very well adjusted and his Haas VF's seem about equivalent in rigidity for most work. I know he probably wouldn't want to take some of the roughing cuts that I take, but even so most of his stuff is high speed multi-pass anyways...
 
#159 ·
Amongst US made mills, you are probably right, they are amongst the best. Most of what's made here has dropped horribly in quality or gone under. Bridgeport was one of the best machinery companies, and now they have been reduced to something unrecognizable and crazy expenisve(who pays $20,000 for a freakin' manual mill?), with no quality. Haas did make a stand for keeping jobs here, and I do respect them for that, as well as their service dept. I've seen them run in high/hard production, and just wasn't impressed. I guess I don't quite understand what the big deal with them is. Interesting convo, iandh.
 
#160 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by samfreese View Post
Amongst US made mills, you are probably right, they are amongst the best. Most of what's made here has dropped horribly in quality or gone under. Bridgeport was one of the best machinery companies, and now they have been reduced to something unrecognizable and crazy expenisve(who pays $20,000 for a freakin' manual mill?), with no quality. Haas did make a stand for keeping jobs here, and I do respect them for that, as well as their service dept. I've seen them run in high/hard production, and just wasn't impressed. I guess I don't quite understand what the big deal with them is. Interesting convo, iandh.
Yeah, it's kinda sad to see the way Bridgeport has gone... it's just a name now.

Haas works well for my buddy because they are down here in so-cal (in oxnard), in fact a lot of shops around here use them because of that. I rarely see them in shops once you start moving more into the eastern US though.

His first VF now has been running nearly 24/7 for 8 years now, and still keeps to tolerance like day one... on top of that he has never had to service any of his Haas mills, they all just run cycle every time you push the start button. I remember giving him a hard time when he bought the first one, but TBH seeing them run in his shop for so long I actually have been pleasantly surprised with them.

I think the main problem most shops have with Haas machines is using them to do the wrong type of work... they definitely are not a "heavy duty" machine, IMO they excel in lightweight high speed, high precision machining.

Once you start abusing those linear guide ways trying to reduce cycle times (like any good competitive shop does), then things go all to hell... most of the work he does is more about tolerance than throughput so it seems to work out very well for him.

Linear guide ways definitely have their place in some high speed machining centers, but I guess I am more old school so box ways appeal more to me for most of what I do.
 
#162 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by iandh
View Post

Just to elaborate, I wasn't saying Pro-E is "old", it's actually a very powerful package... just that it isn't as smooth to use; it kind of reminds me of the early cad/cam packages where you basically had to demand it do everything, the program doesn't do as much thinking for you.

Yeah I understand what you were saying; some CAD packages make more assumptions than others.

I must say though, that the exactness of Pro-E can have major advantages; I once tried doing some stuff in Autodesk Inventor and found that sweeps are more difficult since it mostly uses local co-ordinates and as such is hard to position the profile to be swept with respect to the path.

For FEA I actually find Pro-E easier to use than Ansys; because in Ansys you actually have to apply the mesh yourself, then apply loads at specific points of that mesh; whereas with Pro-E you apply loads to points, edges, or surfaces and it also uses an adaptive mesh.

I haven't really tried Solidworks or CATIA; so I can't really critique those, but I did once play with Sketchup and found precision to be quite lacking and for me it was a lot harder to use than Pro-E.
 
#163 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by radodrill
View Post

Yeah I understand what you were saying; some CAD packages make more assumptions than others.

I must say though, that the exactness of Pro-E can have major advantages; I once tried doing some stuff in Autodesk Inventor and found that sweeps are more difficult since it mostly uses local co-ordinates and as such is hard to position the profile to be swept with respect to the path.

For FEA I actually find Pro-E easier to use than Ansys; because in Ansys you actually have to apply the mesh yourself, then apply loads at specific points of that mesh; whereas with Pro-E you apply loads to points, edges, or surfaces and it also uses an adaptive mesh.

I haven't really tried Solidworks or CATIA; so I can't really critique those, but I did once play with Sketchup and found precision to be quite lacking and for me it was a lot harder to use than Pro-E.

Sketchup is in a class all it's own...
 
#164 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by samfreese
View Post

Sketchup is in a class all it's own...

I know; it's basically a 3D drawing program; not a full-blown CADD/CAM/FEA suite; and what it's supposed to do I find is easier to do in a professional CAD application
 
#167 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by CyberDruid
View Post

Sketchup still confuses me. Maybe I'll get the hang of it one day after it's no longer in use


QFT; the same goes for me. I tried in once and thought; screw it, I'm sticking with Pro-E.
 
#169 ·
what format does the cnc machine need? I think 3dsmax 9 can output cad based formats (just so I know for future reference) thanks
 
#170 ·
I like the part Sam, ship it out as is, and I'll take the buffer to it, I'm gonna shoot for a brushed finish.
As for sketchup, I thought it was totally worthless the first time I tried to use it, as I was used to inventor and solid works. But after tooling around with it for a while now, its not half bad, and its free.
 
#171 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by CattleRustler View Post
what format does the cnc machine need? I think 3dsmax 9 can output cad based formats (just so I know for future reference) thanks
He actually uses MasterCAM to open the CAD files (from previous chats with him he has plugins that allow him to open almost any CAD file) and create the tool paths for the specific machine; this then produces the G-code that he loads into the CNC machine. The G-code is basically an instruction set that tells the CNC point by point where to go and at what speed.
 
#173 ·
cool. what format is best? (a format that 3dsmax9 can output) just curious
I have an idea for my next mod, and if this part could be milled, it would be win
 
#174 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by radodrill
View Post

QFT; the same goes for me. I tried in once and thought; screw it, I'm sticking with Pro-E.

+1 don't dig sketchup... I think I am so used to traditional cad that it just doesn't compute. I've tried it a couple times but every time I just end up getting pissed off. I can do stuff so much faster in my normal programs.
 
#176 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by iandh
View Post

+1 don't dig sketchup... I think I am so used to traditional cad that it just doesn't compute. I've tried it a couple times but every time I just end up getting pissed off. I can do stuff so much faster in my normal programs.

yep; and traditional CADD suites have so many powerful features/tools that Sketchup doesn't have; things like patterns, family tables, blends, having dimensions driven by relations based on other dimensions, programatically adding/suppressing parts/features, etc.

I made a Pro-E part that uses a family table, relations, and program to define all the Hardware Labs Black Ice series radiators; now I'd like to see someone do that in Sketchup ....... I doubt they could.
 
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