Recommended Tools and Machinery for Your Team's Machine Shop

[jmiller18]

Best tool to have ever is a sonic screwdriver.

The close second is organization, sadly for my team this isn't a joke.

The incredibly close third is safety glasses.

My team's shop is a converted wood shop, but just switched blades on the saws and bits for the drill(press)s. If you guys tend to do complex designs, then a mill would be great for you. If you decide to get a 3d printer for prototyping, go with printrbot, they are really cheap kits and the designer actually has video tutorials to assemble them.

[Garret]

Originally Posted by Mk.32

Also a big part of it is designing for what you mean. Teams that have only laser/water jet do a lot of a sheet metal, teams that have cnc do milled box/billet, teams that don't have any cnc design for manual milling only. (very generalized) So being able to design for what you have a is a big key, getting some copies of solid works or inventor and then training would probably be something to do first...

Quoted for truth.

Mark is 100% right. Having tools is one thing but being prepared to design to utilize those tools effectively is something all on its own.

Before you shell out hundreds to thousands of dollars on in house machining equipment, I would make sure that your team is can design to utilize that equipment. It would be sort of pointless to get a Haas CNC but end up only using a few times a year for jobs that could just as easily have been done with a hand drill.

Additionally, at least on my team, finding manufacturing sponsors (CNC Laser and 5-Axis CNC Brake in our case) that can make parts for the team is often more useful than just getting low-end machine tools in house.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

and a small lathe (and someone who knows how to use it!).

And, more importantly, CARE for it. It won't last long or turn out good work unless it is carefully maintained.

Storage. One of those huge cabinets filled with bin boxes, with each bin labeled as to what goes in it. Like bearings, shafts, motors, brackets, pulleys, etc... Tell me your team doesn't ever say "I know we had one, but where is it?" only for it to be found a day after you order another one from McMaster.

[rkbot]

Team 2013 has access to large power tools such as a lathe, milling machine, band saw, drill press and also a 50 ton press all in our sponsors shop, along with griders, drills, impact guns and so on. We also have an arber press and a large amount of hand tools (wrenches, taps, vise grips etc.) offered to us thanks to our sponsor. We also have a tig welder which makes it so we can weld our own pieces which is how we made much of our climber and our frame.

We used our mill and lathe to make parts which otherwise we would have to have found bought alternatives or get someone outside to make them for us. They are very useful for making parts accuate down to thousands of an inch instead of using a center punch and a drill which many teams are forced to do when trying to make parts accuarately.

[FlyOrangePants]

Originally Posted by George

Harbor Freight (http://www.harborfreight.com)
1pc Mini Mill (R8) #44991-2VGA $489.99
1pc Mini Lathe 7x10” #93212-2VGA $399.99
1pc Drill Press ½” #38119-0VGA $ 59.99
1pc Band Saw #93762-1VGA $199.99
1pc Grinder 8” #90022-0VGA $ 54.99
1pc Drill Chuck (2mt) #42340-2VGA $ 7.99
ST $1212.94
CDCO (http://www.cdcotools.com)
1pc Mill Vise 4” #21003 $ 95.00
1pc Clamp Kit #24802 $ 38.00
1set Parallels #37201 $ 27.00
1pc Drill Chuck #25003 $ 10.00
1pc Arbor (5/8) #21303 $ 4.00
1pc Edge finder #60601 $ 5.00
1pc Wiggler #60603 $ 6.00
1set End Mills #45901 $ 48.00
ST $ 314.00
Enco (http://www.use-enco.com
1set Lathe tools #383-4300 $ 37.95
1set R8 Collets #231-4611 $ 37.95
ST $ 75.90
TOTAL $1521.84

I took a look at the materials George mentioned and found some more current prices if anyone's interested.

Harbor Freight (http://www.harborfreight.com)
1pc Mini Mill (R8) #44991 $599.99
1pc Mini Lathe 7x10” #93212 $499.99
1pc Drill Press ½” #60238 $ 64.99
1pc Band Saw #93762 $249.99
1pc Grinder 8” #37823 $ 54.99
1pc Drill Chuck (2mt) #42340 $ 14.99
ST $1484.94
CDCO (http://www.cdcotools.com)
1pc Mill Vise 4” #21003 $108.00
1pc Clamp Kit #24802 $ 45.00
1set Parallels #37201 $ 28.00
1pc Drill Chuck #25003 $ 15.00
1pc Arbor (5/8) #21303 $ 4.00
1pc Edge finder #60601 $ 5.00
1pc Wiggler #60603 $ 7.00
1set End Mills #45901 $ 58.00
ST $270.00
Enco (http://www.use-enco.com)
1set Lathe tools #383-4300 $ 59.14
1set R8 Collets #231-4611 $ 82.52
ST $141.66
TOTAL $1896.60

[Maniac_Mechanic]

I am a senior FIRST member. My school is fortunate enough to still have a metal shop. I know the traditional argument is that a lathe should be purchased before a mill, but let me give you my experience.

We definitely use our milling machine a lot more than the lathes. Cutting keyways is not a chore for the lathe. Milling slots in tubing for retracting arms is not for the lathe. Many of the round things we use in robotics can be purchased easily.

