Quote:
Originally Posted by Lil Giants
I thought you mentioned last fall that were going to have this loader done by Cabin Fever?! 
Judging by your hand on the skid plates, is the bucket width gonna be something close 12 inches? |
Yes bucket is going to be over 13" wide, 13.75? Forget exact but somewhere around that. And agree with that statement about going to be done by cabin fever,,,, sometimes I think I would have been a lot further along doing it the old way, on paper sketches and in my head.
. I did not realize how much I would have to learn and put to practical use. To tell ya the truth, the machineing part is pretty simple and efficient. I still stand there and watch because I'm still amazed how the machine moves.
the majority of time is spent in front of the computer. I'm getting fairly efficient in the design and the cam programming. But the think ahead about size/shape of raw material. How much the cost is and how to hold and work the parts. That is what takes a lot of time and research. like right now I'm working on bucket sides. Raw stock is 6" by 3'. Need to cut 6"x5" plates. Hold them in vise to drill fixture mounting holes. Then make a fixture with those holes. Machine top and sides then flip over to machine bottom side. I'm doing it this way because I can get .25" thick stock and part is .25" thick. And for these parts any discrepancy in raw material thickness is negligible , maybe a couple thousands. And I'm a firm believer in running simulations in computer. Always have to check and recheck that cutters and motions of machine are doing what they should be. And now I've been cutting steel I've had to figure out correct feeds and speeds. All in all I've broken about a dozen tools. Mostly 1/8" stuff and mostly under 15-20$. Still cheaper than a local semester of machineing classes. And university of YouTube is a quicker learning practical application. Every time I think about attending a school by the next day I've figured it out. I really don't like learning but I like making this stuff more so that wins out
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