Thread: really cool thing today... 2 x lathe

Hey all...

Today we did something cool...
On one cnc lathe (Hitachi 6T) i setup a program to run a job... its the first operation of 2...

Then i setup the second operation ( backside )
of the part, on our other cnc lathe ( Hitachi Mark II )...

The operations were both taking about 5-6 minutes per cycle... it was so awesome... Put first stock part in machine...Hit start... Wait about 5-6 minutes... Take it out, put it in second machine... hit start...
load first machine again... hit start...

did that all day long...
Works GREAT!!!

Ussually when we make something, its all done on one machine or the other... So this was cool... and REALLY FAST!!!

just sharing...
take care

Wait till you get a hold of a lathe with a sub-spindle....

And then....

good times, huh solar?
kinda like using a knife in one hand to cut your food while you use a fork in the other hand to hold your food. have you tried this yet?

Solar,
Keep the enthusiasm! Sure, there will come a day when running concurrent operations will seem basic to you, but the fact that you are interested in it now speaks well for your initiative. When I first started in the trade, I thought drilling and tapping a hole was pretty cool.

The world is full of people that think people who show initiative are stupid or just "sucking up". Ignore them! Don't let them deplete your enthusiasm.

Pi,
Congrats on mastering the knife and fork!!

Mike

all of our button monkeys learn how to load/unload parts on multiple machines the first day.

The world is full of people that think people who show initiative are stupid

it is not my job to call solar stupid. that is his mama's job.

Pi,
Doing it when you are told to do it doesn't carry the same weight as doing it on your own initiative.
Besides, Solar set the machines up which counts for a lot more than loading/unloading.

By the way, once you mastered the knife and fork, did you pass that knowledge on to the button monkeys too?

Mike

did you pass that knowledge on to the button monkeys too

no i save that for stoolmakers

I will soon have a sub spindle Miyano for the school shop. Too cool. Going to have fun learnig to program this bear, also has live tooling.

programmed many live tooling jobs before, but sub spindle, will have to see a few things run, and try a few items first.

Come on pi, I am sure you once started off in this field as well. I tend to like people with enthuasiam, and people that find new things fun. They are trainable, and move fast up the ladder. Jaded people tend to rise fast, then get S#$% canned due to being - well....pains in the arse. Take a note from a "old guy" who tends to train the young pups, and still has quite a bit of newness in him - learn from these guys, help these guys...they help support you too, and besides, somebody had to help you, probably did it with patience, and a bit of heartfelt joy when it finally hit you - the art of mahining. Pass it on....or you are in the end not worth your words and wisdom - which I HAVE seen a few times!!!!

This fom a guy who has been offered twice and more what I make now to leave teaching...but I stay.....for guys like Solar, and even yourself.

Keep posting Solar, good to hear enthuasiam.

Apparently everything is back to "normal".....

thanks...

yeah it was cool...
i dont know if i said it clearly enough...
but i did write both programs... both semi complex... and i did setup both machines...
i did not just load material in and take it out...

Also... what is a sub-spindle ?
I can gather that sub = less then or under...
spindle = spindle... hahaha

so an under spindle ?
or a less then spindle ? hahaha
Is this 2 spindles in 1 machine ?
does this mean there are 2 turrets as well ?

somebody had to help you

yup. they showed me where to find the lathe and the manuals

what is a sub-spindle

that is what they use to build submarines out of barstock.
you are right. submarine=lower than water level.
you are coming along fine solar

thanks pi...

now, can someone with a brain, please repley...

Solar, a sub spindle is usually a smaller spindle in place of the tailstock. Usually used to take the machined part from the main spindle, and do some lighter work on the back side of a part. This way a part can be done complete, side 1, and side 2, on one machine, instead of two, like you were doing today. It doesn't necesarily have to turrets, but sometimes they do.

Wish I had a playmate for my lathe. Would be a handy thing to have.

kinda like using a knife in one hand to cut your food while you use a fork in the other hand to hold your food.

TGDF

ok i see...

So its "Instead" of a tail stock...

you say its smaller... as in, less powerfull and smaller max size ? that sort of thing ?

Also does it move like a tail stock does ?
Can it come forward, grab the part, and go back to its home possition ?

It sounds really nice... sounds like something we could really use too...

Damn that would be nice... probably expensive too...

The ones I've seen have a smaller in size, and smaller in horsepower subspindle. I don't have much experience with them. But they are usually used to do lite work like maybe just face off the back so it's clean. Or cutting a chamfer on the back of a part. Or you can do some facing and turning to do a hub on the back of a part. It's really only limited to the imagination.
They are programmable to the best of my knowledge. It would need to be in order to know how far forward to move to pick up the part out of the main spindle, and to program opening and closing of the jaws at the right time, and also rpm. So, yes it's programmable and it undoubtedly has a home position. Maybe someone with experience programming these could chime in here.

this sub spindle thing is starting to sound better by the minute...

I WANT MY SUBSPINDLE!!!

I WANT MY SUBSPINDLE!!!

Voice of Jack Nicholson:

"YOU WANT A SUBSPINDLE??!!YOU WANT A SUBSPINDLE??!! YOU COULDN'T HANDLE A SUBSPINDLE!!!"

First things first Solar. First you need to get the boss to spring for the big bucks and buy you some toolholders for the mill. Might take a while to get him up for a subspindle lathe since used ones often cost over $100,000.