Where did your team get its machine tools?

[Travis Hoffman]

A lot of what Harding High School's shop teacher George Lazar has in his metal shop was donated to Team 48 by Delphi Packard. All of the equipment is very old and heavily used, but George keeps it in good running order. We've donated three Bridgeport mills, a CNC mill, and a bandsaw, among other items. These were all obsolete but perfectly functional items that were sitting around in a warehouse we lovingly called "The Morgue". This place was great. In addition to the old mills and such, there were dozens of old pieces of manufacturing equipment covered in extruded alumimum and Lexan guarding. We used to let the kids go to The Morgue and strip down these machines. They loved bringing back piles of loot every year. Unfortunately, to save money, Delphi auctioned off its excess and obsolete equipment and stopped leasing the Morgue a few years ago. We miss that place.

Moral of the story - a lot of the equipment companies deem "obsolete" is not broken - it is simply outdated technology that would work fine for FIRST teams. It never hurts to ask local businesses if they have such equipment they may be willing to donate or sell at a big discount.

[Rickertsen2]

Ok heres our problem. We have lots of tools, but they are all geared toward woodworking. The only metalworking tools we have are a plate shear, a sheet metal bender and a small(but capable) NC lathe. This year we would really like to get a mill, but we do not have enough money. How have other teams gone about asking local businesses to donate unused tools?

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Rickertsen2

Ok heres our problem. We have lots of tools, but they are all geared toward woodworking. The only metalworking tools we have are a plate shear, a sheet metal bender and a small(but capable) NC lathe. This year we would really like to get a mill, but we do not have enough money. How have other teams gone about asking local businesses to donate unused tools?

Check around with local machine shops, and see if they're replacing any of their equipment. If they're going to junk it, or sell it off, they might give it to you/sell it pretty cheap.