Dissection with a side of chips.

  As the middle of July approaches MechArtisan continues to push forward with Thermwood CNC router revisions as well as some intense CNC machining operations. In addition, the team has been pursuing some very interesting projects in a number of different sectors both within Maine as well as in the greater Northeast. With the pursuit of these opportunities we have been fostering new relationships with complimenting material and support providers around the state and have been pleasantly surprised by the amount and quality of resources we have within the Southern Maine region. 

  The Thermwood control has been stripped out in its' entirety. We were able to find buyers for the old Perske router spindle as well as a number of the internal controller components. 

  During dis-assembly we discovered evidence of past machine abuse which wasn't disclosed by the seller. This is always a bit irritating but luckily the damage was limited to components which we were planning on replacing anyway. The Z axis actuation was wrecked with two blown linear bearings and a severely overloaded and bent ball screw assembly. We also found the ball dual ball nut in the Y axis linear drive is severely worn and will require some new recirculating chrome steel balls. On the positive side, all 3 Baldor 2.5kW (3.3hp!) servo motors are in very good condition and were recently retrofitted with new 600 count encoders. The encoder counts may prove a bit light for our precision requirements but we're going to run them first before making a decision to upgrade. 

  Mick has been busy designing our new extended travel Z axis which will take us from 5" of Z travel to 12". In addition to the actuation redesign, we will be adding 8" riser blocks to the gantry to allow 20" of clearance. We are beginning to assemble parts and are hoping to dig into controls within the next 2 weeks.   

 Aside from router revisions we have also been doing some complex 3D mold machining for a client. The project began with some 3D CAD model issues which we helped to resolve and then we spent a considerable amount of time perfecting the CNC code to optimize tool paths and provide the best surface finish possible. The entire component is manufactured from a single piece of 2.5"x 4.5"x 12" Aluminum 6061-T6 billet which begins weighing just over 13 lbs.   

After approximately 170,000 lines of CNC "G Code" has run down the screen, we end up with this...

And of course, this.... 

  The finished component is then polished by hand. The 13lb block of aluminum now weighs 2 lbs. Initially the CNC code took 7 hours to run but after a significant amount of optimization we are now producing finished components off of the CNC mill in 4 hours and 10 minutes. This particular project has pushed us to improve our CAM programming abilities as well as explore the intricacies of high speed aluminum machining. Our primary cnc mill is limited by its' 3 hp 5000 RPM spindle but we are still able to manage a material removal rate of just under 3 cubic inches per minute. This new level of understand both of the programming involved in efficient material removal as well as the correct tooling selection to affect that removal is exciting and will be of great benefit as we quote complex cnc machining work in the future.

  In the coming weeks we hope to see significant progress on the Thermwood and will be sure to keep our blog followers up to speed when it starts coming together. 

The last bit of space.

 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!

Arrival

This has been an exciting week for the team at MechArtisan. The arrival of our new Thermwood CNC router started the week with plenty of excitement and once again reiterated that having the right tools for the job is really the only option when you're moving large equipment.

We began the process of unloading the 4200lb package from the trailer with a severely undersized fork truck and a pallet jack. It was painfully clear that we were in trouble, especially since we had every intention of depositing the load onto a waiting trailer for a trip over to a local fabrication shop for a modular base frame. Luckily for us a second fork truck on the premises added the lifting capacity we needed.  ​

Don't Try This At Home

This was certainly a good example of how NOT to safely lift a load. Luckily all worked without a hitch and we safely loaded the machine to the waiting trailer.

And this is how to Properly maneuver equipment. Leave it up to the guys at a heavy equipment fab shop to have the right tools for moving around big stuff. The Lull was just the ticket and safely moved the router from the trailer to the fab floor to begin construction on a modular rolling frame.

After un-crating it is clear that this machine is everything it was advertised to be and we are enthusiastic about what this will add to our capabilities moving forward. Once the frame is complete we will begin the work of stripping the control system for a fresh start with new digital servo amps and a Mach3 PC based control. ​This entire process will be documented in our first CNC Conversion Series which you'll find on YouTUBE in the coming weeks. Please do stay tuned.