On March 20, 1982, at the age of 20, I was a new machinist (2 months) operating a manual 36" Bullard VTL, after having operated a large manual hydraulic drill press for the previous year+. I worked for a small company that remanufactured wellhead equipment, but we also made new wellhead articles from forgings. That day, I was making my second pass (maybe 0.020" depth) at cutting threads (8/inch API) in the bore of a 7 1/16th" 15,000 lb.-rated wellhead flange, that I had already machined from a near-net-finish forging on the back side, when something caused a chip in the cutting edge of the threading tool (maybe hit an inclusion and chipped?). The shavings went from forming a harmless ribbon ball in the center to a jagged, deformed shaving that shot straight out between the jaws and slapped me harmlessly in the hip. Because it was a manual machine and the threading tool was traversing down toward the table in the vertical turret at 1/8" per revolution, I stepped back and grabbed the lever to disconnect the traverse and keep that vertical turret from engaging violently with the spinning table. Unfortunately, the shaving string extended farther out and, luckily dropped lower than my hip (or waist or thigh) and snagged my pants behind my left knee and cut through my peroneal nerve, which operates the muscles opposite the calf and provides feeling in the skin on the top of the foot out to the toes and up the lateral side of the shin. I went by ambulance to a nearby small hospital, where the doctors started discussing a surgery, but my brother-in-law arranged for me to be transferred to Hermann Hospital (now Memorial Hermann), in Houston's Medical Center. That evening, I underwent surgery to repair the cut and reattach the nerve. The neuro surgeon was Dr. Michael Minor. The orthopedic surgeon was Dr. James "Red" Duke, a well known Houston E.R. surgeon. Dr. Duke was in the E.R. as a Resident Surgeon on 11/22/1963, with Kennedy and Texas Governor Connally (generally credited with saved Connally's life). In subsequent years, he was frequently called on to give medical commentary to Houston media. Later, in 1987-88, a TV show, based on Dr. Duke, called "Buck James" and starring Dennis Weaver, ran for 2 seasons. It was about a West Texas doctor working in a NYC hospital. My brother-in-law was able to get me to Dr. Duke because he had previously been a paramedic in Houston's Fifth Ward for over 8 years and had brought many E.R. patients to Dr. Duke and that relationship got me on Dr. Duke's agenda that evening. It took about 18 months, but I did regain a bit of function from the shin muscles and have since only had a modest limp, not usually noticeable to others unless I'm tired or stumble. I saw Dr. Duke a handful of times after my treatment ended. He had an apartment in the hospital and I ran into him there several times when I was there. A couple of those times was when my daughter was there to give birth to one of her 4 children. A couple of those times, I reintroduced myself to him and gave him the 15-second version of our initial meeting and he said he remembered me (probably primarily remembered my brother-in-law). The last time I saw him was in 2014, when he was ~86 years old and sitting alone at a table in a Thai restaurant in Houston’s Rice University Village. As I was leaving, I reintroduced myself to him and gave the 15-second version of our initial meeting and he, again, said he remembered me. I noticed he was reading book published in 2014 and entitled “The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates.” He said it was very interesting and very thought-provoking, which I found interesting, coming from a man that had a divinity degree from a Baptist college. He struck me as a wise and sober man with a gentle and contemplative mind. I wish that I had stayed longer to chat about the book and what he took from it, but I was reluctant to intrude any further on his privacy. He died less than a year later, in 2015. If you read to the end and enjoyed it, check back with me, if you want to read more of my stories.
I ran a cnc Bullard with a 56" table and a Fanuc control for 7 years and made all sorts of things from a controllable pitch propeller hub to pulleys for arresting cables on air craft carriers to water jet parts. It was the best and most interesting 7 years in my 45 years as a machinist / tool maker.
I was a machinist with Michelin for 11 yrs after 4 in the Navy, I operated various machines but mostly the VTL’s , made tons of chips. Spent the next 20 yrs in maintenance at the tire mill.
Was a machinist for over 20 years, had to medically retire because of spinal injuries, i miss it so much! I was mostly a turning center and VTL/VTC operator, the only thing i don’t miss is the lifting and straining.
Almost looks like the process for the mrap turret bearing. Miss running an old Olympia. Nice looking finish, it soooo shinnney lol. Keep them chips flyin brother
Makes me remember back in the 1970's as an apprentice. I got put on a 120" Webster and Bennet vertical boring machine to machine some castings, it scared the f***ing c**p outer me..lol.
My first venture into programming a CNC machine tool was on a Webster & Bennet vertical turret lathe. We used it to machine overhead crane pulley wheels from a forged ring of material. Happy days.
Brings back memories of retaining rings we would swap out on the end windings of generators .... power plant size generators. Heat those things up to 600*c to get 0.04" growth for a shrink fit.... memories 🤔
Bosted Tap were small and a 90 gallon container stuffed with aluminum chips gets heavy every week. Better than 180 gallons of birds nest and wasted space 🤔
Enjoy your videos very much. I get the impression that you are located in Poland or some other part of eastern Europe. Why do you use imperial measurements instead of metric?
So, for the drilling, I'm assuming it's only X and Z travel, and uses rotation of table for "Y" positioning? Also, how many different tools can the machine hold? Can it do milling, or only drilling/tapping?
