Here's an image from ArPa's website. Color & trim of the mill match, and block wall with a compressed air line running horizontally along it at the same height, match in both photos.
It's ArPa's Lagun machining center.
Computer controlled pipe makers
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John Mulhern
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Re: Computer controlled pipe makers
Good spot, Rory!
Here's an image from ArPa's website. Color & trim of the mill match, and block wall with a compressed air line running horizontally along it at the same height, match in both photos.
It's ArPa's Lagun machining center.
Here's an image from ArPa's website. Color & trim of the mill match, and block wall with a compressed air line running horizontally along it at the same height, match in both photos.
It's ArPa's Lagun machining center.
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Mike Hulme
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Re: Computer controlled pipe makers
Pipemakers have got on without CNC for a long time and it isn't necessary. While I was in Chris Bayley's workshop he was working on his Boxford VSL and the only concession he made to computer technology was to use a Heidenhain DRO to accurately place toneholes, and mark the start and end points for key blocks. That being said he then proceeded to turn down the key blocks completely with a narrow skew chisel, ambidextrously. I asked him why he did not choose to use the form tools he had designed for this stage of operations and he said that he had been doing it this way for so long that it was faster for him, as he did not have to start and stop the lathe to change tools. He also said that frequent starts and stops would wear out your motor and capacitors faster, which would cost both time and money. There is a photo of his lathe on his website.
From the point of view of repeatability his other lathe (another Boxford) is fitted with a Curvilinear attachment (after Holtzapfel) which is used to make mounts.
I bought a DRO for my Myford, and it does make the job a lot faster.
From the point of view of repeatability his other lathe (another Boxford) is fitted with a Curvilinear attachment (after Holtzapfel) which is used to make mounts.
I bought a DRO for my Myford, and it does make the job a lot faster.
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hpinson
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Re: Computer controlled pipe makers
On a desktop CNC (lathe, mill), like the very affordable Sherline system, turning cylinders, tapers, precision horizontal drilling, slotting, and cutting is relatively trivial. CNC variable taper boring and reaming is not at all trivial, and really would take some high end and costly gear, and a lot of R&D time to succeed at. There is a great deal of art and skill in the CAD design and CNC programming, which seems to get overlooked. I'd go so far to say that artful CNC programming that results in something other than, at worst, a trashed, or at best an unaesthetic workpeice is a rare (and valuable) skill. I'm convinced there really are savings for certain processes in CNC, but the investment in machinery and a new skill set is high. I think more makers adopt some form of CNC in their build process than let on. DRO is a good example, like Mike says. They just don't talk about it much.