|
Posted by Vernon on September 28, 2008, 1:58 am
Please log in for more thread options
> Vernon wrote:
> > While I am fascinated by machining I have neither skill nor experience
> > as a machinist. =A0Therefore, I will appreciate your help.
>
> > I am considering buying an Emco Compact 5 lathe with mill as a gift
> > for my son. =A0I don't know what generation the machine is. =A0However,
> > this is not a CNC capable machine.
>
> > Will we regret not finding a machine that has the CNC capability? =A0Or
> > is this the appropriate place to start. =A0My son is studying chemistry
> > and has an inventor's genius.
>
> I recently bought the CNC version of this machine.
> Same lathe, except it has the steppers in place of handwheels.
> The milling attachment is the same, no CNC milling control.
> This is a very fine precision lathe. It works best for brass, aluminum,
> and plastic. It can be used for steel, but don't push it.
> The milling setup is pretty light duty. Mine does not have a fine feed,
> but yours may. If it was all I had for milling, I'd sell it ($500 on
> ebay) and buy a Chinese minimill.
> One good alternative I saw was divorcing the mill column from the lathe
> and attaching it to it's own X-Y table.
> But yes, if you can buy it right, it's a great starter lathe for a kid
> of any age.
>
> Be sure it comes with all the tooling, because each piece is expensive.
> Typical factory tooling usually included:
>
> 3-jaw chuck
> collet chuck for lathe
> ER25 collet set
> Indexer
> tool-post, preferably quick-change (2 styles)
> Milling table (slotted plated about 5"x6")
> Milling clamps
> Milling vise
>
> I can send you pics of most of those if you need them.
Hey RB,
Whether I bought it "right" remains to be seen. I ended up paying
about what an equivalent lathe / mini mill would cost new at Harbor
Freight. However, I don't know what condition it's in. And I don't
know if it has any - never mind all - of the accessories you list
above. Somebody wanted it almost as much as I did. I can only hope
he did his homework better than I did.
Regards,
Vernon
|
|
Posted by Larry Jaques on September 28, 2008, 8:57 am
Please log in for more thread options
On Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:58:06 -0700 (PDT), the infamous Vernon
>Whether I bought it "right" remains to be seen. I ended up paying
>about what an equivalent lathe / mini mill would cost new at Harbor
>Freight. However, I don't know what condition it's in. And I don't
>know if it has any - never mind all - of the accessories you list
>above. Somebody wanted it almost as much as I did. I can only hope
>he did his homework better than I did.
Vernon, condolences on your successful auction bidding. ;(
Next time, figure out what you'd pay as a maximum bid, then use
sniping software to enter that bid at the absolute last second. It'll
keep you out of the bidding wars which make sellers ecstatic and
buyers remorseful.
And now, at least you're aware of "homework", eh?
I hope the Emco purchase is chock full of goodies for you.
--
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
progress depends on the unreasonable man.
-- George Bernard Shaw
|
|
Posted by DoN. Nichols on September 26, 2008, 12:41 am
Please log in for more thread options
> While I am fascinated by machining I have neither skill nor experience
> as a machinist. Therefore, I will appreciate your help.
>
> I am considering buying an Emco Compact 5 lathe with mill as a gift
> for my son. I don't know what generation the machine is. However,
> this is not a CNC capable machine.
O.K. The color can give some clues as to vintage. The older
ones are International orange, and the newer ones are bright red within
those which were made as CNC machines.
> Will we regret not finding a machine that has the CNC capability? Or
> is this the appropriate place to start.
Anyone *should* learn on a manual machine prior to every trying
to program a CNC machine -- just to have a better feel for what the
machine is capable of before asking the dumb robot to do things which
the machine can't handle.
Note that there are versions of the same lathe which *are* CNC,
both ones using a built-in (but limited) CPU, and ones which are driven
from a PC (which was a bit faster at the time). One advantage of
starting with the manual Compact-5 and then moving to a CNC version of
the same machine is that a certain percentage of the tooling will work
with both machines.
There was also a "F1" CNC mill with the same vintage of
controller CPU as the Compact-5/CNC lathe.
I've got the Compact-5/CNC lathe (but not the "F1 mill"), and I
use it for some things, and my older, larger Clausing manual lathe for
other things -- so it is good to have both around.
> My son is studying chemistry
> and has an inventor's genius.
Then he should enjoy the manual Compact-5 and learn well from
it.
Send him here for extra guidance.
Enjoy,
DoN.
--
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---
|
|
Posted by F. George McDuffee on September 26, 2008, 10:25 am
Please log in for more thread options
On 26 Sep 2008 04:41:16 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
--------
> There was also a "F1" CNC mill with the same vintage of
>controller CPU as the Compact-5/CNC lathe.
---------
see
http://www.lathes.co.uk/emco/index.html
Emcos are nice machines but the smaller manual machines are long
out of production and the parts/accessories are not cheap. one US
source is http://www.blueridgemachinery.com/
One of Blueridge's product lines is Shop Fox, which seems to be
very close to the Emco design.
http://www.blueridgemachinery.com/machinery/shop_fox/m1109_combo_lathe_mill.html
Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?
Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).
|
|
Posted by Wild_Bill on September 26, 2008, 12:46 pm
Please log in for more thread options
As the other comments suggest, anyone approaching small scale machining
should become familiar with manual machine operation first.
There are good write-ups of EMCO combo machines in the archives of this
newsgroup, and several other locations such as the Chaski 3in1 forum, and
the CNC Zone forum.
The capabilities of the EMCO combo machine will most likely enable a user to
fabricate nearly all of the mechanical parts required to convert the machine
to CNC.
Locating the electrical and electronic assemblies shouldn't be difficult.
The amount of information available for converting any common machine to CNC
is very vast.
WB
.........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html
> While I am fascinated by machining I have neither skill nor experience
> as a machinist. Therefore, I will appreciate your help.
>
> I am considering buying an Emco Compact 5 lathe with mill as a gift
> for my son. I don't know what generation the machine is. However,
> this is not a CNC capable machine.
>
> Will we regret not finding a machine that has the CNC capability? Or
> is this the appropriate place to start. My son is studying chemistry
> and has an inventor's genius.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Vernon
|
| Similar Threads | Posted | | Need source for downloading Emco Maier Compact 5 lathe manual | November 20, 2007, 10:19 pm |
| California...Emco Maximat Lathe/mill | August 16, 2010, 1:37 am |
| Where's the EMCO-F1 CNC MILL Group Gone? | March 28, 2008, 2:30 pm |
| Emco lathe | August 1, 2007, 10:56 pm |
| Can someone help identify this EMCO lathe? | March 22, 2009, 7:00 pm |
| Emco lathe toolpath program? | May 27, 2007, 4:41 pm |
| Proper lube for Emco MAXIMAT lathe? | June 8, 2008, 1:31 pm |
| Mill or lathe? | August 19, 2008, 1:01 am |
| Need dimension help with parts for a compact bender | February 3, 2007, 1:22 pm |
| OT: Interesting Compact fluorescent Article | April 30, 2007, 6:38 pm |
|
|
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap