[acejunker]

Attachment 244722

Hey guys. I joined my dad very recently in his shop. I asked my dad and workers on how the performance of the machine is?.They told me it's working fine.

Me: Is this a good machine?

Reply : Yeah we are using this from 2009. It's good

Me: What jobs have you run on the machine? What accuracy can you achieve?

Reply: This machine is used for a single cast iron job. We have to machine volumes of 10000 per month. At times it goes upto 16000. So we are running the same job from 5 years. We did try to run few other jobs, we machined hubs for gears, but had to dedicate this to the customer since we are the single source. So generally speaking it's being using to machine cast iron.

Me: What additional features does the machine have?

Reply: Its has through coolant. But we hardly use it. The filters get clogged and the operators are negligent. Or worse, they show attitude when asked. Also the job doesn't require through coolant.

Me: What operations are performed on the job?

Reply: Spot facing, drilling, tapping

Me: What tolerance is being achieved?

Reply: Hole true position within 0.1mm

Me: This tolerance is easily achievable. We can run this on a drilling machine.

Reply : Try managing the labour for those volumes and you will run away. Also each job has 9 drilling operations and tapping for one hole. It's highly tedious for anyone to handle those operations to keep up with demand.

Me: So now if I want to run precision jobs is it possible? Is this a production machine or tooling machine ?

Reply: We have never ventured out asking for NPD( new product development) I am already 55 and I can't bear to hear the stupid questions from those purchase idiots who know nothing about machining and are programmed to cut prices.But I believe it should not be a problem ? I have no clue if its meant for tooling or production.

Me: So how can I check the accuracy of this machine? It's running from 5 years? There has to be some wear and tear.

Reply: We don't know. You come up with few ideas. Show your performance. I had no one to guide me when I was your age. Find out.

Guys I know it's a long post. I tried to make it as interesting as possible. Hope you got the context for which I have asked this question. Appreciate any feedback .

[Riddersholm]

You could measure backslash on the ball screws, runout of the spindle, strightness of the guides and the ballscrew to see how straight the machine and also see of it have had a major crash

[Darko D.]

Hi,

on everything Riddersholm suggest i would add Ballbar measure, best way to see geometry status.

Darko

[mactec54]

acejunker

If it has had no maintenance in 5 years, you are doing 10,000 parts on it a month (Plus), then you should get/buy another machine as a back up so you can do other work as well, & take that machine out for some maintenance, it's more than payed for with that work load it has had

One of your answers you said the holes could be drilled on a drill press, & hold 0.1mm true position, ( you are dreaming ) If the drill press was CNC controlled yes it would be possible, but a regular Drill press this would not be possible

As Darko D. has said a Ballbar test will check the accuracy/condition of the machine all in one setup not much down time to do that, the Table would have to be cleared & the spindle cleaned

[acejunker]

What would it cost to invest in a ballbar test kit.. Worth the investment if you have only one machine?? What cost to get the test done from a service engineer??

[acejunker]

Also what test do you do for a CNC lathe performance test?? A ball bar test for lathe also??

[mactec54]

Also what test do you do for a CNC lathe performance test?? A ball bar test for lathe also??

Yes just a different setup,here is a contact for India, you would not buy one, they are very expensive, you get the company to come & do the tests, up to $300 per test, Your Hurco would of had a Ball-Bar test when it was built, you may find it with the machine manual/ documents Etc, you can then compare the two if you get it done, this will tell you what kind of shape your machine is in

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