I promised Dave that I would post some pics of my Taig CNC Mill. I figured I'd use this as an excuse to document my learning curve with the little mill. It has taken me a while to learn about how this thing works and what it's capable of, and I still feel like I have a lot to learn, but I have come a long way. Before I begin, I have to explain that up until this point I had been machining everything using manual machines. Using manual milling and turning machines is something I taught myself from old books while in graduate school at EIU. David Griffin, my Metals professor at the time was a great influence and really supported my interests. I still feel a great amount of gratitude toward him and the things he taught me in those early courses at Eastern. I owe him for introducing me to a whole new world that I never knew existed and for changing the course of my life (that's crazy to think about now-but it's true).
I'm still not sure how I feel about the use of CNC in my own work. I take great satisfaction in "turning the dials" myself and I get the pure enjoyment from "being connected to the machine". I don't find much enjoyment from sitting at the computer designing, but the challenge of learning something new is great.
The pictures above are from when I first unpacked the mill a little over a year and a half ago. I ordered the mill from Microproto and I have been thrilled with their service. I would highly recommend them! The mill is a robust little unit and capable of more than you might think. The mill is a DSLS 3000 closed loop servo system mill. As you can see, I ordered the fourth axis with it as well.
2 comments:
On CNC vs. manual machines for the kind of work you do, I have to agree - CNC is marvelous for banging out parts in quantity, though you do lose that 'connection' to the process. There's nothing like 'feeling' your way through a cut, working with the machine just as a skilled jockey must move with his horse, rather than simply being along for the ride. Still, after banging out 10 of the exact same thing and having your arm ache from raising/lowering the knee 6" for each part, and screwing up a piece because you lost track of how many time you were cranking in X, and now you're off by 0.100" because you don't have a DRO and... well, CNC gets to be a blessing.
One thing that CNC does not take away is fixturing. I don't know about you, but one of the most satisfying parts of machining for me is puzzling over the fixturing for a given part. You can rig up something crude for a single piece, but for CNC (which generally entails multiple parts), you have to consider "how the heck do I bolt this part to the machine in a repeatable fashion". Not only that, but as the quantity increases, you have to consider further refinements to the fixturing for speed and simplicity. I'm currently trying to figure out how to best run a part that would require a 5-axis system to do in a single setup. I've spent far more time trying to thrash out the fixturing than I have on designing the part itself, and I thoroughly enjoy the process - a machinist's Gedanken, if you will.
I agree totally. Great comments!
The fixturing is now my biggest problem. Up until now I have been jury rigging, but all of the stuff I think of now requires a really good tooling plate and low profile clamping or custom jigs.
Part of the learning process.... gotta luv it!
Post a Comment