THe NAC Lots-O-BFG KO2 Thread

[foxwar71]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

Im gunna buy a 750X Drill Doctor today. Thats my only goal of the day.

 

[MoparManiac]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

I'm gonna go home and finish my track bar mounts.

Hopefully have the trackbar and UCA mount done by tomorrow. Sunday ill probably try dropping it on its own weight.

 

[foxwar71]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

Im gunna buy a 750X Drill Doctor today. Thats my only goal of the day.

On second thought, Im gunna wait until Im in NH and not pay sales tax :greensmok

Sunday ill probably try dropping it on its own weight.

That might be a little tricky without LCA's :dunno:

 

[asp]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

You can borrow mine for as long as you want. It's currently residing @ Colin's house.

:smootch: What are you doing Sunday?

Anthony save the money and borrow Adams.

If you really feel the need later to buy one then do it then.

I'm gonna.

 

[RCman]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

So I spent tonight setting up a Torchmate 2x2 that a friend of mine bought during the KOH lakebed sale. He knows nothing about computers; I spent a good portion of my college career running a machine shop w/CNC equipment.

Pros: the table is awesome.

Cons: the software SUCKS DICK.

Why I should have to use 3 different programs to get a part cut on the table is beyond me. One to draw the part (and export it into DXF), one to import the DXF, trim away the bullshit, and create the tool paths and lead-ins, and the last one to import another DXF (with the tool path info) to translate it into G-code and run the machine.

A few hours into it I was getting some really nice parts cut out...like less than 1/16" tolerance, without spending a lot of time getting the plasma torch height & speed set up. No doubt that it'll turn out some high quality stuff once that's taken care of.

But damn...how hard would it be to make a software package with basic CAD tools (squares, arcs, lines) that you can sketch something on a scaled grid, hit a button, and burn it out?

Not to mention that after cutting out half a dozen parts, the same procedure would make the USB box shit itself and lose connectivity, leaving the torch to sit stationary and burn a big hole in the same spot until you could manually shut it down. What a pain in the ass, still didn't figure that one out.

Plus side is, for my efforts, I'll be able to shoot down there whenever I want and cut out some stuff. Once it's working.

I had fun anyway...it's been years since I got to work on stuff like this. I hate the fact that the table only uses stepper motors instead of something with absolute feedback...that means it never knows where the physical boundaries are; there's no permanent 'home' to send the torch back to. You have to set it every time you do a new run.

Something different to do for a night, anyway.

Nice! Stinks about the software. I've never dug into researching them much (didn't want to get roped into buying one. ). Can't you just model it in a decent software package that already does tool paths for you, then dump it into the Torchmate? IDK, course then you'd be stuck buying more software if you didn't already have it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-capacity-shop-crane-7620.html

It's hard to turn down items when they're on sale. Looks like I'll be grabbing this tomorrow night. Thankfully, Scotty volunteered his truck for transport.

Don't get that one. Those legs don't tip up and will make storing it that much harder. It is worth the wait for the other one to go on sale and spend the extra $30-50 on it for be able to gain all the floor space back.

You can borrow mine for as long as you want. It's currently residing @ Colin's house.

Even better. IIRC, the same thing as mine just sunbleached orange.

That might be a little tricky without LCA's :dunno:

Tricky, but doable.

 

[Dundy]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

:smootch: What are you doing Sunday?

I'm gonna.

I plan on sitting at my house in a vegetative state.

 

[asp]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

Don't get that one. Those legs don't tip up and will make storing it that much harder. It is worth the wait for the other one to go on sale and spend the extra $30-50 on it for be able to gain all the floor space back.

Even better. IIRC, the same thing as mine just sunbleached orange.

Good catch. I didn't notice that they didn't tip up. All I saw was 'cheap.'

I think you're right that it is the same as yours.

 

[asp]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

I plan on sitting at my house in a vegetative state.

Sounds lame. You should come drink my beer and bring me the hoist.

 

[asp]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

My office is unreasonably hot right now. I have 4 computers (2 of them are rack mounted - so they're noisy as hell) and everything is pretty damn warm. They're the brains of a sonar system... I can't wait till they go away.

 

[vetteboy]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

Nice! Stinks about the software. I've never dug into researching them much (didn't want to get roped into buying one. ). Can't you just model it in a decent software package that already does tool paths for you, then dump it into the Torchmate? IDK, course then you'd be stuck buying more software if you didn't already have it.

You probably could, if you had such a thing. Torchmate actually doesn't give you anything to draw parts with at all, and the guy didn't have any other CAD software. So I was working off the free version of Google Sketchup with a hacked plugin to allow exporting in DXF format.

