Tooling: what's really out there?

[aarggh]

Come on mod, I been a pecker but can that spam in #18.

They don't miss an opportunity!

cheers, Ian

 

[jwcnc1911]

They don't miss an opportunity!

cheers, Ian

I know! Tin must not be online. I really like how quick he jumps on that stuff.

 

[Swifty]

I think the only thing that Jwcnc1911 was aiming to do was just show us what sort of stuff is out there, certainly not for home hobby use. I like to see CNC machines in action and the tooling available amazes me. I do have experience on CNC mills, had an interchangeable carbide tipped 30mm dia drill that was used on mild steel plates 100mm thick, cannot recall the speed and feed, but it plowed through without any pre drilling in under 10 seconds.

Paul.

 

[doubletop]

Back on topic

Surely its the case that we may not be able to afford these tools but their development will have had a flow down effect to the stuff we can afford. It just a case of where you are in the pecker order.

OK off topic again

Pete

 

[Wizard69]

Most hobbiest simply aren't willing to pay the price. However this is business, the best way to get this stuff out to hobbiest is to set up a business to sell to those hobbiest. Honestly though your big catalog tooling vendors have just about everything one could possibly use on tool room type equipment.

My jaw has also dropped countless times seeing this kind of stuff in action. I think we hobbyists and amateurs are generally overlooked by major tooling manufacturers, since industry is a far larger market. However, I believe what we generally need in a tool is quite different from the needs of a factory pumping parts out by the thousand. I think that it might be worth some of us contacting one of these manufacturers that is respected in industry to see if they can work with us to come up with something suited to the hobbyist that is of good quality. I know at least some will do similar things to meet the needs of individual companies that have special requirements. Does anyone else think this is a good idea?

 

[aarggh]

I don't really know that the unobtanium industrial stuff filters down so much, I think it's more a case of the manufacturing chains gradually refining and improve their processes as technology advances, thus producing better quality materials and increasingly improved cheap parts.

cheers, Ian

 

[kvom]

The horizontal mills shown in the videos can use tooling like this for several reasons, with chip evacuation being a big factor. And since they use a pallet system they can make parts without the need to manually load and unload each time. Since they often run unattended lights-out, durability is an important factor. Nice to see but relatively unimportant for home hobby use.

 

[mu38&Bg#]

JW, that's why you have job shops. You call one up for a quote. One 100cc V-12 block drilled with 400USD drills please.... Market availability and individual availability are not the same. Yes, we all get emotional about lumps of metal and carbide.

There are a few more videos that stood out in my mind, but I couldn't find them in my youtube history. Apparently I watch too many videos. If I lived closer to my uncle's shop I'd be working there. His kids who are my age have no interest in a turnkey business.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNXP3TA5_tw[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9ck3kktHRM[/ame]

The software for simultaneous 4 axis is beyond most hobby shop means, let alone 5 axis.

 

[jwcnc1911]

I was just wanting to show it!

I could show some crazy pictures but the men in black suits would show up...

 

[ZipSnipe]

Yeah it is kool stuff, I worked at a tool and die shop and our machines didn't go that fast. The machinists I worked with liked to peck drill everything as do I.

As to these machine and cutters being for hobbyist, no not really, but hey if you can throw down $150k for cnc machine and cutters and make some great hobby or art, then do it. Love seeing these machines making kool stuff rather than production.

 

[pete]

I've got to say I couldn't agree more with Wizard69 and others. Even a quick study of say MSC's catalog will show there's at least 2-3 price levels on almost any cutting tool you'd care to name. And I just can't see any of the larger cutting tool manufacters or suppliers thinking our needs or wants are important enough, large enough, or worth enough to try and come up with a line of cutting tools just to suit us. Not when there's almost anything you could want already being sold. And if they somehow did want to do this? You can bet they'd just slap a premium price on off the shelf tooling and add a fancy "Home shop Machinist" grade sticker on it or something much like it.

And if for some reason you really are stuck for something specialized that the standard tooling can't fit or wont do? Well then the tool resharpening companies can probably custom CNC grind anything you could ever possibly think of. But I've sure never felt limited by what the tool suppliers are selling today. Well the limiting factor is my wallet size. Unfortunately there really is no substitute for good quality cutting tools.

Pete

 

[jwcnc1911]

I've got to say I couldn't agree more with Wizard69 and others. Even a quick study of say MSC's catalog will show there's at least 2-3 price levels on almost any cutting tool you'd care to name. And I just can't see any of the larger cutting tool manufacters or suppliers thinking our needs or wants are important enough, large enough, or worth enough to try and come up with a line of cutting tools just to suit us. Not when there's almost anything you could want already being sold. And if they somehow did want to do this? You can bet they'd just slap a premium price on off the shelf tooling and add a fancy "Home shop Machinist" grade sticker on it or something much like it.

And if for some reason you really are stuck for something specialized that the standard tooling can't fit or wont do? Well then the tool resharpening companies can probably custom CNC grind anything you could ever possibly think of. But I've sure never felt limited by what the tool suppliers are selling today. Well the limiting factor is my wallet size. Unfortunately there really is no substitute for good quality cutting tools.

Pete

What? What are you even talking about? Holy cow this has gotten out of hand.

Every one, please reread my original post. I never mentioned buying it... just that it's out there. Some one else made it about buying it.

The original point was "hey look at this" not anything like "I think you guys should buy this".

 

[mu38&Bg#]

JW, sometimes topics stray a bit. Don't take it personally. Just find more stuff to post on topic. The hard turning videos can make some fireworks.

 

[pete]

JW,
I did view and very much appreciated your videos. My last was in response to a few posts about getting tool suppliers or manufacters to cater to our needs. It isn't going to happen and there seems to be no real need for it. As I said, it's more than a bit impressive to see just what the industry state of the art is capable of today with the high end machines and cutting tools.Getting the swarf to clear fast enough seems to now be an issue though. But I certainly wasn't talking about anyone here buying any tooling and then trying to replicate the speeds and feeds shown in those videos. Do even 1% of the members here even own or have access to the machine tools capable of enough rigidity and rpms to do it? Yeah the thread has gone partially OT, and maybe I'm slightly to blame for that.

Pete

 

[mu38&Bg#]

I found the hard turning video.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvHMVkfweCc[/ame]

Polygon turning anyone?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9jMN9Bgg6g[/ame]

 

[jwcnc1911]

Man that's cool! I've never seen that polygon turning. The timing on the tool to spindle has to be perfect. That's cool!

 

[///]

Years ago I saw an amazing video of one of these 'Hexapod' machines milling a V8 block... can't find it now

Best I can find is this:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDzUiZsbQtw[/ame]

And here is a 'home made' version:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_UmhUjZhNo[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nebJ59TcYlQ[/ame]

And a robotic version:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Kpv-ZOcKY[/ame]