Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] To the moderator

Thanks Doug. But I was thinking of using the tracer mill.Then got interested in a cnc project.And as I already Have a Gorton Ex CNC in great shape with ball screws etc as Jon has suggested if I do one I will try that one. But untill I find out some things the ability is.???? Smile Whitey----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Pollard
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 7:22 AM
Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] To the moderator


Jon Elson wrote:

>
> whitey wrote:
> > Jon thank you.Jon first I am a gun and car nut so any parts I would
> make would be fairly small. I just thought it would be nice to be able
> to duplicate a part when needed for myself. (not for money) I started
> to look for a tracer mill.
> Hydraulic tracer mills are a nightmare I wouldn't wish on an enemy.
> There were some electronic tracers, but they were quite rare.
> Anyway, a 3-axis CNC is a lot more flexible than a tracer, and anyway,
> with CNC, you can always tweak the dimensions a little to get the part
> to come out exactly right, much easier than sahving a hair off your
> tracer pattern.
> > Then my old interest in cnc came back. And from what I had been
> seeing on the net etc.About conversational cnc etc.as That would make
> it simpler (I think) and if not too expensive it would be fun to learn.
> >
> I'm not sure any of the hobby-level CNC programs are "conversational",
> although EMC2 and Mach have some of these features.
> I have a bunch of little programs that write the G-code I need for a
> number of the most common operations, and I use that for most of my work.
> > The Gorton mill.Had been sitting for many,many years In a shop that
> the owner had bought it new.And it was used very little as I guess as
> it was used the holes in the paper got stretched and would lose it's
> accuracy.So it just set gathering grim. I got it at his auction years
> ago when he went out of business.I threw away all the old stuff (and
> the mice)smile and used it as a manual mill (it is still like new) I
> did leave all the motor mounts etc and still have all the belt pulleys
> etc.
> > Jon I would not mind getting one of those new super X-3's if
> necessary as the work envelope would be plenty big enough for me.
> But, the stiffness and power might be way too low for gun and car parts
> from hard materials. Really, it likely will cost less to convert a
> larger machine than to buy a small machine and convert it properly. If
> you already have a working machine with ballscrews, I think it is a
> prime candidate!
>
> I have a fairly decent Bridgeport, and I couldn't imagine making all
> sorts of stuff I do on a smaller machine.
>
> Jon
>
>

I worked in a shop In Fort Lauderdale that bought a fairly large
hydrolic tracer mill. Because they are a nightmare they bought it for
almost nothing. We put ball lead screws and stepper motors in it in
place of hydrolic cylinders. They used a ptogram that ran in windows
which was a bit of a problem. I think they used widows 95 so widows
would go nutz now and then but it really made a good heavy duty machine
though you could never be sure when it would crash. The price was
right. I would not reject a hydrolic tracer as a possigle conversion if
you have the ability to convert it.

Doug






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