Anyone willing to teach a Bridgeport class, either group or 1 on 1?
First step is to complete the self-study portion of the course, at this link.
This wiki page has the instructions on where to submit your quiz after you’ve completed the self-study course.
Completing the self-study course and submitting the quiz alerts people that there are candidates ready to take a class.
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Do you have any prior machining experience on a knee mill?
Finished the quiz. And nope, only home cnc experience.
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I dont recall seeing your email come through with the quiz results.
I’d be happy to pay $50 for 1-on-1. I can do any time Mon-Wed and before 4 on Thur-Sat.
I would love to help, myself. Unfortunately I have a lot of plates I’m juggling currently.
Down 6 guys at work, 2 personal vehicle issues, normal chairman work, etc…
Maybe one of the members of @Team_MachineShop_Ins can.
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Keep in mind that the Bridgeport training is only how to use the controls to run the machine. It will not teach you any machining skills.
If someone is willing to do a 1-on-1 with you, I would strongly urge you to watch some machining videos.
The Machine Shop committee wiki has links to some instructional videos. You should watch videos 4 - 7 in this series - even if you plan to take the structured class.
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Thanks for the advice, I’m watching them now.
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Pierre,
I should be able to give you the machine side training in the next week. Or even this Sunday. Unlike Tim, I am retired and only have to juggle being old and tired.
It sounds like you are eager to get started with some sort of project.
Regards,
Bob
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Thank you! I can do Sunday after 4pm if possible. And yes, I’m trying to make molds for glassblowers that don’t 30hrs on my home cncs.
I blew glass in college and just met @brianmace who blows glass at SiNaCa studios in fort worth.
Can you elaborate on the molds you make?
I’ve been making these small pour/stamp molds. You can either cut off the gather of glass into the hole and “pour” it in, or thread the back and use it to stamp into glass.
I just got a new Shapeoko that let’s me make 2-part press molds (this one makes an ash tray). Hopefully once I can use the Bridgeport and HAAS, I can make bigger molds and blow molds too.
Not to be a kill joy, what you have is a CNC part, not a manual mill part…
Compound complex curves on a manual mill like above part is extremely difficult for even a very experienced master machinist (you are adjusting the X-Y constantly as it moves, then in the Z axis to make the next cut down. You are doing this equation with your hands:
only your hands have to solve X and X simultaneous by adjusting table relative to the spindle. Both are accelerating or decelerating constantly relative to the other ordinate.
The Haas definitely can do it. We have knee-mill attachments that allow circular cuts (easy with rotary table) and some oval type cuts that are based on circular constant arcs If there is under cutting would be limited by the radius of a ball cutter from the edge of shank - on both the Haas and knee mills unless you have tooling that allows repositioning of the part. To even make it close to smooth surface, figure .001" depth of cut … inch deep a thousand passes.
If this is what you want to make, go straight to the Haas or some CNC unless you have super-human hand coordination.
The HAAS is definitely the end goal, but I have to take the Bridgeport as a prerequisite. Until then I can use the Bridgeport to clear out rough cavities and then use my CNC for the exact shape.
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Dave,
Not to be a joy resuscitator, but if one takes the circle as being centered at the origin point (both x and y =0) then the equation becomes: XX - YY = R*R which looks less intimidating. Still, doesn’t give me the feeling that a human could do it.
Pierre,
I think that I can do after 4pm on Sunday.
Regards,
Bob
Free-handing the X&Y I totally agree. I know I damn sure can’t do the X & Y at the same time with constantly changing changing deltas in the X & Y realive to each other.
In fact I doubt I could cut as a straight line that has a slope other than 0* or 90* (X or Y axis) has X & Y must change at the same time (slope), even a 45* where they are changing at the same rate is beyond me. Would be an interesting contest challenge to do a 45* line freehand. Using the DRO and doing each X & Y seperately at increments of .0001" would probably look good, but just a 1" cut would require 2,000 very precise adjustments
That’s why I mentioned the rotary table. I the part is mounted on a rotary table, as I mentioned above, with the spindle first located at the center of the circle, then X&Y = zero, then move the table a distance equal to the radius (R), then rotating the rotary table, it will cut a circle equal to the diameter as the radius would remain constant since the point of rotation remains offset as the circumference passes the under the same point of spindle or if a partial, can calculate length of cut using trig or simply the proportion of degrees divided by 360 then that fraction multiplied by the circumference.
Thanks for offering to help. Let’s schedule it for 5pm on Sunday.