Recommended Tools and Machinery for Your Team's Machine Shop

[sanddrag]

I'd recommend a saw such as the Rage Evolution over a horizontal bandsaw. A vertical bandsaw is nice to have though.

Do you have sufficient computers for programming and CAD? Cords and outlet strips?

Do you have a good solid workbench and vise?

Do you have storage? Shelving, container bins, and parts organizers?

Keyway and hex broaches are nice to have, as well as an arbor press.

A 7/8 and a 1 1/8 TCT hole cutter might be good, depending on what bearings you use, and what material you put them in.

I see a lathe as one of the first major investments to make.

[Jetweb]

For our team the most used tools we actually have in our shop are our vertical bandsaw and drill presses. Next for us is having access to a good quality mill and lathe which is essential when you get into fabricating drive trains and mechanisms. Our team has been lucky and been able to utilize sponsors equipment so we didn't need to buy our own. Other tools we have and often use are our arbor press, belt/disk sander, heat gun (for bending pvc and plastic), and chop saw.

In the category of tools that we have and don't use is a large harbor freight combination mill/lathe that we rarely use since it is just awkward to work with, instead we end up using our sponsors equipment.

[BrendanB]

We purchased a mini benchtop lathe this past season. Our shop also has limited resources since it was setup as a woodshop and not necessarily a metal shop like some of our neighbors have. Band saw (horizontal and vertical), miter saw, table saw, drill press (small and large), large lathe (for wood only), and a small CNC that we use for plastics and sometimes metal but it takes time.

Before dishing out a lot of money for tools and fancy machines your team should sit down and ask what type of capabilities would you like to have and would you use them effectively. It would be a shame to invest a ton of money into tools and machines you won't use. Tools also don't make winning robots or better robots. I know of a few teams who have resources in their highschools one can only dream of and yet they haven't made eliminations in several years. The tools you listed are the same I used on my old team and we produced some very good robots with a few parts outsourced to local shops.

For us the mini lathe was a great investment especially with making roller parts this past season. I'd recommend it but its not a must have.

Good luck!

[Phyrxes]

One of our more recent purchases is heater bar to make cleaner bends with sheet plastics than using a handheld heat gun.

[TD78]

Originally Posted by Phyrxes

One of our more recent purchases is heater bar to make cleaner bends with sheet plastics than using a handheld heat gun.

Would you have a vendor/part # available for this heater bar? Thanks!

[Mk.32]

IMO having a mini lathe/mill [full sized if possible] in the shop as well as a person that can run/teach the tools is amazing.
While we don't have the machine tools in our shop, we have access to them at a sponsor company off site, and using them we were able to expand what we able to do ten fold.

[MichaelBick]

Originally Posted by Phyrxes

One of our more recent purchases is heater bar to make cleaner bends with sheet plastics than using a handheld heat gun.

Usually you don't need a heater bar. 1/16" polycarb bends on a brake.

[Phyrxes]

The heater bar is used mostly for thicker thermoplastics that wouldn't bend cleanly in the brake when cold, like 1/8 or 1/4 inch hdpe or nylon.

[ksafin]

Originally Posted by Mk.32

IMO having a mini lathe/mill [full sized if possible] in the shop as well as a person that can run/teach the tools is amazing.
While we don't have the machine tools in our shop, we have access to them at a sponsor company off site, and using them we were able to expand what we able to do ten fold.

Personally, I have trouble thinking of what to even do with a lathe..

Could you guys give me some ideas? The only thing that comes to mind are rollers for a conveyor belt.

I'm by far not the best mechanical member of our team, so I may not have the mechanical imagination that some of you do, but I'd like to hear some examples of what a lathe has enabled you to do.

[Phyrxes]

Originally Posted by TD78

Would you have a vendor/part # available for this heater bar? Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/ft-Strip-Heate...c+sheet+bender

We ordered through amazon instead of the manufacturer.

Common lathe usage is to turn down stock to a smaller diameter or to turn down hex shaft to round stock so that "normal" bearings can be used. You also have the option to turn your own pulleys or wheels especially if you also have access to a press and broach.

[Mk.32]

Originally Posted by ksafin

Personally, I have trouble thinking of what to even do with a lathe..

Could you guys give me some ideas? The only thing that comes to mind are rollers for a conveyor belt.

I'm by far not the best mechanical member of our team, so I may not have the mechanical imagination that some of you do, but I'd like to hear some examples of what a lathe has enabled you to do.

For the lathe that we used, we have done spacers [about 40?], shafts [wcd/gearboxes dozens of these], pulleys/rollers, hubs for wheels, custom minibot wheels, custom wheels in general etc.
Pretty much anything round goes into the lathe. You will find more uses as you go along, I am not saying machine tools are necessary but they can help a lot. For example I don't see any other way to make a shaft true then with a lathe.

