Buying, Running, and Building Successful Businesses Around CNC Machines.

TOPICS:

• ST-20Y is back in business
• Tolerance Creep & Squeezing the Most Out Of Your Machine
• Tornos Lovejoy coupler slips during production
• GK Quarantine Vlogs - Second Nature Machining Tips and Tricks
• Finding Center Lines On A Y-Axis Lathe
• Fusion 360 NC Program Feature
• Simplifying Lathe Workflow - Lockwood's WCS & Container Method in Fusion 360
• Dovetail Workholding
• KERN - Tooling in Groups & Fusion 360 Cloud Library

Although the world is changing, one thing remains constant: the love of CNC machining!

Saunders is ecstatic to be reunited with the ST-20Y AND he's taking notes on how to get the absolute best parts the machine can produce.

Contrary to popular belief, you can't just buy a KERN, input the code, and have amazing parts appear. According to Grimsmo, the machine brand will only get you so far and the rest depends on tweaking and improving your process, even just that tiny bit more.

While lifestyle creep is to be avoided if possible, tolerance creep is definitely something you need!

Lovejoy Coupler Slips During Production The year-old Tornos has been opened up to be serviced by Elliot Matsuura's technician. The coupler that attaches the motor to the ball screw is specifically designed to slip so nothing is ruined in the event of a crash; however, since the servo motors contain the enocders themselves, the machine is not aware of a mechanical slip, meaning it'll keep making parts out of spec until you catch it.

MAKE LATHES GREAT AGAIN Grimsmo and Saunders hash out details on finding the center line on Y-Axis lathes. Grimsmo knows the best way takes a little more work but it's perfect every time.

Saunders has a do-while loop while he runs a certain number of parts. He shares how he wants to use a variable to streamline his post processor. Other ways to streamline and improve workflow come from Rob Lockwood. By implementing Lockwood's container method for programming parts and using a repeatable WCS, G55 stays put and the lengthy NC instructions on checking and setting offsets are a thing of the past!

Click Here for a Video on Part Programming Using Lockwood's Method.

KERN - Setting Up, Tooling, & Planning Grimsmo hasn't cut anything on special K for a while. Is he allowing fear to hold him back? With a large chunk of steel that could fall and damage the machine, he's not sure if he can trust dovetail workholding.  Grimsmo shares how he wants the tools and sister tools to be organized and how he's using the Fusion 360 cloud library.

Up Your Confidence Bank Each time you keep a promise to yourself, your confidence account gets a little raise. Although Saunders crashed the lathe, he didn't let shell-shock stop him from moving forward. The only way Grimsmo will get that raise is if he gets off this call and pushes cycle start!