Generic Default
Aluminum
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2016
- Location
- Wilmington / Long Beach
The premise is that since 2010 there has been a massive increase in the number of "makers"; technical people who enjoy building stuff as a hobby. Many start out with a 3d printer or hobby level lathe or mill, and quickly outgrow it. There is a substantial market for inexpensive CNC machines that did not exist 10 years ago, and recent advances in electronics have dropped the costs of building these machines to a fraction of what they were before.
SwissMak - The Mill Turn Center for your machine shop by Overlord Robotics Corporation —Kickstarter
So I built a couple prototypes of a machine design that I found to be very useful. This is a mill-turn layout, which lets it make typical lathe turned parts, 3 axis mill parts, 5 axis parts, 3+2 and anything in between. It's optimized for bar work through the spindle, and anything in the size range of a 2 liter soda bottle or smaller, although it can still swing much larger diameter parts. This style of machine also allows sub-spindle/backside work, regular tailstock work, and even removable trunnion table workholding between centers. It fulfills the needs of people who are making complex metal parts but cannot afford or justify a full sized mill turn center.
Most of the internet skepticism has been directed toward the solid aluminum structure, on the assumption that it will ring during cuts. In a nutshell, the structure is very stiff but doesn't dampen vibration within the aluminum itself; rather it just passes vibrations through to the vibration damping pads that the structure sits on top of. This method works just fine since the spindles are only 2 horsepower. It's obviously not the machine for roughing big inconel blocks.
So far the Kickstarter has over $134,000 pledged, and there is approximately a 1:4 ratio of people who actually pledge for a machine versus people who say they're waiting until after the Kickstarter batch is shipped to place orders. The plan is to use the Kickstarter funds to set up shop and produce the first ~30 Kickstarter machines, then produce them continuously a la carte. After the Kickstarter batch is done we'll introduce a heavier built cast-iron version with larger motors and servos on all axes for industrial customers.
So in the coming weeks and months I'll be posting a few more threads here on PM, like a New Machine Day thread as soon as the big VMC hits the shop floor. Let me know your thoughts on this, and any advice you have on what to do/what to avoid based on your own experience running a machine shop. If you have any questions, ask away, but read the Kickstarter first!
SwissMak - The Mill Turn Center for your machine shop by Overlord Robotics Corporation —Kickstarter
So I built a couple prototypes of a machine design that I found to be very useful. This is a mill-turn layout, which lets it make typical lathe turned parts, 3 axis mill parts, 5 axis parts, 3+2 and anything in between. It's optimized for bar work through the spindle, and anything in the size range of a 2 liter soda bottle or smaller, although it can still swing much larger diameter parts. This style of machine also allows sub-spindle/backside work, regular tailstock work, and even removable trunnion table workholding between centers. It fulfills the needs of people who are making complex metal parts but cannot afford or justify a full sized mill turn center.
Most of the internet skepticism has been directed toward the solid aluminum structure, on the assumption that it will ring during cuts. In a nutshell, the structure is very stiff but doesn't dampen vibration within the aluminum itself; rather it just passes vibrations through to the vibration damping pads that the structure sits on top of. This method works just fine since the spindles are only 2 horsepower. It's obviously not the machine for roughing big inconel blocks.
So far the Kickstarter has over $134,000 pledged, and there is approximately a 1:4 ratio of people who actually pledge for a machine versus people who say they're waiting until after the Kickstarter batch is shipped to place orders. The plan is to use the Kickstarter funds to set up shop and produce the first ~30 Kickstarter machines, then produce them continuously a la carte. After the Kickstarter batch is done we'll introduce a heavier built cast-iron version with larger motors and servos on all axes for industrial customers.
So in the coming weeks and months I'll be posting a few more threads here on PM, like a New Machine Day thread as soon as the big VMC hits the shop floor. Let me know your thoughts on this, and any advice you have on what to do/what to avoid based on your own experience running a machine shop. If you have any questions, ask away, but read the Kickstarter first!