It can hold 16 tools, 8 for turning and 8 for milling. Yes, it can do milling, drilling, and tapping just like any milling machine. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eTRhjyn2KXg.html
Several years ago, in a shop outside of Chicago, an operator got caught up in the clamps holding down a large valve body on a 6' diameter VTL. It's a big shop with lots of distance between machines. Nobody noticed right away, he must have been too surprised and dead too soon to call out. Never defeat the safety interlocks on your machines, ever.
I only made one piece and I don't remember exactly how long it took. I'm a one guy do it all, setup, get the right tools, programming and machining and we are a repair machine shop so nobody is watching you with a stopwatch just to save couple of minutes.
@@ChrisMaj Thanks for the answer. I just wanted to know how long the whole process from blank to finished part takes? Approximately. ;-) Such videos are very interesting, but I can't imagine how long it will take. Greetings.
A los 18 años trabajaba en un torno vertical shibaura máquinas rodetes para turbinas, carcasas para bombas , tazones, chumaceras, impulsores, cabezas de compresores, camisas, poleas , después de eso e trabajado en muchas máquinas CNC de varias marcas tornos , centros de máquinados, mandriladoras etc.y fabricado infinidad de piezas de todos tamaños y me quedo con mis primeros años donde empecé de cero donde me enseñaron a programar y donde me dieron la confianza
6:42 looks like built up edge, maybe spindle speed too low? Doing the math is 31 m/min, more like HSS speed than carbide speed... I guess it's for tool life but it may chip the insert sooner. But for sure it has worked fine. Nice job!
I haven't seen any videos on how to use this type of jaws, do you just manually open and close them with a wrench to center part then torque them all tight? If so, how many ft.-lb. are you tightening them at?
Hi Chris what is the size of your vnmg 400 or 500 series and the brand is mitsubishi i think.and finally i just received my gv-1200 the thaiwan guy moint it actually and every time i ear la dance des canard je ris.bonne journée.
How close are your tolerances and do you maintain good concentricity with this retainer ring. I use to make parts like that on a manual kick Bullard. Putting in a large radius was always tricky but a kick Bullard allows you to control your RPM's.
The tolerances were not that critical +/- 0.002" ,but I got it done within 0.001" on flatness and circularity (roundness) just have to be really careful how much pressure you put on your jaws.
Ok, Chris good but I would like to ask did you put an indicator on your finish part before you release the jaws how much movement on the materials. Because if the indicator gave readings then the dimension changes once you remove the finish part on the machine.
First CNC lathe I ran was a Seiki VTL with a 60” diameter table. This machine looks almost exactly like the vertical I learned on. The chip bed and everything looks the same. I’m interested to know if it is. Honor Seiki VL-160CM was the model I learned on!
Yes the machine I ran had an adjustable hydraulic 4 jaw chuck and using a dial indicator to sweep the part being careful not to over tighten and distort the part.
@@ChrisMaj Very good answer. After roughing and part has cooled and ready for finishing you will see how much it sprung when you indicate it for concentricity and flatness.
All of the Cnc lathes where I work are 3 jaw, I’m sure they can change over to a 4 jaw chuck, but what is the point of having more jaws? More accurate? Is that why you are using the indicator? Just curious. Beginner Cnc operator.
I love this, I truly do. This is what I used to do in engineering and milling, skilled work, until the Ch ine se robbed our industries. Now what do we do, make toilet paper? 😕
I do field service and training and am going in shops with live tooling and robots are very compaditive, I see alot of big parts because of shipping costs and wait time
I so agree how on this earth have we given away our machining and engineering skills so easily and so cheaply. My first job at Doxford Pallion Sunderland on the Wear 1960 , in the massive machine shop was on a 36 inch Webster and Bennet vertical borer I was 16 years old. Took to this like a pro, I cannot understand this and feel a sense of betrayal of our skills by those in charge. Mind you Shipyard owners have openly admitted they did not see the Far East rising and did not invest in modernising their yards. Small comfort to all those that can do it in our country. I would like to see us do it again to stop imports of many things that we can still do, by the way with quality and standardised parts , no fakes.all the best from me honest John xx
Not bloody likely see my bit on honest John . Let’s all get together and do everything again in the whole British isles, I mean us all including the Republic of Ireland come on . If we can do this then we can shoe the EU why there may be a better way to do things.. hey merry Christmas from honest John xxxxx
@@johnbarnes7274 Johny, your Englis is poor but I understand what you mean by shoe the EU. I wonder why was the EU created in the first place? What was wrong with the old Europe? Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you too. 🎅👍
هده الآلة خراطة أفقية.ليس مهم نوعية و البرنامج اشغلت في ماكينات مختلفة و برمجتها مختلفة.لكنهم تقريبا يتشابهون .الفيديو يريك تقنيات العمل . كيفية تحكيم القطعة.
Greetings, can you please send me your tapping program, I operated CNC vertical lathe so I would like help with cancelling instructions for drilling and tapping program
Przeważnie +/- 0.001" (+/- 0.0254 mm) tak że przy toczeniu wykończeniowym trzeba bardzo uważać na siłę zacisku, żeby po odkreceniu nie wyszedł kwadrat .
