First 'bits' off our CNC mill...

[V8MoneyPit]

Since I've been asking questions about the mill on here, I thought you might be interested to see the first production items. They are engine steady bars for the classic Mini.



We have set up our own anodising plant too. It's quite satisfying seeing the 'raw' item go in and a deep coloured item come out! The adjustable one at the rear is in plain aluminium before being anodised.

We are playing with different cutters to improve the finish and the latest ones are really very good using a carbide tool to do the main side sections as a final cut.

[Range Rover Blues]

Very nice, that's got me thinking :-k

[V8MoneyPit]

Very nice, that's got me thinking :-k

Well, it's safe to say my 90 will gain a few bits of superfluous aluminium over the next few months  :lol:

[jiffyman]

Since I've been asking questions about the mill on here, I thought you might be interested to see the first production items. They are engine steady bars for the classic Mini.



We have set up our own anodising plant too. It's quite satisfying seeing the 'raw' item go in and a deep coloured item come out! The adjustable one at the rear is in plain aluminium before being anodised.

We are playing with different cutters to improve the finish and the latest ones are really very good using a carbide tool to do the main side sections as a final cut.

I LIKE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me thinks you best pay a visit to miniresource.com and minifinity.com and tell the jiffyman sent you!!! lol!!

Hmm, me thinks, how much are they??

[V8MoneyPit]

I LIKE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me thinks you best pay a visit to miniresource.com and minifinity.com and tell the jiffyman sent you!!! lol!!

Hmm, me thinks, how much are they??

Ah, we are already well known on those sites  :D (DSN Classics). They are to be officially launched very soon through Mini World and Mini Magazine..... but feel free to 'leak' the news  ;) :lol: There will be a whole range of products in this style to follow.

We are planning on £19.99 for the fixed ones (both lengths, pre and post 1990) and £34.99 for the adjustable one.

Sorry mods, shouldn't be talking 'commercial' on here, but hope it's OK since it isn't 4x4  8-[ :lol: And I was asked!

[jiffyman]

Sorry,   :oops:  Lol!!! 

Look damn good though, being a Mini Nut ( see http://jiffyregister.fotopic.net) and think these will sell very well!!

Surprised something like these havent been available before........


Right, back to 4x4 stuff!!!   :lol:

[Tommo]

lol its good to see someone getting some satisfaction out of the damn things lol. i nearly kicked some HAAS today on our newest MC. kept alarming out when you used the through spindle coolant, what a ball ache. rigged up a normal coolant setup for now because we cant seem to sort it. Ours must be a friday afternoon machine, its worse than the land rover! We have only just overcome the toolchange problems we were having where it was pulling out random tools! but we still cant use the ATC FWD feature for fear of confusing it so when tipping up etc its a bit more of a ball ache in MDI having to close the door etc.

just hope its more reliable by the time the warrenty runs out. its only 8 months old and has been nowt but trouble! the older two we have arent too bad just the occasional spazzing out of the touch setters and random air pressure alarms but nothing major.

Hows the silent compressor?

As for tooling i would suggest somthing like a 12mm coronite end mill for the finishing cut. should give an excellent finish and last a while and should do just about everything bar the smaller holes and the chamfers. Even on aluminium a HSS cutter isnt going to last long before giving you a shabby finish. we use sandvik 12mm coronites for pretty much everything lol, brilliant tooling.

[Range Rover Blues]

CNC is brilliant isn't it? I used to work in a plastic factory that had spent about half a mill on a CNC robotic trimming station.  The damn thing would trim a couple of dozen mouldings fine, then just decide to put all the holes somewhere else.  I steered clear of the thing though as being in charge was a surefire way to a written warning when it messed up.  It became a running joke as whoever was in charge had better be looking for another job, or you'd come back from holiday and found you'd been put in charge of the robot.

[V8MoneyPit]

Sorry,   :oops:  Lol!!! 

Look damn good though, being a Mini Nut ( see http://jiffyregister.fotopic.net) and think these will sell very well!!

Surprised something like these havent been available before........


Right, back to 4x4 stuff!!!   :lol:

Ahh.... now I understand the relevance of 'jiffy'...... thought you have a padded envelope fettish  :lol: We have a local customer with a Jiffy. Can't remember his name though!

[jiffyman]

Hmm, padded envelopes..............  :oops:


Lol, not for me thakns, haha!!

Yeah, got three of them, and speak to quite a few who have them too..

[V8MoneyPit]

lol its good to see someone getting some satisfaction out of the damn things lol. i nearly kicked some HAAS today on our newest MC. kept alarming out when you used the through spindle coolant, what a ball ache. rigged up a normal coolant setup for now because we cant seem to sort it. Ours must be a friday afternoon machine, its worse than the land rover! We have only just overcome the toolchange problems we were having where it was pulling out random tools! but we still cant use the ATC FWD feature for fear of confusing it so when tipping up etc its a bit more of a ball ache in MDI having to close the door etc.

just hope its more reliable by the time the warrenty runs out. its only 8 months old and has been nowt but trouble! the older two we have arent too bad just the occasional spazzing out of the touch setters and random air pressure alarms but nothing major.

Hows the silent compressor?

As for tooling i would suggest somthing like a 12mm coronite end mill for the finishing cut. should give an excellent finish and last a while and should do just about everything bar the smaller holes and the chamfers. Even on aluminium a HSS cutter isnt going to last long before giving you a shabby finish. we use sandvik 12mm coronites for pretty much everything lol, brilliant tooling.

Our mill is just a 3 axis toolroom type with a carousel toolchanger, so we can't have predictive tool change trouble! But, I'm sure there's plenty more that might go wrong!!

We ended up with this compressor:
http://www.diy-compressors.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=28_23_70&products_id=377
Does all we need and is reasonably quiet.

The super quiet one that Machine Mart advertise was out of stock with no delivery dates, so we looked elsewhere.