Space Needle toy made on a Haas CNC Lathe

Improved Space Needle CNC (computer numerical control) program and setup

Some of my students made a few dozen of these model Space Needles. They handed them out to people visiting the machine shop during a Sno-Isle Skills Center open house on Thursday, October 15.

This is an improved program and setup from the one I uploaded from a different YouTube site last February. The spindle speed, feed rate (speed at which a tool moves across the part) and tool setup have all been safety-improved for this run of parts.

Because these parts are machined from a 30" (approximately 80 cm) long aluminum bar stock, the top speed has been limited to 1500 rpm.

Safety note: Touching metal chips as they are cut from the stock material is dangerous. That is why a chip hook was used to remove chips safely. This piece was made of aluminum, which produces relatively soft chips that may be touched lightly and cautiously when the machine is NOT RUNNING. Many other metals, especially hardened steel and stainless steel, produce very tough, razor sharp chips that should never be touched at all by hand, even when the machine is not running.

The machine making the model Space Needle is a Haas CNC Toolroom Lathe, model TL-1 owned by Everett Community College. The shop is a high school tech lab during the day and a community college tech lab in the evenings. (This arrangement is a good use of taxpayer dollars.)

Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center, Everett, WA, USA
Everett Community College, Everett, WA, USA

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Seattle
• Space
• Needle
• Model
• Haas
• CNC
• Lathe
• TL-1
• Sno-Isle
• Skills
• Center
• Everett
• WA
• Tom
• Clemans
• Canon
• PowerShot
• A570

[MGARestoration]

Very nice video. I still think it is almost magical to watch a CNC device.

[tomclemans]

@MGARestoration

Thanks for watching and for your comment. I have been programming and operating CNC machines since 1971, and the magic has never dimmed. The technology continues to be amazing. :-)

[bobeileen1]

Hi Tom, Computerized lathe operations continue to amaze me completely. This is fantastic technology. I could attempt something like this on my Unimat but it would take a very long time and not be nearly as good! Thanks. BobH

[tomclemans]

Thanks Bob. I've used machines like this since 1971 and they are still magic. It's exciting to introduce machining skills to kids, which is the beginning of a career for many of them.

[vslslr]

Do you have to individually program each of the "rough" cuts? Or only the final dimensions?

[tomclemans]

Thanks for your question :-)

All I programmed was the final dimensions of the finish tool path.

Haas lathes use Fanuc (a brand of CNC control) compatible programs. Since before 1980, Fanuc had a "canned cycle" (G71) that parked the tool just off the end and diameter of the part. The finish tool path was described, the depth of cut per pass, and how much stock to leave for the final finish cut. The CNC computer calculated the rest and completed the rough and finish profiles.

[tomclemans]

Thanks for your comment. :-)

You are right - a carbide tool is more likely to break than a carbide insert tool.

Carbide is strong, but fractures easily when bumped. Placing the bar stock gently against the tool really didn't risk breaking it.

After placing the material, the first tool move was toward the right, away from the material, again minimizing the risk.

I have set many thousands of parts against a cutting tool like that in the past 35 years without ever breaking or chipping a tool.

[antboy824]

Using a carbide insert as a stop? Seems risky =)