Very cool man. Very cool.
CK5
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Machine shop land: Pics & Videos from my job
- Thread starter Avery4jc
- Start date
My grandfather was a machinist, I always enjoyed spending a couple weeks in Arizona watching him work.
Can't beat that boring machine for in certain situations.
Can't beat that boring machine for in certain situations.
Nice work and great pics Avery. I sure miss conventional machines. You never watch the clock are ALWAYS busy. Day goes by quick. I have turned thousands of threads in my day.
Wow! That is some amazing stuff, looks like a job that can really hold your interest with such a variety of tasks.
I thought you might like this.
Someday I'm going to talk the shop into getting a small toolroom cnc lathe so we can mess with high volume small stuff. It couldn't ever replace what we do conventionally but it gets insanely tedious when making even 20+ intricate small parts.
Yeah it keeps you thinking that's for sure. Summers suck, it's really hot here in the valley but overall it's nice. I can think of worse jobs.
It is quite the variety and I haven't even introduced you guys to the other half of the shop. We work on hydraulic cylinders from simple reseal jobs to machine every part from scratch and manufacture a cylinder type jobs. We also have a big dynamic balancer next door that we use for a variety of jobs.
you've developed quite a skillset, props... 
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I love seeing machines work metal and make useful parts. Takes me back to wood machining days at the cabinet shops I worked at. X, Y, and Z axis.
Always running figures and converting fractions to decimals keeps your brain sharp.
Always running figures and converting fractions to decimals keeps your brain sharp.
I am always amazed by the amount of CAT engines that don't have sleeves.
Martin
Martin
Stomis
Professional Amateur
How does that machine work? Wire feed and the nozzle rotates at the machine?
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Yeah, you take your standard gun off a MIG machine and put this in its place. It feeds the wire up through another box that stays stationary. The box is powered and rotates the tip around. It's all adjustable so you can set the rotation speed (which is always proportional to how fast it backs up through the hole).
With a combination of wire speed on the MIG machine and how fast you set that box to rotate you can dial in how much overlap each pass has.
If you Google "Climax Bore Welder" you can see more info.
1BEATK5
1/2 ton status
This may be my new favorite thread
The guys I work for are really cool and I don't take advantage of the equipment available for personal stuff very often but when I need to make something it's nice being able to just make it happen.
I ran down on a Saturday morning when I was installing the air bags on the back of my Dodge and machined these cool aluminum cradles. They bolt to spring perches that I welded on the axle and catch the bottom of the air bags.
I ran down on a Saturday morning when I was installing the air bags on the back of my Dodge and machined these cool aluminum cradles. They bolt to spring perches that I welded on the axle and catch the bottom of the air bags.
A1971Blazer
1/2 ton status
Very nice to see a younger guy get into machining! I've been a machinist for over 40 years....it's all I've ever done.
You are going about it the same way I did.......learned the manual machining concept first....(and it looks like you have very well) then move into the CNC.....it's so much more efficient.
I started my own shop about 20 years ago and never looked back.
Couple of pics of some 4 axis stuff we did for a local National Laboratory a while back.
They are developing high-efficiency electric drive motors for electric vehicles.....that's all they would tell me.
Housing end......made from 14"billet aluminum
Main Housing.....same material
Part of the inner workings.....2 halves doweled together...billet 8620 steel
Other half assembled.......Total run out tolerance ±.001
You have chosen a career that will enable you to make just about anything you can dream up......and when you get your own shop........you'll acquire a LOT of "friends"......
You are going about it the same way I did.......learned the manual machining concept first....(and it looks like you have very well) then move into the CNC.....it's so much more efficient.
I started my own shop about 20 years ago and never looked back.
Couple of pics of some 4 axis stuff we did for a local National Laboratory a while back.
They are developing high-efficiency electric drive motors for electric vehicles.....that's all they would tell me.
Housing end......made from 14"billet aluminum
Main Housing.....same material
Part of the inner workings.....2 halves doweled together...billet 8620 steel
Other half assembled.......Total run out tolerance ±.001
You have chosen a career that will enable you to make just about anything you can dream up......and when you get your own shop........you'll acquire a LOT of "friends"......
Nice! I actually took a bunch of solidworks, rapid prototyping, mastercam, and hands on cnc machine shop classes out of high school at the local city college and loved it.
I wish our shop would step up and look into cnc. We do a lot that cnc doesn't make any sense and we're always so busy I understand why it isn't a high priority to them. Maybe someday...
I wish our shop would step up and look into cnc. We do a lot that cnc doesn't make any sense and we're always so busy I understand why it isn't a high priority to them. Maybe someday...
Cool thread. I like seeing stuff like this.
lol, I can imagine!........you'll acquire a LOT of "friends"......
That's some nice looking work! What's the name of the shop?
PM sent...
I mentioned some aluminum hubs earlier that go with those rollers I posted. I'm making a batch of twenty this week. Should take about 20 hours or so but obviously I can't always work straight through a job that lengthy without having to stop for other stuff so this has been my week long project between other stuff.
Tomorrow looks all clear though so I should have time to finish them. There's two 3/4" holes for some drive pins and a three hole metric bolt pattern that's counter-bored to recess an allen head bolt.
Tomorrow looks all clear though so I should have time to finish them. There's two 3/4" holes for some drive pins and a three hole metric bolt pattern that's counter-bored to recess an allen head bolt.
runamok151
1 ton status
I've always envied someone who has the skills and machinery to make stuff like this.
On a side note, how much would it cost to make a widget?
On a side note, how much would it cost to make a widget?
I've always envied someone who has the skills and machinery to make stuff like this.
On a side note, how much would it cost to make a widget?
$90 an hour plus whatever fee we feel like adding on that's directly proportional to how big a PITA the customer is.
Oh and I finished these today but had to rush some parts out to a big customer at the end of the day. I'll deburr them and snap a pic Monday.
