The Home Machinist!

Hello everybody. I am a home hobbiest with a passion for old Corvettes, garden railroading, and invention. My passion for invention and old Corvettes lead to a business venture where I now produce and market an alternator mounting bracket for vintage small block Chevrolets. I have these produced to my specs on a CNC plasma machine and a Fadal 4020. We offer various configurations and finishes

click here

http://headerbracket.com/

I always thought it would be nice to have these amenities, and more, at home, at least for prototyping.

For several years I've had a desire to have a home machine for my projects and always wanted it to have CNC capabilities. I'd been looking for just the right machine for years and finally found it. I purchased this from ebay and it is now sitting at the loading dock awaiting delivery to my home. It is a 2008 ShopMaster with both manual and full CNC and DRO. The machine is reported as unused because a dedicated milling machine and ShopMaster Patriot were purchased at about the same time and received all the use. This sat under a motorcycle cover.

The seller said that he's included a VFD, a bunch of extra tools, and stuff to get me started and I'll know what I have in a couple days. I'm sure that I'll have lots of questions for the forum.

Thanks guys.

My machine:

How far south are you? I'm in Van Nuys, but I go to Irvine and Costa Mesa on occasion.

Welcome! I'm completely new to machining but love every moment of it! Those are some cool looking brackets! this is the time of year where I start to miss Cali. Used to live in Thousand Oaks and then in Sylmar... Now I'm in Chicago.

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Cheers!

Charlie

Knuth DBF 400 - 3 in 1 Lathe Mill

I'm in the uinincorporated part of Orange County in the hills above Tustin and Orange (Cowan Heights).

I've been doing some clean-up. This is truely a barn find and the machine was only run twice for a few minutes once when purchased and once to sell it. I've been going through and cleaning it up and pulling off the sheet metal that is easily removable to repaint it.

We are trying to figure out how to get it on the stand and in place. A forklift would be the best way. Know of any?

For mounting lifting it onto the stand, a chain-hoist and A-frame is pretty cheap & easy to fabricate. I know some people have used engine hoists (available at tool rental companies), but their limited vertical height can sometimes be a problem.

Machinery dollies for moving it around the shop can also be fab'd -- for example:
viewtopic.php?p=140656#p140656
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/ge ... ost1358833

An engine hoist is recommend by the mfg, but as you mentioned, limited verticle height in that area (7'8") due to a 4' extension loft above. It will go where the brown cabinet is behind the cart with the trains. A pallet jack would work perfectly, if it could go up to 32".

What about using that "AutoLifter" hoist?

I can see where you would be reluctant to suspend the machine from that mezzanine structure. I think the suggestion of a rented engine hoist is your best option -- you can raise it off the floor, move it into position, raise it to just above working height, slide the stand or other support structure into place below and lower it into place.

Tod,
I finally got around to putting mine on a stand. I took the lathe apart and the bed was a two man lift. Everything else went back together solo. Your machine is a little different but you can always lighten up a machine by disassembling. I got a thorough internal cleaning out of it!

_________________
Cheers!

Charlie

Knuth DBF 400 - 3 in 1 Lathe Mill

I have the Tri-Power version of your machine. It came assembled but in the table which served as the frame for a plywood shipping carton. I had to move it down a narrow cellar stairway. I took it apart. The Mill and Bridge comes off as does the Tail Stock and Table. This results in about 6 pieces two of which are perhaps a younger two man lift. I moved them with a 2-wheel dolly, one old man and some rigging. To take the things apart and to put things back together I used an engine lift. Two people could probably lift the lathe onto the table but aligning the bolt holes really required being able to move the lathe relative to the table and having the engine hoist hold 90% of the weight was a godsend. Likewise for putting the mill back onto the four posts. Balance it in the middle then lower until it just touches the posts, then align and lower until the jack screw catches. I can see how it could be done with two strong men plus a third man to align holes but I think the odds would favor at least one blood blister from an accidental pinch.

Tom

They make 'em. Here's mine:


59" lift, and a 2200 lb capacity. My poor-mans environmentally friendly fork lift....

Bill

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Today's solutions are tomorrow's problems.

Tom,

It was not a nice move and I used a motorcycle lift to lift the pallet up high enough to the bench to facilitate a shift to the bench with a friend or just the bed and motor. My milling head was not that heavy... I was able to lift and line up with the gears myself... I'm younger but average build. The milling head stayed balanced while I bolted them down. I did notice some plastic gears while inside that I would like to change to brass or something better.

_________________
Cheers!

Charlie

Knuth DBF 400 - 3 in 1 Lathe Mill