What's new
What's new

Contest for the most insane member (They will be a Maho owner)

Dave: I'll be very excited to see the machine cleaned up and fired up! I really appreciate that you're spending the time to do the job properly, it's a shame how many machines end up scrapped just because they need a really good going through and having all the neglect un-done!
 
View attachment 340132

Here you can see the rags the previous owner stuffed all over the base of the unit to capture all the leaking fluid going everywhere. The fans were caked with gunk and heat exchanger was almost clogged completely closed. The stuff that came out of the rad has varying consistency between clay and molasses and is extremely difficult to work with. It doesn't wipe off surfaces and I'm very thankful for ultrasonic cleaning technology otherwise that would have been very difficult to get as clean as it now is. I can only imagine what the lungs look like of the people that had to work in the shop this machine came from.

View attachment 340133

Dave @ Nerv

Hi i have a dmu50 evo 2000, model in my machine the oil for the 4-5 th axis gets suck from the reservoir to the bottom of the casting to the pump-motor and then goes to the radiator and then to the filter and back to the 4-5 axis where it lubricates everything. the radiator can't stand the pressures and it opens in the solders and leaks. in the newer versions like yours the oil goes first to the radiator and then to the motor, so the heat radiator dosen't see hi pressure. In the old version the exit from the radiator had a tube brazed so the air goes out first and after the oil and the radiator gets filled with oil.
Can you remember how they have constructed the output from the radiator so the air doesn't get traped in the radiator
 
Looking at a couple 90s model MH600C with the 532 control. Dont know a lot about the 532 but its very interesting to read it uses a VME chassis which Ive always regarded as excellent industrial bus. Ive had a number of VME based unix systems from days past. The bus is slow compared with PCI but for industrial purposes it may be adequate. Very reliable as I remember it.
 
Well everyone, I guess I should post an update. So much has happened and I regret leaving this thread behind as much of what is going on might be of some interest to some members of this forum.

First, I sold my property and moved to an acreage. This first meant I had to completely tear down the MC800H again to get it out of the shop it was in, because the door was too low to get the machine out. I had been dreading the day I would have to do it but honestly with everything being so clean and well prepared it came apart very fast and was no issue at all.

The new location has proved to have all manner of surprises that have shown me that I'm not actually capable of losing my my marbles because if it were possible it would have happened. Things peaked when rain was pouring down inside my shop when I was trying to repair the deck that is above part of my shop (Who puts a deck as the shop roof anyway?!?!) with MC800H castings below under plastic sheeting. You all know the hours put into that project... but luckily very little damage was done and things are going in the right direction again.

As far as CNC's go, after moving the first priority was the DMU50eVo. I had dealt with the cooling system at the old place but now I had to deal with the 18k spindle, I had to get the stator rewound and rebuild from there. The OEM setup had an encapsulation on the windings which improves cooling significantly (According to a paper on the subject that was sourced online) but for this application it was decided best to not do that again. A new spindle drive was installed and the machine constants adjusted heavily to lower the acceleration and deceleration rates of the spindle. The original settings produced very high currents and I'm very confident the way it runs now it will last for the rest of the life of the machine. Overall this machine is very fast and I love running it, the V500 Millplus is every bit as great to run as the prior versions with additional features like tool tip 5 axis programming, which made things easier for my Hypermill dealer to make a comprehensive post processor for it.

I picked up an old forklift now that I have more space to help with moving all this heavy stuff around. The tags were trashed so I couldn't be sure what exact model it was but it is a Gerlinger from the late 40's (estimated). Someone had at some point pulled the original engine and transmission and threw in a small block chev 350 with a hydramatic auto transmission.

I could write many pages just on everything that had to go into that machine alone before it was fully functional. After machining the drums and rebuilding the brakes... (Sandblasted & Recoated + New hardware for the drum and all hubs - The old rim "Budd" nuts and studs were in bad shape)

20221012_193111.jpg

...replacing the main drive chains and rebuilding the hydraulic drive assembly and power steering assembly, as well as back flushing the copper rad with acid and replacing the water pump... and rebuilding the hubs/bearings, retrofitting modern seals and getting the rims powdercoated and proper spec tires fitted... it was good to go.

20221125_035239.jpg

It picked up my Mori SL6B and my Daewoo Puma 12L no problem.



So now both of those lathes are back here too, all my machines finally at one location. I discovered pretty early that the infrared heater in the shop was nowhere NEAR capable of heating the shop so I found a Modulating/Condensing boiler for free locally and built a 6 loop hydronic heating system for the lines that were already in the floors. Of course it wasn't until everything was built and I was doing some pressure testing in the loops that it was discovered two loops, really the only two that matter, had major leaks in them: The shop and garage loops.

20230310_142654.jpg

20230310_142720.jpg

I picked up an infrared cam attachment for my phone, hooked each loop temporarily to my hot water tank to flow to drain (I have my own well and septic system here) and used that method to trace where the lines were.