The 2x2 table was about $3500 for everything minus the plasma cutter.

 

[MoparManiac]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

Anthony, if you want it you'll have to come and dig it out of the snowbank. My dad plowed it in.

Adam said he wouldn't need it until after the snow melted.

 

[foxwar71]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

Fold up hoists are the tits, mines tucked away in a corner of my dads shop outta the way. Keep your eyes open at pepboys for their Big Red ones, I got my hoist and engine stand for like $150.

 

[kastein]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

So I spent tonight setting up a Torchmate 2x2 that a friend of mine bought during the KOH lakebed sale. He knows nothing about computers; I spent a good portion of my college career running a machine shop w/CNC equipment.

Pros: the table is awesome.

Cons: the software SUCKS DICK.

Why I should have to use 3 different programs to get a part cut on the table is beyond me. One to draw the part (and export it into DXF), one to import the DXF, trim away the bullshit, and create the tool paths and lead-ins, and the last one to import another DXF (with the tool path info) to translate it into G-code and run the machine.

A few hours into it I was getting some really nice parts cut out...like less than 1/16" tolerance, without spending a lot of time getting the plasma torch height & speed set up. No doubt that it'll turn out some high quality stuff once that's taken care of.

But damn...how hard would it be to make a software package with basic CAD tools (squares, arcs, lines) that you can sketch something on a scaled grid, hit a button, and burn it out?

Not to mention that after cutting out half a dozen parts, the same procedure would make the USB box shit itself and lose connectivity, leaving the torch to sit stationary and burn a big hole in the same spot until you could manually shut it down. What a pain in the ass, still didn't figure that one out.

Plus side is, for my efforts, I'll be able to shoot down there whenever I want and cut out some stuff. Once it's working.

I had fun anyway...it's been years since I got to work on stuff like this. I hate the fact that the table only uses stepper motors instead of something with absolute feedback...that means it never knows where the physical boundaries are; there's no permanent 'home' to send the torch back to. You have to set it every time you do a new run.

Something different to do for a night, anyway.

engineering software is always clunky as hell but works, because engineers usually suck at designing software. Software written by software people is beautiful, but impossible to use because it has bugs everywhere from all the extra features they threw into it.

No, its alot more fun watching you try to stuff my hoist into the back of blairwitch. Anthony should borrow my hoist cause its a NAC whorehoist.

If any of you assholes lived anywhere near me, my hoist would also be available for this, but it gets crazy for anyone to drive 2 hours for it. If Jay/other central and western mass people need it, I have it hanging around though.

My office is unreasonably hot right now. I have 4 computers (2 of them are rack mounted - so they're noisy as hell) and everything is pretty damn warm. They're the brains of a sonar system... I can't wait till they go away.

gotta love those sonar systems... I saved the whales for the US Navy!

 

[asp]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

Anthony, if you want it you'll have to come and dig it out of the snowbank. My dad plowed it in.

Adam said he wouldn't need it until after the snow melted.

I can't imagine there's all that much snow left right now. But I'm heading south from NH on Sunday anyway, so maybe I'll swing by, dig it out, and steal a 40" MTR.

 

[ktm racer 419]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

the piston seal on one of my edelbrock shocks is about 5" from the body of the shock. on the shaft.

i guess thats why it leaks

 

[RCman]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

I can't imagine there's all that much snow left right now. But I'm heading south from NH on Sunday anyway, so maybe I'll swing by, dig it out, and steal a 40" MTR.

Have you been up this way?
Do you know what size the snowbanks are? Even with the warm weather they have only gone down about 2" total.

Also to further pick on you, why didn't you take any pictures of recent progress? You took a pictures of taking a nut off, but not of welding stuff in place?

Oh, one more... get some stuff done this weekend (Sun/Mon).

 

[kastein]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

Do some skydriving and push the shock back down to the seal, maybe it'll reattach itself?

The snowbanks around here are down to 3-4 feet tall. As of last night the snow in my yard was slightly under 2 feet deep!

 

[redneckboarder]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

My office is unreasonably hot right now. I have 4 computers (2 of them are rack mounted - so they're noisy as hell) and everything is pretty damn warm. They're the brains of a sonar system... I can't wait till they go away.

dolphin killer :laugh3:

 

[foxwar71]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

Have you been up this way?
Do you know what size the snowbanks are? Even with the warm weather they have only gone down about 2" total.

Not only that, they're alot harder to shovel now. Aftera few melting/freezing cycles, the banks in my yard are just hard piles and still a couple feet tall

 

[MoparManiac]

Re: THe NAC Lots-O-Post Thread

Yeah Anthony, youll need a spade shovel