Oh Blimey I bought a CNC Lathe !!!!

[lordedmond]

well done

I think this machine is going to have to shift some metal to repay for its outlay not to mention time involved in getting it this far

got you hernia sorted out mate had one done by keyhole method took no time at all to get back on his feet


Stuart

[awemawson]

Thanks Stuart - well it's never going to pay for itself - other than in my satisfaction 

Hernia op booked for 19th Sept - they say no driving for six weeks which is a bit of a pain. It also means that the wife is going to have to collect the rams where we have them off site, and take some lambs to the abattoir so that's going to prove 'interesting' 

[lordedmond]

 

I will send the derby tup  to help out if you need it 

hope the flock is not texels  when I first saw one of those by gad i thought it was a donkey 


My uncle had a small farm were i used to help out Jersey  herd for milking ( by hand in those days the farm did not have electric ) he also had a jersey bull he was as all of them are a killer black in colour  and black by nature , we had to tie him to the tractor to get him out of his loose box , I can still smell the TVO fumes now 

don't forget to take a diamond hone in with you on the 19th to make sure he/she has touched up the knives

Stuart

[vtsteam]

At least they didn't say no moving machinery around, so the weeks without driving could be a blessing in disguise! 

[awemawson]

Well chaps thanks for the thoughts - - - I think . . . . 

The main ram is a Hampshire Down called Harold - he has a habit of charging at me whenever he sees me with a bucket ! Considering he was a 'sock lamb' (ie brought in as an orphan to milk a ewe that lost her lamb) and I remember carrying him on my lap on the way home, he's grown to be a fearsome beast. Produces very fine meat lambs when crossed with my Kents (otherwise known as Romney Marsh sheep)

I seem to remember that his rear end featured in one of the pictures of that large pile of earth!

[lordedmond]

you mean the gate bender 

[awemawson]

...oh Yes 

[John Stevenson]

Hernia op booked for 19th Sept -

Typical Mawson OTT.

When I said dropped a bollock I didn't mean literally..........................

[awemawson]

  Well I've been very naughty and indulged myself. 

 A fellow in the USA has been advertising a full set of static and powered tooling that had originally been purchased brand new many years ago to kit out a Traub lathe for a particular task. The lathe proved to be a pile of poop and went back to the dealer, and this chap got left with $30K cost of tooling. The ebay advert kept popping up at irregular intervals and the kit didn't sell at his starting price, so I put in a VERY silly offer having worked out that there's 80 lbs of tooling to move across the pond which carries a fair price tag! ($240 is lowest quote I've had) .

  Anyway amazingly my silly offer has been accepted 

The swivel angle powered tool is particularly attractive and I shudder to think what it would cost now new

(Pictures are from the ebay advert)

[vtsteam]

Looks like those widgets are going to be getting a bit more complex ....

[Pete W.]

Hi there, Andrew,

I hope that your visit to the bandage factory goes well - I'll be thinking of you next Thursday while I'm in the dentist's chair having a tooth out!          

Your EDM machine doesn't work on teeth by any chance, does it?  Still, I expect the green fluorescent fluid doesn't taste very nice!!            

[awemawson]

he-he !

Good luck at the dentist and thanks for the good wishes. I've just been mooching around the workshop planning what I can get away with doing whilst I'm on light duties. I've dug out my rotary broach holder and am working out how to make an easy set up to produce the tools as I can see it being pressed into service on the Traub making square and hex recesses.

Each tool is cut from an 8mm round hss blank, and has the desired shape ground in with a 1 degree 30 minute taper relief back from the cutting edge, and a concave ground in the end to give the edge. As I plan to grind them on the J&S 540 surface grinder, the normal dividing head is too large for the table. I'm thinking of making  pivoting 'sine table' that a spin indexer can bolt onto, that can be raised with a custom packing strip to give the 1.5 degree tilt for broaches, and lowered to zero tilt for milling copper electrodes for the EDM machine on the Bridgeport. Simple pair of plates pivoted between a hinge made of lugs. Need to work out how much 'daylight' I have to play with on the J&S 540 to see if it's feasible

[lordedmond]

Andrew
nice catch on the tool holders

good luck with your visit to see those very nice nurses ( do they still wear those starched aprons and black stockings ) 

Pete you have my sympathy with the tooth pullers just had two root cannel ones done both in wisdom teeth there 1/2 hour visit each , would not mind but she is only about five foot tall dusky maiden spent most of the time looking into her eyes


Stuart

[awemawson]

I've decided that the lighting in the machining enclosure is not up to snuff, so am upgrading it, but as the solution is possibly applicable to other machines I've started another thread here:

http://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,9062.msg99297.html#msg99297

[Pete W.]

Hi there, Andrew,

Should you be here today??  I thought today was your date at the bandage factory!!

My tooth was duly pulled this afternoon - a friend had said 'Your appointment is 2:00 PM, half an hour later it will be 2:30' (tooth hurty, get it?!        ).

The anaesthetic hasn't fully worn off yet.  I've requested the catering department to schedule only meals that can be eaten through a straw for a few days.            

