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Small Shop Contract Advice
It's not hiding, the goal is to make sure they see the type and quality of work before seeing the building. My quotes have our address, it's not a secret by any means. No different than saying "we" when it's just Fal and his dog...- LOTT
- Post #24
- Forum: Shop Management and Owner Issues
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Wanting to get into CNC and exploring options.
A CNC knee mill could make a good hobby machine. There's a bunch of them on eBay for $3-5K, easy to work on, can be run manually, can likely be converted with a VFD to run single phase, large work envelope for the foot print. There's a whole slew of downsides (no enclosure, no tool changer...- LOTT
- Post #38
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Small Shop Contract Advice
I'd say a website that shows off parts and neglects to list an address is your friend. Someone can still look you up through the state paperwork, but that's an order of magnitude more work than right-click-and-search a street number. Pure speculation, but I wonder if the lack of website is...- LOTT
- Post #18
- Forum: Shop Management and Owner Issues
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Vise mounting advise
You can't just use strap clamps? What's the problem? -
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Looking to move into an industrial machine, and looking for the right machine for the job. Seeking people smarter than I to help guide me.
Fair point, being in the middle of nowhere probably color's my outlook. Regarding RPM, for the one offs and prototypes the OP is talking about i would say 10K will get the job done (eventually). Same reason I dont think tool changer type matters (umbrella vs sidearm), as long as it works.- LOTT
- Post #89
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Looking to move into an industrial machine, and looking for the right machine for the job. Seeking people smarter than I to help guide me.
Yes, mostly worked fine. I had to hand enter the high speed look ahead code after the tool change to make that work, but otherwise it was fine. Like I said earlier surfacing wasn't it's strong point so the high speed thing wasn't needed very often.- LOTT
- Post #79
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Looking to move into an industrial machine, and looking for the right machine for the job. Seeking people smarter than I to help guide me.
I'm with you on everything else, but buying an unusual machine as your first leap into industrial CNC is dicey. One thing the Haas guys have going is the huge number of tutorials and base of knowledge (Not that I'm recommending Haas, just recognizing that it's a thing). I have an oddball orphan...- LOTT
- Post #78
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Looking to move into an industrial machine, and looking for the right machine for the job. Seeking people smarter than I to help guide me.
Probably depends more on the machine itself than age. My 2008 Sharp 2412 with Fanuc control struggled with surfacing, but I bet there were 1998 and maybe 1988 mold machines that could zip right around. And a phase converter amp draw is very dependent on what it's powering.- LOTT
- Post #67
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Looking to move into an industrial machine, and looking for the right machine for the job. Seeking people smarter than I to help guide me.
Depends what his budget is. A 30hp Phase Perfect is $9k, he may very well spend less than that on a VMC. A home brew RPC can be cobbled together for a couple hundred and run just fine. They are noisy and draw some idle current, but otherwise do the same thing. On the cheap tool holder...- LOTT
- Post #33
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Looking to move into an industrial machine, and looking for the right machine for the job. Seeking people smarter than I to help guide me.
The older Sharp's with Fanuc controls were stout, I don't know about the newer ones. You need to be willing to chase down little annoyances, there's always a gummed up sensor or loose wire on any older machine. Just plan to get a phase converter, either rotary or Phase Perfect. It opens up...- LOTT
- Post #29
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Loctite Dispenser Alternative
Does anyone know if there are more economical alternatives to these Loctite dispensers? On McMaster here: https://www.mcmaster.com/product/66025A11 I love McMaster, and don't have an issue paying for quality tools that will save time, but $171 seems high for what it is. And I understand it... -
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Are Industrial market place's like Xometry worth the time for finding new work
We need a pop-up every time someone tries to start a thread with Xometry in the title or opening post that says, "It's a race to the bottom, AND YOU AREN'T BUILDING A CUSTOMER BASE!" Well, you sort of are building a customer base, but it's for Xometry and not for you.- LOTT
- Post #31
- Forum: Shop Management and Owner Issues
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RFQ - What am I doing wrong?
You've spent a half million out of pocket on a side project? I'd stick to doing whatever created that income.- LOTT
- Post #64
- Forum: Shop Management and Owner Issues
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Choice between Jet and XLO
Not to insult your intelligence, but you did say you were new- take a dial indicator to check wear and backlash on each mill. I'm with everyone else on this one- I love our Excello, but condition would be the deciding factor. -
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Polygonal turning/milling on a Haas Lathe.
No practical experience here, but it seems like the slightest variation from nominal RPM would destroy things in a hurry. Start up speed also, they're quick but not instantaneous and what says the lag will be identical on both spindles?- LOTT
- Post #6
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Advice Needed- First CNC Mill for prototyping and small batch mfg in home shop
There's nothing "fresh" about them, it'll be a bit stale, but you save $40k. Here's an example: eBay Brother I think you're off on the prototype vs production costs (and value). Trying to get the first round of your idea made is hard and expensive when you have to go through someone else...- LOTT
- Post #34
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Advice Needed- First CNC Mill for prototyping and small batch mfg in home shop
There's a bigger jump from "one" to "many" than you might think. There are guys that make a living making one offs, and there are other that do nothing but optimize. One offs you throw in a vise, production needs pallets, fixtures, and so on. The needed support equipment is different also...- LOTT
- Post #23
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Advice Needed- First CNC Mill for prototyping and small batch mfg in home shop
TM-1 at $15k is a reasonable garage starter machine. At $50k it's ridiculous. Is Haas actually making sales at that price? From the situation you describe I think the ability to prototype could make sense, then farm out the production runs. If the doomsayers are right there will plenty of...- LOTT
- Post #6
- Forum: CNC Machining
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Shop Start-up Funding
Sure, but it took several years and $6-8k. Like dkmc said, scrap yard converters are a cheap way to get the ball rolling. Just don't let the start capacitors stay on too long long or things get exciting.- LOTT
- Post #52
- Forum: Shop Management and Owner Issues
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Shop Start-up Funding
Did you have enough single phase amperage available? Because $200 and some research will let you build a rotary phase converter. If you are able to make money in your business the opportunity cost of waiting a decade to start is huge. With regards to a small shop- check out what Adam Demuth...- LOTT
- Post #47
- Forum: Shop Management and Owner Issues