Pulled the Trigger on a PM 45 CNC...

[AlanR]

As mentioned, there is still a little clutter to clean up... The mill is now sitting where the grinder used to be and it's temporarily moved a few feet out of the way...

Still... then the grinder was pretty close to your old mill too.

 

[David]

I'm ready to see you make a part Ray! You may just be able to take away some of the mystery and complexity that people like myself associate with CNC. Thanks for sharing.

Good luck with the business startup!

David

 

[drs23]

Here we go... Shop is returning to normal now and the new mill is in place. Just a little clutter to clean-up.

I powered-up the mill and connected the computer. It recognized the controller card and I was able to install the drivers. It should be ready to go but, I'm new to Mach 3 and need to review a bunch more stuff before making any attempt to make it do something. By tonight, I'll be happy if I can make the X, Y and Z axis move.

Along the way, I was taking pictures of the he setup process as I intend to make a user manual as I go along.

Ray

Good man Ray. I'm sure future purchasers as far a current owners will benefit greatly. Especially since it will be written in 'mercan. :biggrin:

 

[Ray C]

Now is the time for me to move carefully. In three days, I have revamped the entire layout of the shop. I also moved the surface grinder a few inches, moved the drill press, the dust collector (haven't run the suction line yet) as well as the sandblast cabinet. There was a small cache of round and flatstock behind the surface grinder and that is now placed outside in the shed with organized shelves. Good heavens, I must have moved a ton of metal. I threw a lot out... Something tells me a lot of you guys would like to sort through my drops pile -which is pretty much going in the recycling barrel. I still need to move the bandsaw and move the welding cart into a semi-permanent position. Anyhow, a lot of change taking place... And while doing all this, I'm busy with improvements on the web site, adjusting quickbooks, finalizing and settling all the business permits (finally all done with those as of today)... The list goes on -and I'm loving every moment!

Anyhow, the addition of a CNC was a strategic move that doesn't need to get rolling for several months. Now that it's here, I don't want to screw it up on the first day. I'm going to spend a full day of reviewing Mach 3 before attempting to do anything serious. I'm taking very good notes on every step as well as taking a lot of pictures... It's very time consuming -and every now and then, my dog insists that I take a break and go for a walk...

Ray

 

[mattthemuppet2]

I threw a lot out...

noooooooooo! You wouldn't happen to be passing by central PA next time you're heading up to Pittsburgh would you?!

congrats on the new mill, looking forward to seeing it up'n'running

ps. I make great coffee

 

[Ray C]

It's Alive!.....:rocker:

Well, at least 4 out of 5 pieces anyhow... X, Y, Z and 4th axis (Rotary Table) all move under "manual jog" control through Mach 3. I have not tried spindle yet and as a matter of fact, can't find a "jog" button in Mach 3 that blips the spindle. I'll investigate that with a little more reading.

Anyhow, feeling pretty good right now... This the first time I've ever used Mach 3 and it only took a half hour of transcribing the parameters into the profile -and bingo, the 4 basic axis worked first time...


Ray

 

[turner505]

Hello jbolt,
I'm looking for a mill/drill and was wondering how you felt about your 932. I'm only planning on doing model steam and such. Would yours work for that kind of thing well?
I just took delivery of a new 12 x 36 ShopFox Gunsmith Lathe but don't have lt set up yet. They forgot to send me the stand.
Anyway I'd appreciate your thoughts and opinions.
Ray sure has a nice setup but that's way out of my league and price range.
Thanks,
Houston

 

[Ray C]

Hello jbolt,
I'm looking for a mill/drill and was wondering how you felt about your 932. I'm only planning on doing model steam and such. Would yours work for that kind of thing well?
I just took delivery of a new 12 x 36 ShopFox Gunsmith Lathe but don't have lt set up yet. They forgot to send me the stand.
Anyway I'd appreciate your thoughts and opinions.
Ray sure has a nice setup but that's way out of my league and price range.
Thanks,
Houston

Hi Houston...

I think you may have better luck posting the question about the 932 in a different thread or possibly, do a search for it. It's a very common mill and many people are pleased with them. I happen to know there are a couple 932 mills in stock. They have the power downfeed option. ...No problem posting your question here but you might not get to many answers in this thread.

I will contact you in a private message both about the mills and how to search for information on this list...



Ray

 

[wquiles]

Great thread. Thanks Ray for all of the detailed process/pictures :thumbzup:

 

[Ray C]

Hi Folks...

I finally setup the new table for my keyboard and mouse. How's it look? The nice thing about this setup is that if you get ticked-off at the computer, you just put the keyboard on the table and let the mill take care of the dirty work.

Anyhow, except for the 4th axis, the mill is about ready to roll. I should be cutting my first part in a day or so.



Ray