Does anyone on here use it, I just got last night and installed it this morning, haven't gotten a chance to play around with it and have never used it before.

Well just wanted to see if there were any other users on the club. Comments, tips, tricks will be appreciated, thanks guys.

 

Got started on the sturt tower bar I want to make, here is the brace so far, about 20 minutes of work.

 

I use solidworks, although I use an older version currently.

 

Intake Manifold...

Let me know what you guys think.

 

i'm a very avid solidworks user. if your just getting started the tutorials are actually fairly helpful, but if you have any specific questions I'm sure I can answer it for you.

 

Thanks. its appreciated.

 

why is it that everyone has to have cad cam and cnc machines to make anything anymore?-i make everything from scratch -lay it out on sheet metal and figure out the pitfalls of the machining tooling placement and design before you make it .just my 2 cents-----jason

 

and for the price of a crappy old g and m code machine (what most can afford) you could buy way more machines and tooling than the cost of one machine that takes up a ton of room (unless you have the$ to buy a table top hass model makers mill - most the time the old school machines are way more handy than a mazak the size of a tank anyways---i have ran cnc and manual machines by the way ---oh the hass machine is huge as well you cant make that big of parts in it either-i dont even know if you could fit a full size kurt vise on the table?

 

give me a regular bridgeport a good lathe with a tail stock a vertical bandsaw and a couple of welders anyday over all that crap --oh and if you want a rotory table with your cnc thats going to be another big chunk of change as well-mine come on and off with a couple of bolts no electrical crap to burn up along with all the other servos that fry out on those machines-and yes i do know you can get a cnc bridgeport as well-no thanks i dont even need a power drawbar either ---the hands on stuff is way better to me unless your going to make 3000 of one part------anyone on here that can run a real machine?---with out mazatrol or g+m codes----honestly i hope so ----makes you have to use your hands and your brains

 

I use solid works. But not always for CNC purposes. You can design a product and save on material cost through trial and error. Especially on something like an intake manifold where solid works has flow dynamics to test it.

Software like this is useful in so many ways. I somewhat agree though, because i sometimes prefer using manual machines over a CNC, and design as i go. But you can NEVER duplicate the steady smooth hand of a computer. I would like to see you machine a velocity stack on a manual mill...

 

oh and dont forget about the 3 phase power and the oil coolers that you need to run a lot of these machines unless your doing it at work ---under the table (dont get caught ) i live out in bfe and almost all my machines are single phase ---well i have a bridge port that i bought and hooked a phase converter up to --and a hardinge turret lathe (that was a tough one to get going) it has a rotory phase converter and a step up transformer to get up to 440 off of single phase and still only draw only 16 amps at start up ---only a few amps running-super handy machine 8 tool turret --i made all the tool holders for it as well -thse machines can still be bought cheap --i only paid 300 bucks for my hardinge -because of the 3 phase issue

 

why wouldnt i be able to ---thats crazy---you must not have that much experience ----set the compound on the lathe and run it out -readjust and match the taper --if your talking a radius before the the taper your goin to have to use a special tool just for cutting a radius$$$ i dont have one so i would step the shape and make a radius gauge to match it up ---ive been around the block a while ---im a tool and die maker

 

to get a large enough hole for a stack you would have to have a big lathe --mine swings 31 1/2 inches and has a number 4 taper in the tail stock --enough for a very large drill to rough the hole out to have more than enough room for the boring bar -never made a stack but im guessing the angle is somewhere around 5 -10 degrees---one degree is around .017 in an inch

 

and i wouldnt even try to make that on a vertical mill ----and with canned cycles on a g+m it would take forever-----a veriaxis mazak with the tornado milling cycles it could be made easily ---but show me someone that has the $ or the room at home for that machine---where i work if you get caught makin crap for your self -----------ah can you say **** canned? and most the time a stack is made of sheet metal anyways ---and im thinking of ones like on a v-8 not the short ones ive seen on rice burners

 

im just glad some one on here has an interest in making their own stuff not buyin autozone made in china crap ----i like my machines because i have got them back running and they were cheap ---too bad the tooling isnt ----have you bought a carbide endmill latley?1/2 2 flute $50.00-----its sad the car hobbyis nothing like it was when i was a kid and my dad was building street rods--the rod like what you are making is somewhat like what im going to need for my car (only a lot more heavy duty ) i putting a 462 (real )big block chevy in my fc-its funny how people think the 427 aluminium ls motor is a big block ---its not its a small block

 

now that i think about it i could make a stack on a vertical mill --it just depends on how tall the stack is ----if you roughed a hole thru the middle on the lathe (this is dependent on the outside being a for the most part solid diameter )at least an area to locate on. then use a 5 c collet to hold on the outside with a collet closer mount it on center on a rotory table and this is where the length is the problem (like more than 3 inches)the tools would not be long enough . you could even use a tapered die sinking endmill $$----or the common sense way to make one would be on a lathe a boring bar and an insert doesnt cost jack compared to the tooling you would need on a mill for anything long and it would take no where near the time to make---if the outside is tapered it would be a whole new ball game but could be done.jason

 

He didn't ask about your abilities or your opinion 'gearhead670' not to mention you posted 6 times in a row? Having a conversation with yourself?

