I think most machinist want a cnc but for good reason and myth they are scared

[coolidge]

Keven45: All of us that have run a CNC for more than a very short time have crashed one.

Not me, I have several years running CNC machines and zero crashes. My brother has run his Haas and Mori lathes and mills for 18+ years...zero crashes. Its altogether possible to run CNC machines without crashing them. Knowing the thousands of dollars to fix them will come out of your own pocket helps. He did have a bolt snap on a Haas tool carousel once, the entire carousel fell off CRASH...while he was taking a dump that was some hilarity. lol

 

[JimDawson]

Not me, I have several years running CNC machines and zero crashes. My brother has run his Haas and Mori lathes and mills for 18+ years...zero crashes. Its altogether possible to run CNC machines without crashing them. Knowing the thousands of dollars to fix them will come out of your own pocket helps. He did have a bolt snap on a Haas tool carousel once, the entire carousel fell off CRASH...while he was taking a dump that was some hilarity. lol

You live a charmed life. I would go buy lottery tickets.

 

[RJSakowski]

I have owned a mill/drill for thirty years and have had a DRO on it for ten. When I retired, I bought a Tormach PCNC770; largely because it allowed me to machine parts that could not be done any other way. I have had it for three years now. I use SolidWorks for CAD, SprutCAM and HMS Express for g code generation, and Mach 3 for machine control.

There are obvious pros for a hobbyist CNC. You can machine complex shapes that cannot be done otherwise. You can easily produce multiple parts and the consistency is generally improved over manually produced parts. You can walk away (sort of) during machining although without an ATC, it is usually not for very long.

Cons? It oftentimes takes longer to generate the G code than to machine the part. When typing a letter, a typo just puts a red line in. A typo in a G code program can be disastrous.

CNC's are dumb. They don't care if fixtures are in their path or if you forgot to set up your tool heights in the right coordinate system. A crash can destroy your part, the tool, or your machine in an instant. If using a CNC manually, you don't have the tactile feedback that you have with a conventional mill. It is easy to overload a tool.

I have worked with a number of job shop vendors who keep a Bridgeport around for one-off jobs. One had four Haas VMC's and his most recent acquisition was a Bridgeport. Another had two machining centers which he sold when the recession hit, replacing them with three Bridgeports.

Bottom line? I like my CNC and would not give it up because of the additional capabilities it provides. But I think that there is value in starting with a manual machine and gaining the experience. If you need the additional capability, go for it then.

 

[coolidge]

You live a charmed life. I would go buy lottery tickets.

Jim its the manual machines that are crash prone, my manual lathe went GRRRAAAAHHHHH about an hour after I started using it. (face palm)

 

[T Bredehoft]

I've just read this entire thread, and wish to add my two cents worth.

I worked 28 years as a Tool Maker (capitalized, I have a Journeman's card) the last eight or 10 years I was exposed to CNC, first through coding, M and G, then through Mazak and their wonderful software and machines. I personally prefer G codes. I've written hundreds, possibly thousands of programs standing at the machine, punching in the codes. reading from a blue print for data. I wrote many many subroutines, which I could call up.

I retired in 2000 at 62, and find now that I miss the adventure of work. I have a tiny lathe (Atlas Clausing 3950) and hope to soon get a PM25 mill. I hope to have CNC on it eventually, because I can make true smooth curves with CNC that I can't do by hand. Programming will be by G code, though, No point in drawing a picture and having the machine write the code. I can do that. Below, if I can get a picture on here is a Lucite plate I made in preparation for a bronze plaque for a machine. It's 6 1/4 inches wide, 3 1/4 inches tall. I programmed the logo and each individual letter, installing them on the machine as subroutines, all done with G codes. I could then call each letter up by its Ascii no.



I'm proud of my programming skills, hope to be able to use them in the future, but as long as I can get a mill and make chips, I guess I'll be happy.

Tom

 

[dracozny]

My Z axis on my Mill is currently under CNC. My main reason for converting was for accuracy. turning dials vs just punching the coordinates in on the machine. I have eliminated a lot of error on my part as well as the machines even if I am just entering MDI commands. I'm loving canned cycles!

 

[hermetic]

I build machines, very rarely are two alike, and I am not a model maker. I do not want cnc, and wouldnt buy it even if I could afford it. By the time I have programmed a cnc, then set it up with the stock to make a single part, I have made that part on a manual machine, and fitted it. I have 2 lathes, both pre 1970, two mills, and a nice shaper. Probably the biggest reason why I don't want it is that I am simply not interested in the concept of cnc, and If my shop was full of cnc machines, I would have no reason to go there, and would not love what I do as much as I do now.
Phil

 

[coolidge]

I build machines, very rarely are two alike, and I am not a model maker. I do not want cnc, and wouldnt buy it even if I could afford it. By the time I have programmed a cnc, then set it up with the stock to make a single part, I have made that part on a manual machine, and fitted it. I have 2 lathes, both pre 1970, two mills, and a nice shaper. Probably the biggest reason why I don't want it is that I am simply not interested in the concept of cnc, and If my shop was full of cnc machines, I would have no reason to go there, and would not love what I do as much as I do now.
Phil

So you know nothing about modern CNC you have no experience with it but you are confident you can out produce them on manual machines?

 

[Holescreek]

So you know nothing about modern CNC you have no experience with it but you are confident you can out produce them on manual machines?

I didn't see anything in his statement that said he could out produce a CNC machine, just that he wouldn't get any enjoyment from them.



A few months ago I made a comment that something took too much time and another member replied that as hobbyists, time is unimportant. (Of course he was wrong, but I didn't say so)
I machined professionally for several decades, started on manual machines but eventually transitioned to NC with punched paper tape controls and so on until CNC came along and saved us all from having to learn how to work manually.

I'm no longer in the trade, lucky enough to have gotten out before wages took a dump as the era of full time button pushers was ushered in. I have a pretty nice home shop and even have a 4 axis CNC mill I built myself. I rarely ever turn the CNC mill on unless I have a production job that warrants it (I still do side work now and then), and then only if I have something interesting to work on while it's running. I actually prefer using one of my Bridgeports and all those pesky accessories (rotary table, dividing head etc.) that make machining interesting and not just a "job".

Don't get me wrong, I know how important CNC is for shops to make money and fully support the idea of making a good living. What I don't get is why so many home hobbyists feel the need for a CNC machine when many of them don't know how to make parts manually.

I do like being able to engrave text. The CNC beats the heck out of trying to find room for a big engraving machine!

 

[coolidge]

I do like being able to engrave text. The CNC beats the heck out of trying to find room for a big engraving machine!

I use a company called Front Panel Express in Washington state, its a pretty cool niche business. They wrote their own CAD software which they provide for free to customers, even the cost quotes are built in its pretty slick.

Oh Bill...the front panel of your 12z ^^^