Ideas on growing business
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Re: Ideas on growing business
And here I was talking about a 50mm wide belt sander
2500 x 1500 water table
Powermax 1250 & Duramax torch (because of the new $$$$ync system, will buy Thermal Dynamics next)
LinuxCNC
Sheetcam
Alibre Design 3D solid modelling
Coreldraw 2019
Powermax 1250 & Duramax torch (because of the new $$$$ync system, will buy Thermal Dynamics next)
LinuxCNC
Sheetcam
Alibre Design 3D solid modelling
Coreldraw 2019
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Re: Ideas on growing business
Buy or make a tumbler.
Tumble with cutoffs from plate steel cutting.
It is a "lights out" solution....
Tumble with cutoffs from plate steel cutting.
It is a "lights out" solution....
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Re: Ideas on growing business
Or you could build something like I built for drilling and tapping on my welding table. In the video I just made the air motor is mounted on the swing arm. I also have a hydraulic head I can mount when I need to drill or tap over 16mm. I mounted a grinding disk in the drill chuck just to give you an idea about what you could do. The air motor is too loud for grinding and it doesn't turn fast enough. But you could mount whatever you wanted on the swing arm, that way you wouldn't have to support the weight of the grinder and it would be held flat to give you a better finish. It might not be anything you would want but I thought I would at least show another option.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bYim-B ... e=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bYim-B ... e=youtu.be
- SegoMan DeSigns
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Re: Ideas on growing business
Another way to figure a big ticket item like the Time Saver is how much it costs not having one.
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Re: Ideas on growing business
I think I have been in the same predicament as you but for different reasons. I started my company so I could leave my corporate career and be able to work from home and take care of my children. So I have had to develop finishing methods that are extremely fast and efficient. The method I use most often is still grinding by hand, but it removes most of the headache associated with grinding. I use large switchable magnetic chucks removed from surface grinders (You can typically pick them up between $200-$500), these extremely strong magnets hold every piece of the material tight, then I use a 8" knot wire wheel to rip all the slag off. If you haven't use one already, they not only cover more area but they will remove more stubborn pieces of slag than a 4.5" wheel. For items that are going to be painted and aren't in a same day time crunch, I throw them in a pool of acid for a couple days and most of the slag magically disappears, then I rinse with water and dry with dry compressed air to avoid flash rusting. Lastly, and the most important thing is running test cuts before you cut your material. Proper cut height will reduce slag significantly at any amperage. Furthermore, if you are using a water table back you water off a bit and it decrease slag or at least make it come off easier ( the hardest slag I have encountered is when the water is super close to the material). Also noticed that longer leadins help eliminate the stubborn slag at the beginning of a cut. Hope some of my tips can help you out.
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Re: Ideas on growing business
Plasmaartist,
once again, thanks very much. Two great tips from you as soon as I start reading.
I've been in an engineering job shop for 6 months and it has a surface grinder. The idea of buying a used / worn magnetic chuck never entered my mind.
Any advice on where you pick these up. I'm guessing machinery auctions.
once again, thanks very much. Two great tips from you as soon as I start reading.
I've been in an engineering job shop for 6 months and it has a surface grinder. The idea of buying a used / worn magnetic chuck never entered my mind.
Any advice on where you pick these up. I'm guessing machinery auctions.
2500 x 1500 water table
Powermax 1250 & Duramax torch (because of the new $$$$ync system, will buy Thermal Dynamics next)
LinuxCNC
Sheetcam
Alibre Design 3D solid modelling
Coreldraw 2019
Powermax 1250 & Duramax torch (because of the new $$$$ync system, will buy Thermal Dynamics next)
LinuxCNC
Sheetcam
Alibre Design 3D solid modelling
Coreldraw 2019
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Re: Ideas on growing business
Lots of them on eBay, but shipping is pretty steep.beefy wrote:Plasmaartist,
once again, thanks very much. Two great tips from you as soon as I start reading.
I've been in an engineering job shop for 6 months and it has a surface grinder. The idea of buying a used / worn magnetic chuck never entered my mind.
Any advice on where you pick these up. I'm guessing machinery auctions.