Custom shaft couplings for different sized shafts- if you don't have these on hand, they can be made on a lathe quickly and for a fraction of retail price. Saving time is huge bonus in this game.

If you do lots of work with gears or anything that spins, drilling true holes in the center of something must be done on a lathe for the close tolerances of gearboxes and such.

I have a lathe at home. I've done threading work on it for robotics parts. You need a lathe for cutting obscure thread sizes.

[abhem]

If your team is fairly large and there are many members that are trained in the shop, then I would personally stay away from combo machines. They can sometimes be more expensive than individual machines and they do not allow for multiple pieces to be machined at once. With a combo machine you can work on one piece at one time which may not be efficient if there are many people who wish to use the machine. If you have individual mills/lathes etc., then more people can get experience and it may be more efficient when making parts.

[Monochron]

This may be a naive question, but what is the benefit of using an actual mill versus using a drill press with an X-Y table attached to it? I imagine that precision is the main benefit. Is it really worth paying $500 for a mill though, rather than having to take a couple reties with a drill press?

Or is there something else beneficial that the mill does for you, that a drill press just can't?

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by Monochron

This may be a naive question, but what is the benefit of using an actual mill versus using a drill press with an X-Y table attached to it? I imagine that precision is the main benefit. Is it really worth paying $500 for a mill though, rather than having to take a couple reties with a drill press?

Or is there something else beneficial that the mill does for you, that a drill press just can't?

A drill press can't mill. You cannot (or, at least, should not) put an end mill in a drill chuck and start cutting slots or removing material with the side of the cutter. Generally speaking a drill press can only sustain loads that are nominally up-and-down. A mill can sustain loads in all directions: up, down, left, right, in and out from the operators perspective.

[Monochron]

Originally Posted by JamesCH95

A drill press can't mill. You cannot (or, at least, should not) put an end mill in a drill chuck and start cutting slots or removing material with the side of the cutter. Generally speaking a drill press can only sustain loads that are nominally up-and-down. A mill can sustain loads in all directions: up, down, left, right, in and out from the operators perspective.

Ah, sustaining loads, thought I was missing something. Thanks for the info!

[asid61]

Originally Posted by FlyOrangePants

I took a look at the materials George mentioned and found some more current prices if anyone's interested.

Harbor Freight (http://www.harborfreight.com)
1pc Mini Mill (R8) #44991 $599.99
1pc Mini Lathe 7x10” #93212 $499.99
1pc Drill Press ½” #60238 $ 64.99
1pc Band Saw #93762 $249.99
1pc Grinder 8” #37823 $ 54.99
1pc Drill Chuck (2mt) #42340 $ 14.99
ST $1484.94
CDCO (http://www.cdcotools.com)
1pc Mill Vise 4” #21003 $108.00
1pc Clamp Kit #24802 $ 45.00
1set Parallels #37201 $ 28.00
1pc Drill Chuck #25003 $ 15.00
1pc Arbor (5/8) #21303 $ 4.00
1pc Edge finder #60601 $ 5.00
1pc Wiggler #60603 $ 7.00
1set End Mills #45901 $ 58.00
ST $270.00
Enco (http://www.use-enco.com)
1set Lathe tools #383-4300 $ 59.14
1set R8 Collets #231-4611 $ 82.52
ST $141.66
TOTAL $1896.60

I would strike the wiggler. I've used one maybe twice in three years. A small drill bit or straight pointy rod can do almost as well.
Also swap the mini mill for something heavier, maybe a used Bridgeport. The difference is palpable for both cutting and for the extra travel you get.

[brynnanotbrenda]

Our shop has most of the basics (drill press, laithe, chop saw, pole bender, sander, mill, ect.) so if we had to go in for something, we'd probably go for the Shopbot or a hobby laser. The only problem with that is that that would probably put me out of the job. So I'm pretty fine with the things we have.

[brynnanotbrenda]

Originally Posted by jmiller18

Best tool to have ever is a sonic screwdriver.

The close second is organization, sadly for my team this isn't a joke.

The incredibly close third is safety glasses.

My team's shop is a converted wood shop, but just switched blades on the saws and bits for the drill(press)s. If you guys tend to do complex designs, then a mill would be great for you. If you decide to get a 3d printer for prototyping, go with printrbot, they are really cheap kits and the designer actually has video tutorials to assemble them.

These would probably also be handy. Especially the organization. We just operate in the schools wood shop, which the high school shares witht the middle school. And we steal all our hand tools from the middle school cabinet, it's kind of pathetic.

[Pendulum^-1]

Our drill bits were always a mess, just thrown into a bin of whatever sort was available. I really didn't want to take the time to construct an organizer for drill bits.

Then we found this drill bit organizer:
http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/details/0346712

Right now, the drill bit organizers are on clearance, less than $50 including shipping. The really great feature is that it has a metal drill bit sizer on the top ledge. Students just stick the drill bits into the sizer, figure out the drill bit size, then put the drill bit into the right bin.

We got ours in mid-December 2014. It has worked out much better for my team than I ever expected. I highly recommend it, or at least making your own version of it.