Pretty cool video
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 459
Likes: 2
From: Hawaii
Pretty cool video
From a big block of aluminum to a engine block.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsmiI...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsmiI...eature=related
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 5,356
Likes: 2
From: No HOA, New Hampshire
Cruise-In X Veteran
St. Jude Donor '09
Those machines are awesome when they work. Part of my job is to repair them when they don't work. My hats off to the guys and gals who design them. 
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,756
Likes: 0
From: Wichita KS
I am also a machine maintenance mechanic. Watching that spindle come so close to that cylinder on a deep cut as the table rotated, was a bit scary. The coolant looked like plain water, I doubt it was though. I hate getting inside machine boxes like that. Everything is slimy. Tools break and fall into the chip conveyor, causing it to jam. Then it's my job to dive in there and fix it. I've watched tools fly out of the spindle and smack the sides of the machine, so boxes are nice in that respect. Removing sheetmetal to change a C-axis table position scale isn't as much fun as watching it throw chips though. As long as there are machines, there will be problems. And that's my job security. Long live C-Axis disconnect!!!! And spindle crashes!!! Oh, and drawbar tension loss. Can't toss a tool at 17K without a loss of drawbar tension. Ballscrew nuts wear out. It's an endless job but I love it.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 4,724
Likes: 16
From: Little Elm TX
That Matsuura is in the neighborhood of 200k+ if you want one.... good machine though with an excellent reputation as most Japanese Machining Centers are.... but damn expensive.
Anybody need a CNC for their garage mill or lathe, let me know
Anybody need a CNC for their garage mill or lathe, let me know
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,756
Likes: 0
From: Wichita KS
We use Makino's for our heavy hoggers. They are in the multi-million dollar range for a cell of four. Plus the shuttle system. I recall one part of solid titanium weighed 1500lbs going in and weighing 800lbs after machining. I don't know much about the parts they manufacture, just the repair end.
In this video, it looks like two machines are used. Could be because of limited tool storage in the tool changer magazine. The programmer used some very nice software, that much I do know. No jerky motion. It's fluid between start & stop motion. I remember several years ago installing Fanuc hardware on a Wolverine Cub 2-spindle for some new drive & it's software program. The machine was a testbed. Anyway, after they wrote a small program to make what looked like a mold fixture. GM sent a team down to observe it's abilities. Wish I could remember the name of it. It was the first of it's kind, but today it's old technology. Boeing had money to do a lot of developing back then. Today composite's are leading edge technology. What Spirit is doing in the composite area, other countries will not have for a few decades. We built our own machines. It doesn't exist anywhere else in the World. I just hope the damn economy holds together so we can sell these composite fuselages. Wait till you see one of them.
In this video, it looks like two machines are used. Could be because of limited tool storage in the tool changer magazine. The programmer used some very nice software, that much I do know. No jerky motion. It's fluid between start & stop motion. I remember several years ago installing Fanuc hardware on a Wolverine Cub 2-spindle for some new drive & it's software program. The machine was a testbed. Anyway, after they wrote a small program to make what looked like a mold fixture. GM sent a team down to observe it's abilities. Wish I could remember the name of it. It was the first of it's kind, but today it's old technology. Boeing had money to do a lot of developing back then. Today composite's are leading edge technology. What Spirit is doing in the composite area, other countries will not have for a few decades. We built our own machines. It doesn't exist anywhere else in the World. I just hope the damn economy holds together so we can sell these composite fuselages. Wait till you see one of them.