It wasn't obvious where the leak was so I hooked up my screw compressor (Which I also just got and could have a thread to itself, because I bought that used too) and used air to help find the leak using sound. This worked really well as it helped get me close. Then I capped off one end of the loop and pushed 50psi hot water in the other end and watched where the heat stopped, and in this case bloomed out a bit as it leaked underneath.

img_thermal_1678188430094.jpg

This was so accurate that when I pulled out the masonary grinding wheel and SDS Hammer Drill (With the chisel on hammer only) and carved a rectangle in the floor - Not only was the line in the middle, but the leak was in the middle of the line! (The bright box is where I started chiseling)

img_thermal_1678277696047.jpg

20230309_054755.jpg

20230309_054838.jpg

After doing some testing to make sure it wouldn't compromise the strength of the PEX, I used my special heat gun that is intended for vinyl decking install (Remember that leaking roof?) to heat the pex until it would bend and flex easily, but not melt. After cutting out and replacing the damaged section the leak was gone in the shop and heating could finally commence in a much more comfortable fashion! My shop has a 14ft high roof so heat likes to go straight up and the floor gets chilly on -40deg (Celcius, much colder than my freezer) days.

The MC800H is still waiting to get setup again, I'm hoping to erect a large shop here so I can stop fighting with space for machines. Having said that I just won the bidding at an auction in Texas and now I have a Warner & Swasey SC-32 coming here which will take a bunch of space by itself! That machine weighs north of 45,000lb and has a 32" chuck on it. The listing said it has an 18in Spindle Bore, I think it's more likely closer to 12 but we'll see, I needed something with 12 or more so anything larger will be a bonus, if I can find a suitable chuck to fit. The Schunk Rota Pneumatic chuck on it now has a 12.2" bore.

34465d27-db27-4d62-b2f9-afaa0132f7c4.jpg

I'll be sure to post photos when it arrives, it's too bad JRIowa isn't still around, I think he would have liked this machine. It has the longer bed, 110" between the chuck and tailstock when using the center attachment. With a normal sized 4 jaw it would be quite a bit more.

d081b2df-8b5c-43a0-aab3-afaa0132eed7.jpg

Dave @ Nerv
 
Last edited:
Here are a couple photos from moving out the MC800H:

20220423_222315.jpg

20220407_142335.jpg

The BMW X535d (Inline 6 cylinder 3.0L Turbo Diesel) was a champ... moved the entire MC800H in pieces. I had to find a trailer that was optimized for the GVWR of the BMW and then go to the trouble of installing the hitch and brake controller (Software + Cables, etc etc... much more involved than the old days!) but besides that it worked really well and it never seemed there was much weight behind me. The MC800H does break down into manageable parts unlike the lathes though. Those required the triaxle gooseneck/ truck combo, and even then you could really tell a lathe was back there.

"Gertrude" the Gerlinger loading up the Mori: (Look at those wheels! I've been fighting the urge to tear the whole forklift down and getting it recoated)

20221125_032704.jpg
20221125_131104.jpg

Here is a before and after photo (Who doesn't love before and after photos?) of the forklift's brake drum:

20220922_170138.jpg

20220922_170202.jpg

Picked up a used 10 x 10 hunting shed for $50 and made a base pallet to both keep it from blowing away while still allowing it to be portable via forklift. This was for sandblasting until I can get a seacan or something down the road.

20220922_165916.jpg

As a side note: That "dust deputy" cyclone on the left of that photo works absolutely amazing for sucking up grit from sandblasting. It allows you to run an expensive HEPA filter in your shop vac that will actually stop the finest dust and 99% of the dust just drops right into the cyclone pail instead of clogging up the filter. It made cleanup after blasting very fast, once everything is sucked up you can pull the lid off with the cyclone attached and just put a 5 gal lid on. This makes switching media, like crushed glass to walnut shell for example, very quick and easy. You can see the much larger air hose I use now that I have the screw compressor /drier. It is so nice to be able to blast all day and never get wet blasting media (Which then clogs constantly) and also never run out of air. I wish I had one sooner but they do have a much larger footprint than an upright piston compressor, so I guess it depends how much space you have for it. It's very quiet and doesn't vibrate though, so that was nice as I was able to put it in the garage and no one even notices it if I run it through the night.

20220801_204200.jpg

This is when I was first getting it going and was fighting with belt squeal and wear. All the components that didn't have oil in them, like the air lines that run from the screw itself, the unloader valve body, etc were filled with deposits and everything had to be rebuilt.

20221027_170234.jpg

Runs good now though! I must say... the special oil this compressor takes was probably the most expensive lubricant I've ever bought and I've owned Audi's with automatic transmissions. If you buy one of these Ingersoll Rand screw compressors be ready for the parts bill when you do your full service. From the research I did from other owners of these units the oil Ingersoll makes for these is the most optimal quality that can be found and they have their own proprietary formula. For the cost of these things and the really long oil change interval I wasn't going to skimp so I went with their stuff. One less thing to worry about I guess. The DMU50eVo uses a lot of air when using air blast for machining as well as the air it uses for the spindle bearings and air to the labyrinth seals and linear scale housings. My buddies shop has moisture in it's air and they use air/oil misting units for their high speed router spindle bearings and they get trashed fast. I'm thankful this setup keeps the air very dry, I have a desiccant unit after the drier just in case there is a little moisture left but I don't think there is much. The air is quite cool no matter how long the compressor has been running and I get no moisture in any of the separators down the line or drops that don't get used much. Having said all this, this compressor puts out a ton of heat from the air to air and air to oil combined heat exchanger that cools the oil and the hot air as it first exits the screw... even before it reaches the drier the line from the aftercooler is not even hot to the touch, makes life easier for the drier. My old piston setup used to have the copper line from the compressor smoking hot before I ran it coiled through a coolant bath that was circulated through an old transmission cooler. That worked but after machining for long hours eventually the water would heat up and the moisture would start creeping down the line. I'm glad all that is over!

