supermax vs mill manual

[grumps]

any help would be greatly appreciated thank you for your time.

[wesdavidson]

Is the question CNC vs Manual?

Quick answer, in 1987 I worked in a captive aerospace job shop, all manual. Mostly one part runs. Prototypes. We used a lot of rotary tables, sine plates, boring heads, digital readouts and multiple setups.

We purchased a top of the line Maho MH600T with Hiedenhain cnc control. We used Bridgeport EZ Mill (now partmaker) on a mac. No tool changer. I learned the machine, and trained 3 other machinists, with no cnc experience to use the machine the week after we recieved it. We were using it full time in less than 10 days.

We paid for the $92,000 cost in 4 months.

One particular part that had required 8 hours manually took 40 minutes on the maho.

Our average programing time was 20 minutes per part, many programmed at the machine. we made maximun use of canned cycles. A normal start to finish time per print was under an hour.

In one case we made a new 24 inch diameter rocket bulkhead with many connector and o ring cuts on both sides in less than 2 hours, it had been drafted in mirror image so we just flipped the program and reused the code. That one job saved about $40,000 in travel time for an integration team.

We seldom drilled with it, we would spot the holes and then finish them on the drill press, we also never tapped with it, a tapping head on a drill press was faster and easier. However 2000 holes .040 holes an inch deep in one 304 stainless were done multiple times without scrapping the plates. It was possible.

A good bridgeport clone with a good control will be much more productive than a manual machine. Single parts are slam dunk. Think of it as an electronic rotary table and boring head in one.

[wesdavidson]

Now a word about shop organization, for the 5 years I worked there, we had 5,000 square feet, 5 mills, a jig bore, surface grinder, band saws, etc and 6 lathes. We had 5 machinists, a office manager, an part time machine cleaner, QA clerk, and a sweeper.

There was a design department with a dozen top engineers, a couple dozen scientists, a bunch of designers and drafters, and a bunch of clean room techs etc. We had a top of the line fellow do our critical welding, all of the .004 inch wall ss tubing and vacuum rated aluminum.

Each project was made up of several thousand parts, all made "in house". As prints were released from the designers they were brought to the shop and logged in. As a machinist finished a part he would turn it over to the QA clerk for logging out and billing. The machinist would then select his next part from the pile of logged in prints. General guidance was provided on what was "hot" but the machinist was the one who determined what he built. He would then select and cut his material, prep it, open a traveler form, and use his preference of available tools and machines to build the part. He tracked his own time and verified his work. He was allowed to contact any engineer or drafter etc to check dimensions, fits, and requirements. He was also able to discuss improvements or simplifications to the design. The machinist was encouraged to mark all working calculations on his print, which was filed in his file cabinet at the end of the job. This could be referenced in case of a later problem, or change. The QA clerk would reverify the part and print, and make sure no gross errors left the shop. The assembly and clean room technicians could also work with the designers to make needed modifications or changes.

This management system has been in place in the shop mentioned since about 1965 and is still in use. Now the shop has a wide selection of Haas , Maho, bridgeport, Hardinge and other machines. The shop is credited with hundreds of shuttle payloads, rockets and satellites over a period of 50 years.

[riyanjason]

YC-2GS SUPERMAX Combination Plain horizontal/ram type vertical mill Table working surface 11” x 51 1/8” Range: Longitudinal 39 3/8” Cross 11 ¾” Vertical (knee) 17 ¾” Distance from horizontal spindle center to ram 7” Distance from horizontal spindle center to table 0-17 ¼” Taper in horizontal spindle N.S.T.40 (9) Horizontal spindle speeds 85-1300 RPM Horizontal ram travel 21 ¼” Swivel of ram 360° Distance from vertical spindle nose to table 4 1/8”-21 7/8” Distance from vertical spindle center to column 6 11/16”-27 15/16” Taper in vertical spindle N.S.T.40 Infinitely variable vertical spindle speeds 75-4220 RPM Vertical quill travel 5 ½” Vertical spindle feeds .0015, .003, .005 IPR Vertical head inclined angle 45° R+L (12) Longitudinal and cross-feeds 5/8-27 ½ IPM Longitudinal and cross rapid traverse rate 118 IPM Vertical knee rapid traverse rate 31 ½” IPM EQUIPPED WITH: 5 H.P. Ram type swivel vertical head Power longitudinal and cross-feeds Power vertical spindle feeds 3-axis Acu-Rite III digital readouts Power rapid traverse Coolant system 5 H.P. horizontal spindle drive motor