He asked, "Does anyone on here use it, I just got last night and installed it this morning, haven't gotten a chance to play around with it and have never used it before.
Well just wanted to see if there were any other users on the club. Comments, tips, tricks will be appreciated, thanks guys"

I have used the older versions, and looks like you getting a good feel for things. I use AutoCAD on a daily basis for 8 hrs a day. I played with Solidworks in school and took a few classes. It seemed much easier than Inventor.

CNC is way more effecient at making parts that doing them 'by hand' not to mention they're more accurate and faster to produce.

Old guys just can't imagine a computer controlled mill doing a better job than they can.... Just like robot welders...

 

im not sayin i a mazak is a killer machine iveset them up and ran them --but the bottom line is with all the software in the world without a machine it does you no good ---and if your makin all the parts at work i hope you own the place thats for sure. and im not as old as you think!its not that a cnc isnt faster and better than a manual machine its that most people will NEVER have a mazak (even an old one in their garage) id love to have a mazak vqc 20/40 mill but in order to own one you would have to have 3 phase right off the road and one heck of a lot of space for it. and by the way i run a weld logic robotic welder at work thank you very much

 

and its all talk -why not -dont seem to be too many people on here that dont get all bent out of shape talking about the what if or why --hell id buy a fleet of fast cars if i could afford them -but best i can do is build them ---best part is i enjoy doing it

 

I bet you are a great machinist.... But one thing I'm sure of is, your full of yourself and stuck in your ways.

Why so scared of software? I use solid works renderings for a visual and design ideas. You can also test fit in solid works to see if changes need to be made. Stress factors, weld strength, flow testing, strength issues, ect. ect. ect. Try that with a pencil and graph paper. You'll be there for weeks filling up notebooks with formulas and re-drawing everything. When i can do it all in an hour with Solid Works.

Then have a 2d print made as a reference when machining on a manual machine... I suppose you never use power feed either, huh? Why make things harder on yourself. Technology is your friend. Especially when it's easily understood tech.

 

I've run both CNC and maual machines before, and I prefer CNC if for the time savings alone. Manual machines have their place, but CNC is the way of the future, like it or not. There are things CNC can do that are just impossible (or at least impractical) on a manual machine (like complex 3D tool paths). It's this reason that I went out and bought myself a nice 4 axis CNC machine. Granted it's no HASS, but it's perfect for what I do. It's even made in the USA. That being said I still sport an old Logan 200 manual lathe, and I love it as well.

As far as CAD goes, i'm right with sen2two. The practicallity of seeing the deisgn, interferences, and design flaws before ever making a chip is priceless, even for a hobbiest such as myself.

 

you must be the minority if thats the case (owning your own cnc at home that is) i have a huge garage but even buying the smallest (within reason )cnc would be way impractical as i have 3 mills and 3 lathes already as well as 2 band saws 2 drill presses (one with a dedicated tapping head) a surface grinder a press even an old *** filing machine ---my garage is 50 by 30 and to have any more room to add --what i would want (20/40 vqc mazak )would never fly -also a mazak has no where near the guts my old brown and sharp has -im so not full of my self i believe some of the people on here have a complex or something! and running and programing cnc machines thru the years i know how involved g+m code programing is -the programs are huge !mazatrol isnt bad at all but a lot more pricey a machine to buy -its great that rousting a few poeple on here lets me know that there are at least a few on here into machining -no one except you has answered the where you make your parts issue yet --just the holders to start with are super expensive for any kind of cnc as well-the tooling (cutters endmills turning tool holders ) but it part of the game .my brown and sharp takes a cat 40 taper and im glad i got more than a few when i bought the machine in pc`s.-again if i had a shopping center for a garage and a bank roll of a stock broker id have me at least a veriaxis mazak and an inergrex----whats money ya know!!

 

haha, no kidding. if I had the space and money i'd have a bunch of super cool toys. i personally have my CNC mill, my manual lathe, band saws (vertical and horizontal), press, grinders, drill press, bent sanders, and a TIG welder. I need to start collecting some sheet metal tooling!

 

amen to that!---id love to get a brake and at the very least a shrink stretcher (i think eastwood sells those ) and a plasma cutter ---those are very handy for stainless

 

the nice thing about having a bandsaw is that even with sheet metal you can switch blades (18-24 pitch and cut it as well (anyone with a band saw knows ya cant cut thin stuff with a corse blade) my vertical band saw is homemade --uses vw hubs as the driver wheels and has almost 3 foot clearance to the blade ---uses a 20 to 1 gear reduction 3 pulley diameters to slow down or speed up the band speed ---it has good do-all blade guides --bought them-must have