Hopefully I'll have more machine-specific rebuilding information to share soon. I'm just about to recoat the castings for the Mori now that it's here and the shop can get warm enough to apply them. As was said years ago... the sheet metal has already been done it just needs the castings done and reassembly with a few maintenance items here and there. I bought a whole case of new fans for it so all the fans can get replaced, the air quality wasn't great where this machine came from so new fans and cleaned heat exchangers is high on the list of things to do.

Your comments and feedback are welcome! I greatly enjoy reading them.

Dave @ Nerv
 
Last edited:
Looking at a couple 90s model MH600C with the 532 control. Dont know a lot about the 532 but its very interesting to read it uses a VME chassis which Ive always regarded as excellent industrial bus. Ive had a number of VME based unix systems from days past. The bus is slow compared with PCI but for industrial purposes it may be adequate. Very reliable as I remember it.

Just a heads up, the 532 is not always a VME chassis. Another PM member I know on here has a 532 with the previous chassis that looks like this:

Old_532.jpg

This is the "5000 series" cabinet which uses the "LBX" bus.

1678541661696.png


1678541788494.png


Also, that photo is from a 1994 MH600E, so the machine you are/were looking at certainly may not have the same control computer. I can say for certain that the Philips VME control is very reliable if the right maintenance is done to it, I've been told this is not true with the 5000 but I cannot say why. I did wind up upgrading all my processors to 586's and that made a difference on how fast the control could process code and manage full 5 axis motion. Is it a worthwhile upgrade to anyone that has that control. You can probably upgrade the processor on the 5000 too, just remember one very important thing:

Your "option" machine constants are NON-TRANSFERABLE to another motherboard. The special option constants you have are tied to the MAC of the motherboard itself. On the 5xx newer controls they changed it so there is a swappable chip that does allow for the motherboard to be swapped out. Everyone with VME controls: Take good care of your motherboard! Worst case you could desolder the chip and swap it over if your board dies, that is probably the only option you will have as Heidenhain no longer issues optional VME millplus machine constants and the only option then is a complete control retrofit, or finding a new VME from a similar optioned machine that you can retain it's optional constants from. I came across this tidbit of knowledge by accident and it is very important.

Dave @ Nerv
 
Last edited:
Really liked your update!
Are you running all the machines yourself or do you have staff ?
Hi Panza, thank you for your feedback.

I did have an employee for a little while but I'm finding running things myself to be a good balance between stress, cost and productivity overall. When my guy was running into difficulties that caused delays and then almost scrapped the whole job altogether I think I lost a couple years of my life in mere moments. Luckily only paying his time and all the broken tools was the cost, I was able to save the project and get everything back on track after he was gone. Now it's just me which I have to admit does get a little isolating at times.

5 axis milling/programming can be a little tricky, especially when the parts fill up almost the entire machining volume and there is very little room to move the spindle and tools around without crashing anything. Some parts I have to move the tools in 5 axis to get them into a cavity just to start machining. I've had to resort to detachable tools that I can reattach once the machine is in position and then detach before the machine can move onto the next feature/operation. I don't have enough room to actually insert the tool holder and pull it so the tool itself has to be detachable, it does work well though!

I've put the Mori SL-6B in a good position to finally get the painting done so hopefully that will be happening in the next couple weeks. I have a DMG Ultrasonic 20 linear coming shortly with a high speed HSK spindle and a robotic loading arm that should be interesting to run. The Linear drives on the machine make it capable at moving at speeds well beyond what I'm used to, it is pretty much the same machine as a DMG HSC 20 but with the ultrasonic technology added.

I may also be bringing in a DMG 60T monoblock, we'll see.

Never a dull moment here in DMG land!
 
Don't know how much experience you have with DMG machines with linear motors ? I've been looking at a ~10year old DMC 60h Linear (4 axis )and wonder how long those linear motors last and what it costs to fix them or replace? Seems like a lot of machine for the price. Any reason not to get one compared to a NHX ?

That Ultrasonic 20 linear looks really trick !
 
Last edited:
Thermite takes the trophy.
RE:
Optimist!

What's the greater insult?

OWNING a store bought "Milling Machine SHAPED Object"?

Or trying to build a WORSE one as an "improvement"?

But we can still hope and pray for the legendary "lockypoo"

Or "manna from heaven"

Even "free beer".

.. whichever rocks yer boat.

"Safe sex' might be asking too much..... given it's an oxymoron.
 








 
Back
Top