laser

shoot I didn't copy a link to one running:

FUN! Gifs at 11, I trust?

-- Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling. -- Margaret Lee Runbeck

The Trumpf laser at a shop where I used to work cost $750k in 1994.

Fantastic. Just fantastic. 4' x 10' bed.

Steve

Amazing! But, WOW, I'd hate to see those lead screws after a month of that. I wonder what the maintenance schedule is on an industrial CNC laser.

-- Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling. -- Margaret Lee Runbeck

Its my understanding that for machines like that they use precision balls screws with preloaded nuts because the service life is very predictable. Does seem like over kill to make perforated metal sheets though. LOL. I like it.

"The kid" is day shift lead for the laser dept. He does a lot of the daily stuff cause "the operators or mechanics just screw it up". I know they do a major rebuild on each machine once/year and espcially the old machines suffer a lot of major breakdowns. They run over 120 hours a week.

Karl

The company I worked for was having trouble making the payments on about 2 million worth of equipment. They called Trumpf and notified them, and asked if they could help. Trumpf got on the phone and called Ford and Caterpillar, and within two weeks, they added a swing shift equal to the day shift. HOLY CNC, Batman!

That stuff is about as hi-tech as it gets, yet elegantly simple. I could watch the CNC punch machine, benders, and laser beds all day, but I was there to weld. Those pieces came off perfect, with just fusion welding seams on 16 ga. stainless. It was a great experience.

Steve

Scary thing is that our 5 axis Trumph is now 18 years old and can still out-perform the water jet cutters in other plants the company has. Got a new floppy drive for it last year :-)

The plant I started at had a Trumph DNC punch press for panels, I got 600 3" dia, 12 slot electric motor laminations knocked out of 1.6mm steel sheet for an apprentice school training exercise (this is how a motor works, now build one!). The Press Shop wanted big money and months to make a die set, the Panel Shop said "We're busy at the moment, can you collect it day after tomorrow?" :-)

Mark Rand RTFM

I'm sure they can, especially in a production atmosphere with long workdays and repetitive parts spewage.

OK.

How's work going for you? I'm still smothered in handyman work here, though I had to quit roofing a pumphouse extension when the rain started this noon. Got the felt, drip edge, and 2 courses on before it fell, though. I'm going to enjoy 2 days off in a row, lemme tell ya! I'm (we're?) gettin' too old for this kind of work...

Surely it'd be cheaper.

Got any leads on parts deals for a DIY CNC mill or router?

I'm just starting on Alan Overby's newly-released book _CNC Machining Handbook: Building, Programming, and Implementation_.

-- To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. -- J. K. Rowling

I can sell you a set of three very nice DC servos and a power supply.

Personally, I think that making a DIY CNC mill is a horrible idea. Possibly, a CNC router is a less horrible idea, but a new one would cost you much less than DIY.

I think I want to stick with steppers for now.

I think adding steppers to an existing small mill would be OK.

From what I've seen, DIY routers cost less than half what turnkey systems cost.

-- To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. -- J. K. Rowling

I'd rather start from scratch for a CNC router.

-- To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. -- J. K. Rowling