Short Report (Cabin Fever)
Posted by
Matt Shaver
on 2001-01-27 22:48:27 UTC
Well, surprise, surprise, my car survived the 2 hour ride up (and back!)
to PA on Saturday to see the show (wonder how it's going to feel about a
12 hour ride to Detroit in April...). Got to shake hands with Bill
Anliker and took in Ron Ginger's lecture on CNC for the home shop (my
main reason for going). He did a good job of giving an overview of the
retrofit process and also discussed CAM systems. He also heavily plugged
the list, so here come a bunch of new members I'll bet.
Some other observations:
1. There's a LOT of model making hobbyists, way more than I would have
ever imagined!
2. They've built some amazing stuff like radial airplane engines, and a
miniature Hardinge lathe. As a machine work contractor, I can't begin to
imagine what some of these things were worth, considering how long it
must have taken to build them.
3. I was really impressed with the small machines, especially Sherline.
Nearly my entire experience with machine tools, CNC and manual, has been
with full size machines. I'd never actually seen a Sherline or Taig in
person, and I have a new respect for their quality. I can't tell you how
many .06" pins and such that I have made on my 14" lathe, and I would
much rather have sat down at a table and used a little lathe like those
rather than stand all day in front of a big machine. I saw another
machine, an older horizontal, that was also pretty nice looking made by
a company called Burke. I don't know if they're still in business or
whether they make anything else, but it looked like a nice little machine.
4. I also liked the look of Prazi machines, but I was turned off by the
salesmen. They were dressed up in black sport jackets and slacks with
yellow ties so that they matched the color scheme of their machines.
Call me funny about these things, but this was a hobbyist show, not
IMTS! They just came off as too slick and high pressure (It sort of
reminded me of when my Mom was getting estimates on having her roof
re-shingled. One guy showed up in ,I swear this is true, a red Ferrari
convertible). That said, they looked like very nice machines, and I
think I could replace my 14" South Bend with one of those 6" models
without losing all that much.
Anyway, it was well worth the drive,
Matt
to PA on Saturday to see the show (wonder how it's going to feel about a
12 hour ride to Detroit in April...). Got to shake hands with Bill
Anliker and took in Ron Ginger's lecture on CNC for the home shop (my
main reason for going). He did a good job of giving an overview of the
retrofit process and also discussed CAM systems. He also heavily plugged
the list, so here come a bunch of new members I'll bet.
Some other observations:
1. There's a LOT of model making hobbyists, way more than I would have
ever imagined!
2. They've built some amazing stuff like radial airplane engines, and a
miniature Hardinge lathe. As a machine work contractor, I can't begin to
imagine what some of these things were worth, considering how long it
must have taken to build them.
3. I was really impressed with the small machines, especially Sherline.
Nearly my entire experience with machine tools, CNC and manual, has been
with full size machines. I'd never actually seen a Sherline or Taig in
person, and I have a new respect for their quality. I can't tell you how
many .06" pins and such that I have made on my 14" lathe, and I would
much rather have sat down at a table and used a little lathe like those
rather than stand all day in front of a big machine. I saw another
machine, an older horizontal, that was also pretty nice looking made by
a company called Burke. I don't know if they're still in business or
whether they make anything else, but it looked like a nice little machine.
4. I also liked the look of Prazi machines, but I was turned off by the
salesmen. They were dressed up in black sport jackets and slacks with
yellow ties so that they matched the color scheme of their machines.
Call me funny about these things, but this was a hobbyist show, not
IMTS! They just came off as too slick and high pressure (It sort of
reminded me of when my Mom was getting estimates on having her roof
re-shingled. One guy showed up in ,I swear this is true, a red Ferrari
convertible). That said, they looked like very nice machines, and I
think I could replace my 14" South Bend with one of those 6" models
without losing all that much.
Anyway, it was well worth the drive,
Matt