Bulltear 6x12 w/ Proton Z axis & watertable
CommandCNC/Linux w/ Ohmic & HyT options
Hypertherm Powermax 85 w/ machine torch
Solidworks, Coreldraw X7, Inkscape, Sheetcam
CommandCNC/Linux w/ Ohmic & HyT options
Hypertherm Powermax 85 w/ machine torch
Solidworks, Coreldraw X7, Inkscape, Sheetcam
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Re: Ideas on growing business
Thanks Motoguy,
lots of industry within an hours drive so hopefully, there'd be a seller allowing pickup.
lots of industry within an hours drive so hopefully, there'd be a seller allowing pickup.
2500 x 1500 water table
Powermax 1250 & Duramax torch (because of the new $$$$ync system, will buy Thermal Dynamics next)
LinuxCNC
Sheetcam
Alibre Design 3D solid modelling
Coreldraw 2019
Powermax 1250 & Duramax torch (because of the new $$$$ync system, will buy Thermal Dynamics next)
LinuxCNC
Sheetcam
Alibre Design 3D solid modelling
Coreldraw 2019
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Re: Ideas on growing business
Does anyone have any experience with Midwest Automation's Mini 9? Would this be a good machine for the removal of dross? As mentioned above so much grinding is getting old.
Thanks
Thanks
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Re: Ideas on growing business
A TimeSaver is worth every penny to include the cost of grinding belts, today I cut over 500 parts and ran all of the through the Time Saver in less time than it took to cut them, as others have mentioned dial in your cutter to reduce the slag/dross, most parts only need to go through the sander once per side. I have found quality belts are a must, cheaper made belts will roll the edges of the parts and tend to let the materiel slip between the hold down rollers.
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Re: Ideas on growing business
This is great!conz35 wrote:Honestly, We were in the exact same boat as you a little over a year ago. We were killing ourselves hand grinding everything. I had read mixed reviews about getting a wide belt sander; everyone was saying that the metal would tear up belts or the belt sander would catch edges and bend pieces, or that it wouldn't do a good job of taking off dross. We bought a older timesaver model 125m. (25" wide belt) for right around $8000 with freight. After about the first hour grinding I realized I should've bought this thing years ago. Couple big points about it:
1. it saved us from having to hire someone to do our grinding.
2. it saved the wear and tear on our hands/ body from having to hand grind it.
3. It SAVES A TON OF TIME.....TIMESAVER!
We do a lot of big production runs; wether its stocking up our own booth/ inventory for fairs, online sales or making custom business signs; it is unreal how much this thing can grind in a day. Yesterday we fished over 10sheets worth of all sorts of metal art thru it. It took 4hrs total but it was over $10,000 worth of product we got grinded.
Are those sand paper rolls? If so, how often are they changed?
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Re: Ideas on growing business
I switched to Laser 2 years ago, Zero Slag. A light sand with 80 grit and its good to go!
- conz35
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Re: Ideas on growing business
We started out just using aluminum oxide belts, but were changing belts every 1-2weeks. Now we special order zirconium belts and they last us a month.michmetalman wrote:This is great!conz35 wrote:Honestly, We were in the exact same boat as you a little over a year ago. We were killing ourselves hand grinding everything. I had read mixed reviews about getting a wide belt sander; everyone was saying that the metal would tear up belts or the belt sander would catch edges and bend pieces, or that it wouldn't do a good job of taking off dross. We bought a older timesaver model 125m. (25" wide belt) for right around $8000 with freight. After about the first hour grinding I realized I should've bought this thing years ago. Couple big points about it:
1. it saved us from having to hire someone to do our grinding.
2. it saved the wear and tear on our hands/ body from having to hand grind it.
3. It SAVES A TON OF TIME.....TIMESAVER!
We do a lot of big production runs; wether its stocking up our own booth/ inventory for fairs, online sales or making custom business signs; it is unreal how much this thing can grind in a day. Yesterday we fished over 10sheets worth of all sorts of metal art thru it. It took 4hrs total but it was over $10,000 worth of product we got grinded.
Are those sand paper rolls? If so, how often are they changed?
"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, but Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad."