Frank Svenson
New member
http://singularityhub.com/2010/04/05/5-axis-robot-carves-metal-like-butter-video/
Scroll down page to get video
Scroll down page to get video
What a 5 axis mill can do.
- Thread starter Frank Svenson
- Start date
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benenglish
Guest
I know nothing about turning metal into parts but to my untrained eye, that looks pretty impressive.
Reading the article, apparently there's design software by Autocad, whose output is translated by some middleware called Hypermill, to talk to the mill and tell it what to cut, how, where, and when.
Since I do know a little about software, I'd hazard a guess that there's a whole team of people who must shepherd the process during the design and prototyping so as to make sure that the mill doesn't wind up trying to do something that ain't physically possible.
All of which leads me to a question. Are there any licensed firearms manufacturers (or, more likely, top-end machining firms who happen to have an FFL as a manufacturer) who will take an action from me, measure it up, program it in, make modifications I request, and cut out a one-off for me?
I have a very pretty, quite massive action sitting on my desk that I would sure love to have a copy of, if said copy could be shrunk in every dimension until it was just big enough to chamber a .221-based round.
Just ignorant blue-skying, really, but I'm still curious. I predict the answer is "Yes, if you're willing to mortgage your house to get it done."
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Boss Hoss 540
Guest
Luxus is working on just what you are asking about right now.
I know of many in my industry that would do exactly what you are asking for (Military Aerospace) however you would not be able to afford the NRE costs.
Anything is possible with enough money!
I know of many in my industry that would do exactly what you are asking for (Military Aerospace) however you would not be able to afford the NRE costs.
Anything is possible with enough money!
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Larry Elliott
Guest
NEAT!!! Amazes me since I can't even program a pocket calculator most of the time.
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ShadowChaser
Guest
All of which leads me to a question. Are there any licensed firearms manufacturers (or, more likely, top-end machining firms who happen to have an FFL as a manufacturer) who will take an action from me, measure it up, program it in, make modifications I request, and cut out a one-off for me?
I have a very pretty, quite massive action sitting on my desk that I would sure love to have a copy of, if said copy could be shrunk in every dimension until it was just big enough to chamber a .221-based round.
Just ignorant blue-skying, really, but I'm still curious. I predict the answer is "Yes, if you're willing to mortgage your house to get it done."
Just a suggestion, contact Jeff Madison at www.mwerksllc.com Jeff is a gunsmith with a machine shop. If he will do an action as you describe, I do not know, however I do know he does nice work, uses CAD
software in his process and does very nice work. If Jeff is not wanting to tackle this project as you describe, he might be able to point you in the right direction to find someone who will...
Happy Shooting,
Mitch & Shadow...
Nope, one guy can draw it up in a CAD program. Then you set up cutter paths, run it through a post processer to convert it to machine language. From there you send the program to the machine, load tools and the material, hit the green button and DUCK!
You don't need a FFL to manufacture an action for personal use. It would be nice to have a friend in the machining business, between the reverse engineering/modifications to the existing action plus the machine time your looking at an expensive proposition.
New world of CNC machining
During my 4th semester of CNC machining each student had a project that was taken from a drawing through finished product.
One student in the class made and pair of aluminum wheels for a Harley Davidson motorcycle. The spokes of the wheels were rattle snakes. They were machined in great detail IE: every scale. They looked like they could have just crawled off. It took the Hass verical mill 12 hours per side to machine out the wheels from 20" X 20" X 5" billets of aluminum. He posted pictures on the internet and had them sold for $8,000.00 per wheel in less than 24 hours. He had hundreds of e-mails and calls.
GibbsCam and 4 and 5 axis machining has made a new level of machining possible. The water jet, EDM Process, and the laser have also added to the machining arena.
Nat Lambeth
During my 4th semester of CNC machining each student had a project that was taken from a drawing through finished product.
One student in the class made and pair of aluminum wheels for a Harley Davidson motorcycle. The spokes of the wheels were rattle snakes. They were machined in great detail IE: every scale. They looked like they could have just crawled off. It took the Hass verical mill 12 hours per side to machine out the wheels from 20" X 20" X 5" billets of aluminum. He posted pictures on the internet and had them sold for $8,000.00 per wheel in less than 24 hours. He had hundreds of e-mails and calls.
GibbsCam and 4 and 5 axis machining has made a new level of machining possible. The water jet, EDM Process, and the laser have also added to the machining arena.
Nat Lambeth
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Big G
Guest
5 Axis
Thats to cool for school lol. Explains why they can turn out some really accurate actions. PRECISION
Thats to cool for school lol. Explains why they can turn out some really accurate actions. PRECISION
Butch Lambert
Active member
Stiller and John Pierce have been doing it for a while. You don't really have any idea of the behind the scenes work. The fixturing and set up is very time consuming. If any of you think that you can put a hunk of metal and punch a button on a 6 axis CNC and spit out receivers are in for a rude awakening. Even the Chinese aren't spitting them out.
My Grandson has a 3 axis printing machine in his highschool class. I think Jay Leno has one. The one that Michael's class has is $35,000 and it produces a 3 dimensional plastic model.
Your buddy with the CNC shop will laugh at you if you come in with a receiver and want it either duplicated or downsized.
Butch
My Grandson has a 3 axis printing machine in his highschool class. I think Jay Leno has one. The one that Michael's class has is $35,000 and it produces a 3 dimensional plastic model.
Your buddy with the CNC shop will laugh at you if you come in with a receiver and want it either duplicated or downsized.
Butch
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Bill Ohio
Guest
Butch Lambert
Active member
They are running and ruining the country.
Butch
Butch
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katokoch
Guest
We'll see what my generation can do.
I wonder how much time went into the programming for that helmet...
CNC today in the Gun Manufacturing Business
G-code behind CNC machining has been around since WWII. Computers are what has revolutionized machining.
The Beretta Group probably has set the standard for CNC gun manufacturing.
A trip to South Carolina (FN/Winchester) or Kentucky (Remington) would amaze you where the gun manufacturing has moved to.
CNC is only as good as it's operator. It is not like just pushing a button and there is a new gun.
There is engineering in the finished product but there is a great deal of thought that goes into the manufacture process.
Today with products like GibbsCam one can draw the product, view it in solid works, tool out each process, cut it in a simulated 3D virtual animation. Modify and edit the process double checking for errors and process problems. Then one orients a piece of stock and pushes the go button. Within a predetermined amount of time the stock becomes a finished product.
It does not take a $300,000.00 piece of machinery long to pay for itself. No union dues, no healthcare benefits, no unemployment benefits, no retirement etc. This is another area where man has been replaced in the manufacturing process.
A friend of mine who is in the plastic injection mold business. He use to run a machine shop with 15 employees and about 25 machines 24-7. Today he has 1 CNC programer and 3 machinist. and about 7 machines. He does all his own machining and takes in jobs for about 10 other companies all in a 5 day work week. His shop cost have remained about the same but his production has jumped about 10 fold.
They call this progress.
Nat Lambeth
G-code behind CNC machining has been around since WWII. Computers are what has revolutionized machining.
The Beretta Group probably has set the standard for CNC gun manufacturing.
A trip to South Carolina (FN/Winchester) or Kentucky (Remington) would amaze you where the gun manufacturing has moved to.
CNC is only as good as it's operator. It is not like just pushing a button and there is a new gun.
There is engineering in the finished product but there is a great deal of thought that goes into the manufacture process.
Today with products like GibbsCam one can draw the product, view it in solid works, tool out each process, cut it in a simulated 3D virtual animation. Modify and edit the process double checking for errors and process problems. Then one orients a piece of stock and pushes the go button. Within a predetermined amount of time the stock becomes a finished product.
It does not take a $300,000.00 piece of machinery long to pay for itself. No union dues, no healthcare benefits, no unemployment benefits, no retirement etc. This is another area where man has been replaced in the manufacturing process.
A friend of mine who is in the plastic injection mold business. He use to run a machine shop with 15 employees and about 25 machines 24-7. Today he has 1 CNC programer and 3 machinist. and about 7 machines. He does all his own machining and takes in jobs for about 10 other companies all in a 5 day work week. His shop cost have remained about the same but his production has jumped about 10 fold.
They call this progress.
Nat Lambeth