One doesn't necessarily appreciate having a few extra square feet of space in your work area until its gone. I think any shop owner would suggest that any openings on the shop floor act like a vacuum, sucking up new projects or tools to fill any voids left by the removal of something else. With the much anticipated arrival of our new Thermwood C35 CNC router we have experienced this rather drastic reduction in floor space and the slightest twinges of remorse over our lost square footage. Yet as we begin the tear-down for a new CNC control system the excitement and anticipation of what this new machine brings MechArtisan in terms of capacity and project envelope keeps us pushing ahead at a healthy clip.
The arrival of the machine from the fabricator was rather uneventful with the clever application of a roll-back truck for delivery.
The man behind the wheel really knew how to position his rig as well as the load on his rig. A job which we all expected to turn into an epic tale of folly was over before we knew it.
Of course, there had to be at least one close call to be a true equipment moving experience...
Frankly we weren't really expecting to be able to load the machine into the shop with the control box still strapped to the deck, but with less than 1/2" to spare we were saved the trouble of removing the box prior to offloading the machine.
You can see the deployed lifting arms in the image above. The system works very well and turns a 4000lb machine into an easy 2 person move. None of us suspect the Thermwood will move around much, but to have the option to relocate it due to project need will allow us to work around the new rig more efficiently.
Work has begun on the process of removing the original control cabinet and during the control retrofit we are generating a full conversion video series which will be up in segments on our YouTube channel in the coming weeks and months. Our intention is to provide a technical resource for those wanting to perform a CNC control retrofit using industry standard practices and components. The series will highlight control retrofit methods, product selection and implementation and initial debug and tuning. If you're contemplating a new CNC control for your outdated machine please do check back in as the videos start appearing.
If the arrival of a new machine wasn't quite enough excitement, the MechArtisan team has also been busy working on a couple exciting R&D projects as well as getting ready for a very large run of aluminum molds through the CNC mill. Over the next few months we'll be processing around 600lbs of aluminum billet into some new mold inserts for a local outdoor adventure products company. As the chips start flying we'll start throwing up some pictures and videos of some precision aluminum forms being liberated from solid blocks of 6061 Alumiunum. Stay Tuned!