[awemawson]

Pete, hope that the tooth is ok when the drugs wear off 

Yes I was very lucky today. I was booked in for 8 am and usually you hang around in pre-med as they work through their operation list, and drag you in when they've hosed down after the previous carcass has been shifted to the morgue. This time I was the ONLY one on the surgeons list so things were pretty fast. I did tell him it was probably because his fees are too high and he needs to respond to market conditions  Then the anesthetist tells me he's had several hernia operations and has to keep coming back - just what you want to hear as the knife is poised 

Still, end result is back home by 2pm sitting by a log fire and posting the 'light' thread, which I'm sure that you realise was actually made and photographed a few days ago 

But all this is  Nowt worse than old blokes grumbling about the bits that are falling off 

Got great plans for the lathe when I'm allowed back in the workshop. The Bar Puller (That sounds like a prostitute!) turned up at last the other day so my first thing is to try a simple 'multi component' run - something like a thick washer. Drill, part off, bar pull and repeat to get used to it.

Can't do much heavy stuff on the lathe as the coolant isn't yet filled, but my 20 litre drum of Castrol Hysol Excel arrived yesterday ready for it. At 7% it will take the full 20 litres. Got to clean and disinfect the swarf conveyor tank first. Normally you'd dump some anti bacterial cleaner like "Castrol Techniclean MTC 43"  in the sump and run the machine for 24 hours before discarding the old coolant and filling anew.

However the sump is empty! ( Emptyish - got the usual tramp oil sticky gunge which will be fun to clean.) What I'm planning to do is shove the"Castrol Techniclean MTC 43" in the coolant for my Beaver Parts Master which could do with a coolant change, run that for a while, pump the coolant into the lathe, add more MTC 43, then run the lathe coolant pumps to circulate everything, as although it will be far from full, I won't be machining anything at the time.

[dsquire]

Andrew

Glad to hear that you kept the surgeon in line and made it home in one piece with no parts missing. 

Now will be the time for some rest and relaxation. Also an excellent time to do some research on your machines and scour the net for missing parts and manuals etc. In general, take the time to let it heal properly. You don't want to go through this again. 

Cheers 

Don

[awemawson]

Andrew

Glad to hear that you kept the surgeon in line and made it home in one piece with no parts missing. 

Thanks for the good wishes Don.

Yes I told the surgeon as I went in that the wrist band they'd fixed to me said 'Gender - Male' and I wanted it the same way when I came out. 

[vtsteam]

Glad you're okay, Andrew. 

[awemawson]

A bit of progress. I've turned up a sleeve to allow me to fit the Bar Puller to the Tool Turret, and have been cautiously  experimenting with the programming. If you look back a few posts you will see a picture of the Bar Puller, which is a little three legged spring loaded gizmo.

I've written a diddy program that selects the puller, locks the collet chuck, engages the end of the bar, unlocks the collet, pulls the bar out 10 mm then locks the collet. (I then actually push it back in to save wasting bar stock). Then it selects the parting tool and parts off (deliberately missing the bar !)

I've uploaded a pair of videos to Youtube. This first one has the camera inside the machine viewing from the tailstock and perhaps it isn't the best viewpoint.

Then this second one is shot through the safely guard and perhaps shows what's going on a bit better

It's all a bit nerve-wracking as one tiny slip and it would be very easy to wipe out the fingers of the puller. I think that I had better remove them and try and scan them at a fairly high resolution so I can potentially re-create them by laser cutting or possibly my Wire EDM machine in the event  of an accident. Any suggestions for their replication would be welcome.

[awemawson]

I think I should perhaps point out that I cannot do any serious machining yet, as the machine hasn't had it's coolant tank filled. And I'm not going to fill the coolant up until I get the special 'liquid grease' that the Sauter Tool Turret has to be packed with - currently it is un-lubricated.

But the special grease is on back order - another 4-6 weeks 

Molykote Longterm 00 Fluid Grease is what is specified, and no one seems to be able to come up with stock or an equivelent.

[AdeV]

Looks like you're getting the hang of it though, and what a piece of kit!

If you want long-life soluble coolant, I cannot recommend this stuff enough: http://www.lubetechshop.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=25_51&products_id=249

I've had it in the sump of the Interact since I turned it on, mumbleteen months ago, and other than regular top-ups due to the fact the Bridgeport seems to have more holes in it that a sieve, and it's never gone weird or smelly on me.

[awemawson]

Thanks Ade, yes I remember you mentioning it. I already have the coolant - it's 'Castrol Hysol Excel' which I have in my other machines - I bought another 20 litre drum of it when MSC had it on special offer. At 7% dilution it will take the entire 20 litres

I'm going to pump the old coolant from my Partsmaster along with a biocide, and use that to clean out the Traub by running it with the coolant circulating for a few hours. Then pump out and replace the fluid in both machines with new.

I've been experimenting with a 'Tramp Oil' remover - a belt dipping into the tank, and as it revolves the tramp oil tends to stick to it. As the belt comes 'over the top' a scraper removes the oil which then drips into a can. Seems to work quite well. I'll see if I can get the camera near it to do a video.

[vtsteam]

Liquid grease eh? What will they think of next? Solid oil maybe! 

If when you get it, it smells a lot like bacon, Andrew, I'd start asking some questions!

[awemawson]

I've uploaded a video of the Tramp Oil skimmer working:

Here I'm removing the tramp oil from the Beaver Partsmaster CNC milling machine, before transferring the coolant to the Traub lathe to use it to clear out the lathe tank before putting new coolant in both machines.

Tramp Oil is mainly 'way lube' that is pressure fed to all sliding ways on the machine and is a 'total loss' system - so the oil finds it's way by gravity to the sump, where it floats on the soluble oil coolant. This is a 'bad thing' as it excludes air so unless the machine is in constant use stirring it up, it promotes anaerobic bacteria growth, bad smells and acidic coolant that becomes corrosive.