Jason Lister
Well-known member
Congrats on the sale and the new toys!
Kaz's Random Projects
- Thread starter kazlx
- Start date
how much are these? great work!
They vary. Either shoot me a PM or email at [email protected]
jlenander
Well-known member
Hi Kaz,
Congrats on the new mill...looks like the start of a new adventure.
You built your first plasma table and used it (quite effectively!) for a long time. I think I read you're considering building another at sometime in the future.
When you get a chance, I'm really interested in hearing about what you liked and didn't like about your old table. What changes/improvements do you want in a new table? What would you do the same? What would you do differently?
Your shop looks amazing....I don't know how you have the time with two kiddos!
Thanks,
Jon
Congrats on the new mill...looks like the start of a new adventure.
You built your first plasma table and used it (quite effectively!) for a long time. I think I read you're considering building another at sometime in the future.
When you get a chance, I'm really interested in hearing about what you liked and didn't like about your old table. What changes/improvements do you want in a new table? What would you do the same? What would you do differently?
Your shop looks amazing....I don't know how you have the time with two kiddos!
Thanks,
Jon
Thanks, I 'may' build another 4x4 at some point, we'll see. The mill is going in the garage, essentially replacing the plasma. I like sharing the shop, but it's about 10-15 min away and I don't get there as much as I like. It's nice having some things at home, so I can be with the family and still get things done. That is the nice part about CNC.
Overall the table runs really well. I'd probably lower the height of the next one, as well as make sure it's a version where the rails are lower than the material plane. That would help with loading and unloading material and parts. I'd also figure out a better setup for the water table, maybe side guards or something that can be removed. My biggest complaint about plasma is it's messy, especially with a water table. Compressed air at 80psi and water just make a mess.
Also, unless you have a full shop, IMO, a 4x8 table or bigger is overkill. It takes up quite a bit of the garage. If I had a huge shop or separate building on my property with a forklift, different story. It's pretty unruly to handle 4x8+ sheets of anything, so it's really not worth it. My routine basically became buying 4x10s and getting them sheared to 4x5. Even 14 gauge is still kind of awkward.
Duker
Well-known member
Nice score..... !
I was bidding on one at an auction recently and I got outbid and I kick myself as even spending a few hundred more it would have been about 1/4 of retail.
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I was bidding on one at an auction recently and I got outbid and I kick myself as even spending a few hundred more it would have been about 1/4 of retail.
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Yes, it wasn't cheap ($875), but it's also the cleanest original one I've ever seen, plus came with 25 papers of various grits. All the knobs are there, everything works, and has the original paint on everything. Love it.
But I also unloaded some other stuff that I haven't used, so it pretty much evened out....
But I also unloaded some other stuff that I haven't used, so it pretty much evened out....
slodat
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I have a late 70's import clone of the Apex 20" in really good condition. I have about $750 in it including the VFD. It's an amazing machine. Congrats!!
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ovrrdrive
Well-known member
Oh yeah, time for a bigger garage. lol
I actually sold the plasma table, so I'm going to have more room. This is about half the size, plus I was able to put it in a better spot, so it opens up the whole wall that the plasma took up.
Plasma hasn't been picked up yet, so it's super cramped right now, but workable. May end up building a small plasma table.
There's those days that you just feel like the man. Imported logo as dxf to Fusion360, generated toolpath for .005 deep engraving with a 1/4 ball (only tool/holder combo I have right now that works until I order collets), changed the offsets, loaded the program and went. Super stoked. Plus I had my 3 year old out with me typing in manual tool changes and starting the spindle. A new chapter for me.
4 FN 27
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Nice!!
d.mcfarland
Well-known member
Finally caught a long term grail tool. Really wanted a 20" but this 16" was just too clean to pass up!
Don't even be mad about the price! That's amazing!
NASTYZEN
Well-known member
Congrats on your move to cnc machining and nice machine.
Enclosed is really the way to go. Just to be clear about this KAZ, be careful with cnc, it's really addictive and can lead to serious spending on accessories!
Cool to get your son started early. I did with mine and now they work with me part time. Cheap labor.
Enclosed is really the way to go. Just to be clear about this KAZ, be careful with cnc, it's really addictive and can lead to serious spending on accessories!Cool to get your son started early. I did with mine and now they work with me part time. Cheap labor.
Congrats on your move to cnc machining and nice machine.
Cool to get your son started early. I did with mine and now they work with me part time. Cheap labor.
That ship sailed a while ago with manual machining
I also scored some stuff the other day. Found a tumbler on CL for $25. Needs some love, but not too bad. Prob strip it and fix some stuff and use it. Media alone is probably couple hundred bucks.
I also bid on some stuff at an auction, tooling for a hone that my buddy has. Well, they ended up combining lots, and I ended up with all the tooling, another Sunnen hone and a die filer for $200.
I also bid on some stuff at an auction, tooling for a hone that my buddy has. Well, they ended up combining lots, and I ended up with all the tooling, another Sunnen hone and a die filer for $200.
Duker
Well-known member
I think I have to throw out a well deserved "you ****" on that score.... that's on top on the very nice new Kurts you have!
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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
those Kurt vises drool!Freakin' love it. First actual part on the cnc. My dad needs some extended Y plates for his X carve. Just kind of stumbled through doing all of this myself. Got the programming done, loaded tools, set offsets and went for it. So much awesome. I need to fidget with some stuff before I make more and think I'll make the actual set a little taller, but really happy with my first actual start to finish part. It will go in my drawer of accomplishments.
And scored an Atago refractometer for $40 on ebay (for checking coolant concentration).
And scored an Atago refractometer for $40 on ebay (for checking coolant concentration).
Nice work man! that's an awesome machine. How do you load the g-code into it?
I had to look up x-carve, seems like everyone's getting into CNC in one form or another, from Arduino based Dremel CNC kits to the big boy toys and everything in between.
I had to look up x-carve, seems like everyone's getting into CNC in one form or another, from Arduino based Dremel CNC kits to the big boy toys and everything in between.
I'm running a Windows 8 laptop with a program called DNC4U. G code is effectively just a text file, so basically just open up the program, call up the file, tell the machine you are going to send it and hit send. It works through a serial port. I just have a USB/serial cable the guy gave me when I bought the machine. I am looking into some other options just to streamline things. I'm already hooked. We can make some stuff if you ever want to. It seems overwhelming at first, but after a few days, it's pretty easy.
I'm liking the sub plate. I bet your mill is feeling lonely in the garage without a CNC lathe though
Give him a minute!
texasranger
Well-known member
I shouldn't have looked at your thread. Not only did you build your own plasma table, now you have a CNC mill. Exactly what I've been wanting to do for years. Thank you for the inspiration that it's in the realm of possibility even with kids!
Haha! btw how long did it take to slice through that aluminum brick on that bandsaw? Does it have a hydraulic feed or a spring? and what blade are you using 14tpi?
I need to get a better blade and a better feed mechanism for my HF 7x bandsaw that I bought over a decade ago but never got it to cut square or fast.
I need to get a better blade and a better feed mechanism for my HF 7x bandsaw that I bought over a decade ago but never got it to cut square or fast.