I have expanded my CNC capability!!

[gundog]

After working with my SB router now for 4 years I have learned a ton and it has given me the confidence to branch out. I use my router more for mechanical type parts and I have been wanting to make parts from aluminum heavier than is practical to cut on the SB. I am not selling the SB I still have plenty of work for it.

I purchased a used Trak DPM3 bed mill with a Prototrak AGE 3 controller. I am looking forward to a new learning experience. Here is a link to some pictures of the machine scroll down the page the Hurco machine is not mine the Trak machine is in my shop and I am waiting for the brown truck to bring some tool holders to get started.

Mike

http://www.roscoprecisionmachinery.com/usedMachines.html

[Brady Watson]

Mike,
That's a nice rig! Congratulations! You'll definitely have a little bit of learning to do compared with routing. Get yourself a few Kurt vises, a magnetic chuck if you can swing it, and a machinist's level. You may find that you're climb milling parts rather than conventional milling - resulting in a better finish.

Have fun with it & watch your toes when you move her...she's a heavy girl :D

-B

[danhamm]

One Day:.... I am going to sell some of my toys and get a mill, saying that, a close friend has a Haas TM-2 which he lets me use on occasion,
and I love the thing...one day he's going to miss the tool changer..(grin)..

[Brady Watson]

a close friend has a Haas TM-2 ...and I love the thing...

What's not to love about ANYTHING with the Haas name on it? :D

-B

[myxpykalix]

that reminds me of machine shop in high school except it was all manual in those days!:rolleyes:

[gundog]

I had a hard time deciding on what type machine to get. I looked at enclosed VMC's but shop space is tight and I want to get a CNC lathe next year so I decided against a VMC plus they were another $5-10K. I considered a new Tormach with a tool changer but figured because of the lighter weight and smaller work envelope I would not save any time with the tool changer over this machine since it has double the work envelop of the Tormach and can take twice the cut.

The other big plus for this machine is it has a manual mode it can be ran in DRO manual mode for all axis. That feature allowed me to sell my manual mill which made space and helped fund a small portion of this machine. The Z axis runs up and down on the column and has a position scale but you still have a manual quill feed. Setting zero is easy run the column down to within 5" of the work unlock the quill touch it off to the work and zero z the quill has a scale (& so doe the cloumn) Z axis travel and it reads position retract the quill into the spindle and lock it down the machine now knows where Z zero is. The hand wheels on the X&Y make setting zero very easy also.

The control is conversational and you can program most simple milling operations with it pockets, profiles, circles etc without drawing it in Cad. You can also draw in Cad and import the files Aspire which I own has a post processor that will out put the proper G-code to run it. I have to load files via a 3.5" floppy or an RS-272 port that is a little clunky but it is all good.

Not being an expert on these machines I hired a repair tech to give it a once over to make sure it was in good shape before buying it. The sales guy said these machines were designed to get non CNC machinist into the CNC world and the control is so easy to use you can make parts with it the first day there motto is "learn in the morning and cut parts in the afternoon". I have been reading the manual and I have to say it is very intuitive it reminds me of learning Partworks.

If the parts I make end up making me enough money I may invest in a VMC if I can find room.

Mike

[chiloquinruss]

Congrats Mike, that will sure help you make those killer parts you need. Good jjob. :) Russ

[gundog]

Thanks guys I am excited about getting started my tooling all showed up today and yesterday so as soon as I get caught up in a few days I am going to try some cuts in plastic first.

Mike

[blackhawk]

Michael - I am the caretaker of a Bridgeport 3 axis CNC mill at my real job. It also uses conversational language. I did a small amount of conversational programming for it at first. I then found out that Aspire has a post processor for the Bridgeport. For me, drawing in CAD or Aspire and then having Aspire create the G code is twice as fast as conversational programming at the mill. It takes forever to type in commands on the mill control and it is so easy to make a mistake.

[Brady Watson]

I've got a Bridgeport BOSS that I converted over from the Textron stuff to a ShopBot Alpha drive system.

It's amazing that hundreds of pounds of power supplies, chokes and electronics are now replaced by a board, a few drivers and a PC...

-B