Who has machine tools?!?

[mikew]

I also have an engraver. I bought it 30 years ago to engrave panels and labels for studio installations.

I've also used it to put a few serial numbers on paintball guns in the past.

Mike

[greystone]

It's for hobbies! Originally purchased it to open a business, which went no where, but we kept the machine and the space. It hasn't been turned on in a year but have some things brewing now. She shall run again.

[XEMON]

I love industrial "trash", I saved a lot of things out of dumpsterssss ...

My rim/stand is a little lighter than I'd like, I'm considering putting a tire on the rim and filling it with concrete ...

[netsurferdude2]

I got some free H Beams from a gym that was remodeling. I turned them into a couple stands and still have some more left over for other projects. The wire wheel base is an old truck axle. Heavy is good.

[XEMON]

that "hunky stand" dont look too bad, my 8" grinder is sitting on a stand made from a rim with a pipe welded to it ...

[netsurferdude2]

No judgement on the messiness of the shop please but I have a 1959 Bridgeport. I'm not too into machining but more on the fabrication side of thing. Metal art is where the fun is. I took these pics as a "before" shot so I can compare them to the "after" as I clean up my shop area. Installed a DRO on it during Cornteen so I have been playing around with it. There is going to be a lathe fitting in here somewhere in the next coming weeks.






Other stuff: 250lb anvil, Miller Mig Welder, 1" belt sander, 12" disk sander (this thing eats steel), wire wheel, 8" grinder, HF bandsaw, Enco Upright drill press, and a movable vice on a hunky stand.
Not pictured: wood working machines but who cares about them

[Canuck]

It's an old pic but it gets the point across...

[DocsMachine]

Ah-ah-ah. No fair, using photos of machines from work.

Unless that is, in fact, your personal machine, in which case you need to let us see what you make with it.

Doc.

[greystone]

Little too big for the garage at the house...

[travis1581]

Travis, that's where I want to head with my Taig...but I'm thinking I'll probably stick with leadscrews and just accept it for what it is. Did you send the machine in to get Taig to modify it?

The only thing I have done through Taig was the ball screw kit. It was almost cheaper to buy a new mill ($1.8k) as opposed to shipping mine back to them for retrofit (~1.5k) so I went with a new mill and sold my lead screw mill. Honestly, the only improvements I see from a leadscrew vs ball screw standpoint for this machine is it doubles the speed at which it can travel, and I haven't had to adjust anything on the ball screw setup after initially tuning it.

The frame was purchased from a guy on facebook. Servo motors are from DMM tech. Im currently using a CONSEW sowing motor (hands down the best upgrade you can do for little money). My new spindle motor will be a DMM servo as well. Feel free to PM me when the time comes to plan for an upgrade. I am pretty weak with anything to do with LinuxCNC, but I have limped my way through... Anything you want from Taig can be purchased through Carter Tools at a 10% discount.

I cant figure out how to reply to desertT1's comments so I am going to add them here:
For my setup, I am strictly HP limited. I can run over 300 IPM with torque on each axis for days. However, my spindle motor boggs down. This is how I set all of my depth after finding a good machining formula. I use Fusion 360 for CAM and do not believe it tells you the MRR. As mentioned above, a new spindle motor is the first upgrade anyone should make to a Taig in my opinion. Adjusting belts is time consuming and it is so under powered, even if you are only cutting aluminum or plastic... My first motor upgrade was a CONSEW .75 HP motor on amazon. They run between $100-$125. I had to make a new mounting plate and get new pulleys.

[desertT1]

I know I can do this manually, but is you CAM program giving you your cubic inches per minute?

Also, what have you done to up this value? Always looking for tips to help this little machine of mine to get through jobs faster.

[russc]

Travis, that's where I want to head with my Taig...but I'm thinking I'll probably stick with leadscrews and just accept it for what it is. Did you send the machine in to get Taig to modify it?

[travis1581]

This machine started as a pretty basic Taig. Since purchasing in 2016, I have made the following upgrades:

• Custom Frame
• New spindle motor
• Ball screws
• LinuxCNC running Mesa Cards
• DMM servo motors on all axes

Upgrades planned in the near future (already purchased, just need some time to install/modify)

• New Z Axis (Parker 404XR, for more Z travel
• BT30 spindle
• New spindle motor, 1 kW
• Homing switches on all 3 axes

This started as a fairly inexpensive experiment to determine if I enjoyed machining. I actually purchased the original machine on the MCB BST from Nuclear Zombie (At least I think that was the usertag)! I realized I really enjoy the CAD, CAM and optimizing the programming to reduce cycle time. However, after the first article has been made, I tend to lose interest... Since I realized that, I have increased my material removal rate in aluminum from .1 cubic inches per minute to .6 cubic inches per minute. With the upgrades I have planned, I should be over 1 cubic inch per minute with the time to complete tool changes reduced by 80%. If I'm still not happy with the production capabilities, I will probably purchase something a bit larger like a Syil X7 or Tormach MX series.

[Kit]

Got the tilting vise cleaned and put into place. Just need to make jaws for it and to find a flange nut.

[Flounder]

Glad to see you are still using that desk. Looks like a nice set up.