Something I've never done before...

Bob

Well-known Member
Made a pilot nozzle for an LP gas furnace... Messed up the angled tip a bit when I advanced the crossfeed a bit instead of backing it off, but ain't gonna hurt it's function. Made it from 7/16" brass hex stock.

Oriface size is .021".

<img src = "http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/27Grainfield/Stuff/LPa_zpsyetmdz0b.jpg">

<img src = "http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/27Grainfield/Stuff/LPb_zpsmgfzxegt.jpg">

<img src = "http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/27Grainfield/Stuff/LP3_zpsxtdtalkn.jpg">
 
Question-- would someone proficient in CNC use prefer to program a machine for one part or do it manually like you did?
 
(quoted from post at 02:44:50 01/09/17) Question-- would someone proficient in CNC use prefer to program a machine for one part or do it manually like you did?

I always figured that doing it manually was better for a one off, but a lot of younger guys go cnc for everything. One commented to me "I've never run a machine with handles" ( Makino employee ).
 
Looks good. I have never run a CNC machine. My 100+ year old Monarch gets it done for me. And it is fun for me.
Richard in NW SC
 
I'm curious: Wouldn't a brass plug with a .021" hole in it work just as well? Why the need for the taper?
 
Another thing, drilling a .021 hole probably is the trickiest part unless it's very shallow. I can't imagine a CNC lathe having the "touch" sensitive enough not to break the drill.
 
I will answer that. I owned a CNC shop that I sold last year. Unless it was just to face a part on a lathe or something extremely simple or just clean up a surface on a mill or again do something extremely simple like drill a hole in an existing part it can be done quicker on a CNC including programming. Not every shop or every person would be that efficient but I was. I was well equipped with a lot of tooling already in the machine and most often needed tools already in holders and pre measured for offsets. Reference points on the mills should be known and on the lathes a zero would not need to be picked up instead the stock would be placed a pre determined distance from the chuck face and the program would take care of the Z zero location. It takes some thinking outside of the box to get to this level but yes it can be much quicker and of better quality than what can be done manually. I made a lot of money being able to do jobs that could have been done manually but had the ability to do them in half the time and of higher quality. My main work was production runs but I did a fair amount of one offs and prototyping.
 
I did thousands of column end fittings in 316 Stainless steel with a .016 thru hole .150 deep. I would get 500 pieces before I would change a drill. The key was the correct feed, peck depth, and most importantly having the drill perfectly on center. I would indicate the drills to .0001 TIR (Total indicator reading) on center. I had very accurate machines that would hold a tool that close to being on center and used thermal compensation to keep it there. I could have run the drills longer but determined close to when they would break due to wear and changed them out to avoid loss of parts and other involved tooling.
 
Jim , you are doing things that other's cant do and that's what it takes to make money in a machine shop these days. Way too many people are banging out carts full of simple parts for cheapo money as I am sure you know. It remains that the average guy, with average programming skills and the average tooling in his tool changer would spend much more time making one simple part such as that nozzle on a CNC than a reasonably skilled person making same part on a manual machine.
I am doing same as you, doing things others cant do (or cant make a profit doing) but being as I have ZERO programming skills my shop has gone the opposite path from yours. It is apart time operation but could easily be full time if I wanted it to be. It is 100% manual machines and my work is 99% one off parts that are about equally split between new and repairs to existing pieces. Not being a total caveman I do have DROs on everything. A big surprise to me was the purchase of an old G&L HBM that was supposed to be a toy for my hobby work but I have a huge back log of work for it,mainly bore repairs, sleeves etc. If I had room for a BIG lathe I could keep it busy with one off work also but I am too old and don't want another career, LOL
 
Butch,You are right I carved out a niche and invested in programing that I customized myself to be able to do what I did. I also had the right equipment and tooling setup to be able to do this. I had no interest in doing what everyone else was doing as I did not want to compete with business's that were not smart enough to acquire an edge and their only attribute is cheap machining. I did what others could not because I knew that was where the money was. It sounds like you have carved a great niche for yourself and are doing well. My start in the trade was an apprenticeship at a shop with large boring mills and big manual lathes. That was the highlight of may career machining parts over 150,000 lbs. I have sold and retired at the early age of 53 and am looking for my next adventure. Good Luck to you and congrats on your success.
 

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