What machines are you using? (CNC, lathes, mills, 3-in-1 machines?)

[eshteyn]

all we have in the shop is a lathe, a drill press, a band saw, and a mini mill thats so off center and uncalibrated that we never use it

[[527]phil]

Our mentor just bought a small upright band saw made by Delta. Basically it's a piece of junk. My friend Dom and I seem to be the only ones who understand how to get it to cut strait, go figure. It also is terrible at cutting vex parts(dremel FTW). Also, if anyones looking at CNC lathes, check out STAR CNC tool corp. I've had the privilege of using some of their machines, and I wish I had room in my basement for one. That and my uncle works for them so he knows how to fix them when i forget the limits and knock and axis off the ballscrew . Don't look at me like that, I needed an extra half an inch of travel and it looked like It would make it

And your always welcome at my house Mark, as long as your bringing the donuts

Edit: If it's uncalibrated then calibrate it!!! I've worked around machine shops since I was little and can't STAND uncalibrated machines, whether their mine or not. You can make alot of weight saving stuff on those puppies. If your like my team then you tend to use 5-20 washers to get the right spacing between parts sometimes. With a mini-lathe, a piece of aluminum rod, and a few minutes you can make a lightweight spacer . Or you could be like my team and tell me not to make the spacer, and then scramble at the regional to get under the weight limit.

[Qbranch]

hey as an update aside from the shop where i work and the fdm machine

we got some old tape drive changing machines... and inside was a nice, sturdy step motor driven x,y table...

so either that way or some other way we'll probably have a plasma cutter this year.

-q