[MichaelBick]

In addition hubs, gears, and pulleys. All your round parts will need a lathe because it is very hard(almost impossible to make them accurately) to make them without one.

[ksafin]

Budget Aside, I wanted to get your input on my ideas about a few new tools to buy..

Here's a list:

Rolling Cabinet 30" $150 http://www.harborfreight.com/11-draw...fQ%3D%3D%0D%0A

16" Variable Speed Scroll Saw $64.99; $59.99 with coupon. http://www.harborfreight.com/16-inch...saw-93012.html

Combination 4" x 36" Belt / 6" Disc Sander $79.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-...der-97181.html

3-1/2 HP 14" Industrial Cut-off saw $99.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/3-12-hp...saw-68104.html

18 V Cordless Jigsaw $29.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/power-t...saw-68242.html
1 ton Arbor Press $47.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-a...ress-3552.html

Horizontal/Vertical Metal-Cutting bandsaw $249.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/horizon...saw-93762.html

115 Piece High speed drill bit set $35.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/115-pie...index-528.html

Automatic Center Punch $2.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/spring-...punch-621.html

130 Piece Tool Kit with Case $34.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/130-pie...ase-68998.html

6" digital Caliper w/ Fractional & metric readings $24.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/6-digit...ngs-68304.html

10 Piece Diamond Grit File Set $7.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/10-pc-d...sets-6989.html

7" Wire Stripper w/ cutter $4.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-...ter-98410.html

Ratcheting Crimping Tool $9.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/ratchet...ool-97420.html

Soldering Station $19.96 http://www.amazon.com/Soldering-Stat...4412642&sr=1-2

60 Piece Alloy Steel Tap/Die Set Metric & SAE Fractional $39.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/60-piec...set-35407.html

10 Rolls 3/4" x 60 ft Electrical Tape $4.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/interes...tape-6047.html

12 in Ratchet Bar/Clamp Spreader $3.49 http://www.harborfreight.com/interes...der-46807.html

5 gallon wet/dry vacuum blower $44.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/garage-...wer-94282.html

3 Piece Folding Hex Key Set $6.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-to...eys-94905.html

22 Piece SAE & Metric Combination Wrench Set $17.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-to...set-47467.html

Multi-purpose Workbench with Lighting & Outlets $99.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/multipu...let-99681.html

Workbench w/ 4 drawers, 60" hardwood $159.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/60-inch...nch-93454.html

7" x 12" Precision Mini-Lathe $699.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-...the-93799.html

16 Speed Heavy Duty Floor Drill Press $279.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/garage-...ess-43378.html

[Mk.32]

The amount of harbor freight I see on that list somewhat worries me... Personally I would avoid HF for any tool that need to be powered, but there are people that have gotten good deals with Hf.

[Patrick Flynn]

Originally Posted by ksafin

Budget Aside, I wanted to get your input on my ideas about a few new tools to buy..

Here's a list:
16" Variable Speed Scroll Saw $64.99; $59.99 with coupon. http://www.harborfreight.com/16-inch...saw-93012.html
3-1/2 HP 14" Industrial Cut-off saw $99.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/3-12-hp...saw-68104.html
18 V Cordless Jigsaw $29.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/power-t...saw-68242.html

When would your team use these tools? If you can't think of a time that you think you would use these tools most likely they wouldn't end up getting used. It seems to be that if you are building your robot out of metal components that the Scroll saw and Jigsaw might go unused. But if you think that these would be used in the prototyping phase then they would be good purchases.

Originally Posted by ksafin

115 Piece High speed drill bit set $35.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/115-pie...index-528.html
130 Piece Tool Kit with Case $34.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/130-pie...ase-68998.html
60 Piece Alloy Steel Tap/Die Set Metric & SAE Fractional $39.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/60-piec...set-35407.html
3 Piece Folding Hex Key Set $6.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-to...eys-94905.html

I think that while this is a good list of tools that your team may use i would recommend considering what tools you used last season or wished that you many have.

The list above are some on the tools I wonder if you would actually use. IMO having a full set of taps and dies aren't needed. There are very few times in FIRST where i have even considered using a die to be necessary. And while in some rare cases it might be useful to have a full tap set why not buy multiples of the few sizes that your team uses. If you only use 1/4 20 hardware the other sized taps would be unnecessary.

I would say the same thing about the multi-tool and allen wrench sets if you think that your team may use all these different tools than this would not be a bad purchase, but i think you could better spend your money having more than one of the sizes that you use most often. Nothing is worse than losing the one needed wrench size, and having to make due.

Originally Posted by ksafin

Multi-purpose Workbench with Lighting & Outlets $99.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/multipu...let-99681.html
Workbench w/ 4 drawers, 60" hardwood $159.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/60-inch...nch-93454.html

Lastly the work benches, I think that your team could built much cheaper ones that would better fit your work space. Buying some 2x4's and making some tables could be a fun team activity allowing some newer members to get acquainted to your teams tools and or shop.