Thread: Okuma Real Help Givaway Follow up

For those who are interested we had the official ceremony giving me the "keys" to my new Okuma Captain turning center on Wednesday. They had a real nice BarBQ lunch and about 35-40 folks came by to attend. Some were customers and others were friends from local shops. I also got to meet the BMOC for Okuma USA and Morris Group, two very nice guys. Of course when Larry Schwartz of Okuma was in the house, you knew "he was in charge..."

Some of the comments made here on this site got back to Larry and he wanted me to make sure you all knew that there were no strings attached on this deal. No hidden doors or anything like that. I have been treated like a king and havent had to pay for almost anything to get this machine running.

I didnt pay shipping, rigging, training and they even provided tools, courtesy of Sandvik and others, so that this machine was ready to make chips when it hit the floor. We have finished our first run of parts and now I am resetting the machine to cut the next two sets of parts I have ready to go.

Of course nothing free is ever totally free, I paid for electrical installation and we have bought a few tools and tool holders. My father and I have been working hard to reorganize the shop to make room for everything and find a place to put the new stuff. My neighbor provided a old trash can for the chip conveyor and it fits perfectly.

I must say this has been a truly wonderful experience and I cant wait to see how things go for the next year or so...so many things to learn about, so little time to get things done...

Charles

Can you get pictures of your shop?

I think its a really great story and very nice of them, there's no doubt about that.

Mindy with Okuma here...

I see some folks have asked for Charles to post pictures. Since he is busy with his new "employee," I thought I would mention to the group that there is a blog where you can follow Charles and his progress (including some photos of his shop and activities).

The link is: The Real Help Machine Tool Giveaway

I hope you enjoy following this story as much as I do.

Mindy Mikami
Okuma Real Help Team Member

Thanks for the link Mindy, and welcome to the forum.

Go, Charles, go!!!

Originally Posted by CBlair

For those who are interested we had the official ceremony giving me the "keys" to my new Okuma Captain turning center on Wednesday.

Charles

Well gee - you could have posted this BEFORE wednesday!

Mrs. Ox rolled through from Charlotte to Ft. Meyers on Wednesday! Although I ass_u_me that she would have took 95 ??? had she known you was having free (or rather - already pd for) sammiches - she just may have swung in to see the new iron and some free eats. (She is aware of the new machine and the contest.)


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Hey Ox,
Were you going to try to get Mrs. Ox to send you some free food home so you wouldn't starve while she was away ?

Ron

Naw - I got Young Mrs. Ox here trying to doo that. She seems to doo better at cookies than pssghetti and Beef Stroken'off.

But she likes to practice.

On second thought - maybe that BBQ sammich wouldn't have been too bad by the time it got here via UPS today eh?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

UPS Sandwich Delivery= Aged to Perfection or Aged to Dissentery ??

Ron

Near as I can figger - the key must be for "edit" control?



That pic wasn't that big when I "barrowed" it.

I have a feeling that Okuma will git good milage out of this deal.


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Originally Posted by Ox

I have a feeling that Okuma will git good milage out of this deal.

I'm thinkin' Charles is gonna do OK as well.
That is a great pic! Charles is grinnin' like the cat that ate the canary!

Big kudos to Okuma, and congrats to Charles!!


Rex

Originally Posted by Ox

Near as I can figger - the key must be for "edit" control?

Either that or door locks override..seems a bit cumbersome with that key shaft poking out so much

that key just needs a cinder block and a 3 foot chunk of log chain attached so its harder to lose......and congrats on the machine win....

Originally Posted by Milacron

Either that or door locks override..seems a bit cumbersome with that key shaft poking out so much

Funny you should mention that one, have to get a stool to stand on to reach that thing and the little plastic key barely seems to catch. Only needed to use it twice so far.

Speaking of door, that thing is heavy, I can see why you would want a automatic opener on this thing if you were running a lot of parts all day long.

Charles

I have one machine with a killer door.

It got to the point at least once that my shoulder/arm was hurting from it.

I have since learned not to git in quite as bigg'a rush with that machine. Others whip right open and that one is a steady open. I give it a little less jerk and an extra second each way. I have not had a bum arm in a long time now. Just gotta git used to the new machines.


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Mindy from Okuma, here. In case anyone is following Charles and our blog, we have posted a small update. Thanks to everyone who follows, and don't forget to follow Okuma on Facebook as well!The Real Help Machine Tool Giveaway

Thanks for the notice Miss Optional Stop!


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

That is cute Ox, didnt catch that one at first but I get it...

Who would have thought that a machine with a windows computer in it would need an update, but it did. Actually I cant say enough about how nice the folks at Morris South have been, new machine and it had a funny hickup every now and then with an unusual error and the control wouldnt boot up. Only a few days later and now we have new software loaded and I am told that should fix the problem. Apparently mine isnt the first one of these new controls to have this problem.

Save your tool files and settings, reload new operation system and then reboot with your saved files and in about 20 min the machine is running right where it was and you didnt even know anything had been done to it.

Just finished running a short run of 100 simple parts and I cant believe how fast it went. only took two hours to run them all. Last time I had 100 parts to run on the toolroom lathe we ran all day. I set the finishing tool with the built in tool setter and then ran the parts, first to last with no adjustments to the tool offsets.

Still finding new things in this control that I didnt know were in there. Got a manual called Special Functions Manual with lots of neat little things the control has built into it. Things like Threading on an arc? When would you ever do that? A section on Hobbing, not sure if I can do that without a Y axis? All kinds of things with the custom variable table and things for tool life and other utilities I have never used before. I am sure most of these are also available on Fanucs but it is interesting to see these things in their own book.

Time to get back to cutting...

Charles

Glad to hear the updates Charles. It really is a great story and I'm glad your at the center of it.

Could we get a couple "Action" shots?