Dallas machine shop
 

At the competition we heard that there will be a machine shop set up. Are there any details as to what tools the machine shop will have? Drill press? Lathe? Saws? ETC...?

Re: Dallas machine shop
 

NASA's machine shop has all of the above...But I believe they use them not you. so you kind of drop the parts off?

They did some awesome on-the-spot weld work for us last year.

Re: Dallas machine shop
 

NASA has a semi-trailer with all the basic machine tools in it (lathe, mill, bandsaw, TIG welder, etc).

As animenerdjohn said, you don't touch the machines. You drop your parts off with a drawing or sketch of what you need done. They will machine them for you on a first-come first-served basis.

Re: Dallas machine shop
 

Also keep in mind their limitations...

Our good friends 1296 dropped off a destroyed swerve module one time. NASA told them not to even expect it back the same day.

Id suggest only using them in an emergency - try to do as much as you can on your own.

Re: Dallas machine shop
 

Oh, and you must supply the raw materials. They don't have any.

Re: Dallas machine shop
 

... which they fixed in a few hours - unbelievable skills!

Re: Dallas machine shop
 

They did do a good job with that.

Do we have to bring our own aluminum stock then?

Re: Dallas machine shop
 

better to bring your own metal - they may have some small things but in general they do not have stock

HTH

Where can I buy stock then? I know I can get some through our machine shop, but let's say I have a piece that's 5"x5"x5" and needs machining.

Re: Dallas machine shop
 

McMaster-Carr or OnlineMetals.com are two possible places to order almost any kind of stock.

// Is the 5"x5"x5" piece a solid bar? It will probably take hours for the machine shop at a competition to make if there is any significant weight reduction. Generally the competition machine shops only have a manual mill and lathe, along with a variety of other smaller tools like a drill press, band saw, etc.

Re: Dallas machine shop
 

It was just hypothetical. I just wanted a measure on the abilities of the shop. So maual pieces smaller than probably a 4" cubed inches of volume is the most ideal. Anything else, you would rather bring copies or if this is a newly needed part at competition, make sure you use your engineer brains to make the design smaller with the same functions :]