Just a quick survey, an honest best guess on average, approx what percentage of a normal work shift does your spindle run? list CNC type - lathe- mill ect. type of work/shop: job - manufacturer - aerospace lights out machining?
I've been in hundreds of shops over the years(some employed by - mostly visiting) & looking around I see many spindles not running. Why? just bad timing on my part? Its the old adage: If your spindles are running your making money.
Ok me & Hurco VMX about 90% -conversational programming at the machine. Manufacturer - Titanium, Aluminum, & SS. We run lights out doing repeat jobs (proven progs)
I run a makino doing hardcutting, that thing averages 8 out of 10 hrs a day running, 3 times a week it runs all night. Since 9am yesterday, till sunday night I should get 90% run time 24 hrs a day. I also run a creative machining electrodes. That one runs 5-7 hrs a day usually, once or twice a week it runs overnight. Should still be running when I go in this morning, running 50 minute trodes on 16 positions. It would run more, but there's a lot of inspection, lots of short runs. Today I get trained on the new lathe, got mastercam lathe all setup and ready, so I expect those run times to go down considering the lathe is in another room.
But who cares, I still get asked "what's wrong with this machine" when one of em is down for any longer than 10 minutes.
Right, not many machinists care, some are stuck in the one task at a time mode? since getting the new Hurco (my machine) the other Hurco sits now for well over 1/2 the day. Dirves me nuts to see it idle. The other guys are supposed to use it. While my machine is running, I pop over to play with the old battle axe Anayak ( which rarely gets used) & do some easy 1 tool stuff (no tool changer - that would be me) or sit down at the polishing bench & do some air grinder work. Hell at times I've had all 3 of those machines running ( for dog & pony shows) Oh well, such is life in the manufacturing world. It aint no mold job shop.
So Vinny, what kinda lathe? control-tooling ect? Masterscam should be the cat's meow for easy 2X lathe stuff unless you have live tooling. Are you going to be hard turning? Just curious, I'm sure a CNC lathe in in my future since over 50% of our work is round. The ol manual Acer is getting tied & whover is running it
Oh here's a good one: I setup the Bridgeport to do some easy (all our work is) boring bar work -external partial large rad - f-in thing aint staight on the bore! WTF ? indicate piece - check tool bit for slip- turns out somebody left the ram loose! I was fit to be tied.
Right, not many machinists care, some are stuck in the one task at a time mode? since getting the new Hurco (my machine) the other Hurco sits now for well over 1/2 the day. Dirves me nuts to see it idle. The other guys are supposed to use it. While my machine is running, I pop over to play with the old battle axe Anayak ( which rarely gets used) & do some easy 1 tool stuff (no tool changer - that would be me) or sit down at the polishing bench & do some air grinder work. Hell at times I've had all 3 of those machines running ( for dog & pony shows) Oh well, such is life in the manufacturing world. It aint no mold job shop.
So Vinny, what kinda lathe? control-tooling ect? Masterscam should be the cat's meow for easy 2X lathe stuff unless you have live tooling. Are you going to be hard turning? Just curious, I'm sure a CNC lathe in in my future since over 50% of our work is round. The ol manual Acer is getting tied & whover is running it
********** We got a samsung. It's korean, seems like an okuma knockoff. I got three hours training, and that was enough, its fanuc, and the machine is an okuma clone, so I can run it no prob. While he was there it hard limited a couple of times. So I come in, turn it on, hit home and BAM! It drives into the hard stop so hard it wont turn on, It prolly needs the limit swith taken off so the lathe can be brought back in the limits. That really pissed me off. After researching I find this is the first samsung in Florida....oh jeeese...here we go...
We bought it to hard lathe, but will do all our lathe work in it. Mastercam x4 on lathe is SWEEEEETTTT!!! I mean REALLY sweet. They claim they vamped it up on version x4. I'm real happy with the cam end of it so far.
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Oh here's a good one: I setup the Bridgeport to do some easy (all our work is) boring bar work -external partial large rad - f-in thing aint staight on the bore! WTF ? indicate piece - check tool bit for slip- turns out somebody left the ram loose! I was fit to be tied.
so for its just vinny & me with spindles running eh? Ok go back to JB bashing now.
It's 7:30 am sunday and the hardcutting mill is still cutting! (I hope, lol) I setup the graphite mill to run for 10 hrs. I bet that thing got stuck a minute after I left.
Auh just about guaranteed the mill stopped a few minutes after you left the parking lot. long as its not a spindle overload with a big ass roughing tool stuck in the cut with pressure like hell on the tool/spindle. It aint a pretty sound get'in it out. Good thing that never happened to me :-)
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