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New member from Ontario

C

Carbuilder

New Member
Hi there,

I can't believe I hadn't stumbled on this forum before. I've been on machining forums for a long time and frequently search for machining related sites. Anyways, I'm here now. I live just north of Toronto.

Here are the main machines I have:

CNC router built from Kronos Robotics plans. This is a really nice, solid machine. I've got a water cooled spindle on it. It is mainly used for wood and plastic these days. I did use it for aluminum, which it does very well, but bought a small CNC mill for that now. This runs with Mach 3.

My CNC mill is a Sieg KX1 running with Mach 3. I think this was literally the last one that The Little Machine Shop sold, before they switched to the Tormach ones. It has an enclosure, and I added a mist system and a high speed spidle next to the regular one. This has been a great machine that has made well over 500 parts over the years; I've made a lot of aluminum custom car badges on it.

I have a small CNC lathe, a Taig one that is called a "chucker" lathe. I replaced the control system with a touch screen Masso unit and changed to a controllable drive. Obviously it is used for small parts and the accuracy/repeatability is amazing.

I do have manual machines too, a Precision Matthews mill and a lathe. I'm thinking of adding an electronic lead screw system on the lathe.

I have slowly built up the shop as I got into different projects. These are all for hobby use, but have sold some of the things I've made; the car badges mainly. A lot of the parts I make are to do with car projects when restoring and/or modifying them.

I used to have a Busy Bee 3-in-1 machine. Don't listen to people telling you that these machines are no good. I've made some pretty impressive projects with it, including this one:

Sorry, not supposed to put links since I don't have enough posts....I'll add it later.

My current on-and-off project (ongoing for many years) is a Little Demon 1/5 scale gas powered V8 engine from plans. I have a few videos on making some of the parts:

Sorry, not supposed to put links since I don't have enough posts....I'll add it later.

So that's basically it.

Rick
 
welcome from Toronto proper.

We need more members from the GTA, so I'm glad that you found us.

My brother and I share a two car garage shop at his place, and I am just restructuring my garage and basement (tiny) to be able to move my chipmaster lathe home, and put a cnc router in the basement. I'm building it on a 24" x 36" surface plate. I also hope to convert a small mill in future.

At my brothers we have a bridgeport, a colchester master 2500, and a 8x24 hydraulic surface grinder we plan to swap out for a manual grinder that better fits the space. We welcome visitors as our schedule allows, since we are trying to build a strong community in the GTHA and slightly beyond
 
Welcome from 4 hours West in Chatham Farm Country.

Nice setup you have! All my stuff is manual cuz I'm old and I enjoy turning leadscrew handles.

Pictures are always welcome.
 
Thanks very much guys!

Some pictures:

CNC mill. High speed spindle mounted to the right of the main spindle. I use small cutters a lot (1/16" to 1/4") and the smaller ones like a high speed; the high speed one goes to 29,000 RPM. The 4th axis (rotary) is just sitting on the side; it gets mounted to the table when I need it. A mist cooling system was added, which is really needed with high speed cutters in aluminum.

Screenshot 2024-10-30 at 12.42.01 PM.jpg

CNC router. Water cooled spindle running up to 24,000 RPM. Uses Mach3. It will fit up to around 30" x 26" material. I figured the water cooled spindle would be quieter than an air cooled one. Turns out it really doesn't matter. The scream of the cutter in the wood drowns out any other noise!

Screenshot 2024-10-30 at 1.01.53 PM.jpg

Precision Matthews manual lathe. No modifications........yet. The paper towel is to soak up oil from a leak, which is fixed now.

Screenshot 2024-10-30 at 12.42.17 PM.jpg

Precision Matthews manual mill. This is a very nice machine. They get them from Taiwan and then do whatever tweaking they need. Very precise and solid machine. Both the lathe and the mill have DRO's installed. One of those things that when you get one your only regret is that you didn't do it sooner.

Screenshot 2024-10-30 at 12.43.05 PM.jpg

Taig CNC lathe. Modified with a Masso touch screen control so no external computer is needed. Also a brushless motor with an optical encoder to allow things like threading. The Little Demon project has made very good use of this where many small precision parts are made in quantities of 8 or 16.

Screenshot 2024-10-30 at 12.45.50 PM.jpg

If you want any info on any of these or have any questions, just ask.

Rick
 
Carbuilder said:
Thanks very much guys!

Some pictures:

CNC mill. High speed spindle mounted to the right of the main spindle. I use small cutters a lot (1/16" to 1/4") and the smaller ones like a high speed; the high speed one goes to 29,000 RPM. The 4th axis (rotary) is just sitting on the side; it gets mounted to the table when I need it. A mist cooling system was added, which is really needed with high speed cutters in aluminum.

View attachment 53575

CNC router. Water cooled spindle running up to 24,000 RPM. Uses Mach3. It will fit up to around 30" x 26" material. I figured the water cooled spindle would be quieter than an air cooled one. Turns out it really doesn't matter. The scream of the cutter in the wood drowns out any other noise!

View attachment 53576

Precision Matthews manual lathe. No modifications........yet. The paper towel is to soak up oil from a leak, which is fixed now.

View attachment 53577

Precision Matthews manual mill. This is a very nice machine. They get them from Taiwan and then do whatever tweaking they need. Very precise and solid machine. Both the lathe and the mill have DRO's installed. One of those things that when you get one your only regret is that you didn't do it sooner.

View attachment 53578

Taig CNC lathe. Modified with a Masso touch screen control so no external computer is needed. Also a brushless motor with an optical encoder to allow things like threading. The Little Demon project has made very good use of this where many small precision parts are made in quantities of 8 or 16.

View attachment 53579

If you want any info on any of these or have any questions, just ask.

Rick
Click to expand...

wow impressive. clean too

ps I like the masso controller on the taig
 
TorontoBuilder said:
wow impressive. clean too
Click to expand...
I try to keep things clean, but they don't stay that way for long. I find the mill hard to keep clean. The one-shot oiler makes a mess and trying to vacuum up oily swarf just plugs the hose. A good eye will see the CNC mill has about 2" deep aluminum cuttings all around it; good thing it has an enclosure. It is due for a cleaning. But making new parts is always more fun than cleaning!
 
Carbuilder said:
I try to keep things clean, but they don't stay that way for long. I find the mill hard to keep clean. The one-shot oiler makes a mess and trying to vacuum up oily swarf just plugs the hose. A good eye will see the CNC mill has about 2" deep aluminum cuttings all around it; good thing it has an enclosure. It is due for a cleaning. But making new parts is always more fun than cleaning!
Click to expand...

I'm spending a lot of time planning my cnc router so I have automated chip collection, and coolant filtering when cutting aluminum. I'll need a great enclosure too since my location is near the back door where the dogs exit to the yard. Can't have a single chip on the floor of my wife will kill me
 
Thanks for sharing the pictures. Great looking shop setup with equipment that looks like it was in a showroom last week.
 
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