Got my new toys .. only problem now is I've never use either of these. Any good tutorials out there?

I bought the mill just so I can drill straight holes in metal. My current drill press is ok for wood but sux for metal. Wobbles like crazy.

Since I was spending money.. I figure I get a lathe also. It's a bench top 12x37 . Weighs about 900 lbs. Waiting for more steel tubes to finish up the stand for it.

:eekdrull::eekdrull::eekdrull:nice

Talk about MONSTER GARAGE!

WG, all I need now is a fridge and lcd tv.

I've got an extra fridge in my garage...

Nice new toys.

Susan (npw goddess)

KeeeeRap, you don't mess around. Now you need a CNC plasma cutter.

No stopping you now! You've got the tools to succeed. How do you bend your tubing?

Awesome setup, my dad has a very similar one. You can make almost anything now. Did you get any tooling for them yet? Most community colleges and vo-tech schools have intro to machining classes, they are probably the best way to to get start. Plus they will have all the different extra tools you might need and you can figure out which ones you really want to get for home. Different micrometers, dial indicators, tons of different gauges, the list goes on. I know there are hobby machinist forums online with loads of help too.

Safety goggles and or a face shield are absolutely necessary for working with those.

Quote:

Originally posted by acampbell KeeeeRap, you don't mess around. Now you need a CNC plasma cutter.

Angus you must have missed the other thread... He's got one !!! :wow:

Quote:

Originally posted by cheezycheese Quote: Originally posted by acampbell Now you need a CNC plasma cutter. He's got one !!! :wow:

As I recall. He MADE one. The things dreams are made of for some of us. Van - What software are you using?

Or rigged one he made. Because the one he made (CNC router) is just too heavy duty. Oh NO!!

Your neighbors looking to relocate soon?? Do they know what your doing in your garage?

Some links:

http://www.americanmachinetools.com/how_to_use_a_milling_mac...

http://electron.mit.edu/~gsteele/mirrors/www.nmis.org/Educat...

http://its.fvtc.edu/MachShop3/basicmill/default.htm

Also if you go to www.LatheTalk.com and scroll down to the middle of the page, there are several forum sections dedicated to milling machines, including general questions, how-to's, and different projects.

ScrewyFits is someone that would probably be worth reaching out to too.

ATB,
Sam

you need to talk to powerzone. he is quite the machinist.

Quote:

Originally posted by BeamerBob No stopping you now! You've got the tools to succeed. How do you bend your tubing?

You must have missed where he made his bending jig hydraulic! This guy is a genius, and I mean that sincerely. Great work!

Not much of a genius but a very creative engineer. The machines were purchase from harbor freight so the manual sux. Thanks for the links. I need to start reading if I'm gonna be making parts.

As soon as I get a chance I willconvert these to cnc also.

I use draft sight as my free cad program then import into free version of sheetcam. The Gcode generated by sheetcam is then fed into Mach3 produce the x,y, and z signal needed to move thr plasma cutter head.

My problem eversince I came to america is that I dont know the meaning of "I can't". My parents always thought I was nuts.

DO NOT wear gloves when working with either machine. Also make sure to wear safety glasses. They're both liable to throw metal everywhere, especially the lathe. Do you have all the accessory tools you'll need? Calipers, Dial Gauge, Magnetic base for the Dial Gauge, Cutting Tools, End Mills, oh the list goes on and on. I'm not much on the milling machine but I use a lathe at work for some basic chores pretty often.

Make sure to never leave the key in the chuck of the lathe. It's bad when you turn the lathe on and the key is still in the chuck.

Also, make sure that you have your material clamped down tight. Especially in the milling machine. It can throw a piece of stock across the room and you don't want to be in it's path if that happens. I've never had that happen but I have had work fall out of the chuck in a lathe. It's something you won't do more than once or twice. This may seem pretty obvious, but be careful about putting your hand in the chuck of the lathe while it's spinning...especially if the jaws are extended past the round surface. I did that once...looked away from the lathe, went to put my hand on top of the machine, missed and the chuck caught my hand...scared the #@%$#! out of me and hurt like hell. I've only done that once.

Clear out a room I am moving in Van.

What voltage do the new tool use?

Clintopher... good advice. I'm sort of accident prone so will be extra careful. I burnt myself atleast 5 times since I got the tig welder. Even stuck a filler rod in my mouth to hold it. Good thing the cold end was in my mouth.

Jon, I got your room ready for you. All the tools I have is 220 so I have dedicated circuits for each due to the different amp ratings of the welders vs the mill and lathe.

Finally got the lathe up on support and powered up!! Even did a simple turning and made a buggy part

Dunno exactly what it does but it sure as he'll looks like some bada$$ stuff!

Have fun!

www.cnczone.com one of my favorite sites

convert that bad boy to cnc

Truman, I have an account over there under "nguyenst". Here's my build

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc_wood_router_project_log/99...

This is my machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qLsRZkLewo

I really want to build the Mechmate I have all the plans downloaded would love to cut full 4'X8' sheets I have use of a cnc mill at the high school I work at.

Nice cnc router you got there. I was gonna build one of Joe's machine but like the idea of using 8020 aluminum since it was much faster to build. I spent a total of around $1500 on the aluminum version. I'm still using free software so haven't spent any money on software yet. How do you like the Vcarve?

I plan to build the mechmate also. I've downloaded the plans a while back before they locked down the forum. I can't seem to find the plans I downloaded though. Any chance you can send me a copy?