22/07/2026
Just a little K1045 mild steel job, lots of machine run time hours, then this customer just doubles the order. Oh well....nice to be busy
Nifty CNC Machining
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custom parts design and manufacture using a Hitachi Seiki CNC HiCell CA20 turn/mill Lathe with full conversational control of all 4 axis XYZC
custom parts design and manufacture using a Hitachi Seiki CNC HiCell CA20 Lathe with 4 axis XYZC
22/07/2026
22/07/2026
Just a small repeat fill in job before I begin a much larger job. 25mm bright mild steel shafts drilled & tapped M16 x 35 deep. Stainless steel surveying equipment mounting base plates. Mild steel locating collars with a cross hole for a roll pin. Nice easy jobs for a change.
18/07/2026
That'll do.....another batch of stainless steel clevis pins completed and ready for delivery.
18/07/2026
Lights out Machining is not for the faint hearted, nor does every job suit or warrant it. Some jobs require constant supervision. Some modern machines have fancy options like tool breakage detection. The Hicell is primitive, it'll run on regardless until the sensors detect impact, then it will power itself down, if set to do so. Being an operator that generates my own code by hand means I have FULL editing control over the machine and cutting conditions. I decide everything from speeds, feeds, depths of cut, tool life, etc. Because of this experience, I can "feel" what the machine is doing. A sense that is no longer present in modern operators or machines. I often push tooling beyond its life limit.
Back to "lights out machining"....i am so tired of seeing every video on the interwebs showing Machining of aluminium, usually a nice soft grade too. Worse still, taking teeny tiny little 0.05mm step over cuts to save the tooling. Be a real machinist, take a heavy cut, push that machine load meter into the red, send it hard. Let's see some tougher materials, not one off either, long production runs, 1000's off. Let's see how your programming skills destroy your tooling real fast. I do tend to back off the cutting on jobs like this one, if I'm not present in the workshop. I do not use fancy grades of inserts and grades for each and every job, material, etc. There are literally 1000's out there. I have 1, possibly 2 types of insert for all my Machining. You just generate or edit the code to suit. This short part video is just the centre drilling and cross hole drilling portion of these stainless steel clevis pins. It's run like this for 21 hours uninterrupted so far. For those that need to know specs, live tooling C axis No.4 H.S.S. centre drill T060600 rpm = 1500, feedrate = 73mm/min, 4mm H.S.S. drill T080800 rpm = 2000, feedrate = 155mm/min. Yes, I know they are tame, but I don't change tools for the entire batch if possible. I know these machines very well and what will last the duration. Remember, it's stainless steel.
17/07/2026
And so begins yet another repeat batch of stainless steel clevis pins. This is about 1/3 of the material supplied. These will keep me busy for a few days. Looking back over the years of doing these, they repeat anywhere from 12 to 18 months.
24/06/2026
Rinse & repeat....Machined from K1045 mild steel, these are simple pins and collars. Close tolerances and finish replicated as per samples supplied. Thread is 1/14" x 12UNF. Drilled and tapped 1/8 x 28BSPT to the cross holes for grease. The end result is worth the very long hours put into these.
18/06/2026
I've been slack lately, not posting recent jobs, mainly because some are not really that interesting or just plain old repeats, like this one is. K1045 mild steel hinge pins with drilled & tapped holes, to locate and the central one for lubrication.
06/06/2026
It's been a while since I machined a points cover. These are a replacement for the standard Harley Davidson shovelhead and evo nose cone. I've done twin cams as well. I've done alot of different ones but not kept records of quantities, only the pics and CNC programs to repeat them as required. These are for a group of guys that build, repair, ride and hunt down the parts they lose along the way. My buffing skills are still as poor as ever, everyone knows I hate polishing. It's to give the new owner something to do. 😁
29/05/2026
No, not another repeat. It's a new job! They don't look much but are a vital part in Henderson engines. Machined from #4140 high tensile steel, they are double ended studs with 1/4" x 28UNF male thread sections on each end. The chemical blackening process is purely for corrosion resistance. This batch was 100 off. Both ends machined in a single setup, no turning the job around or adding a 2nd op. Just a little bit of manual code editing and it works well.
The superb cad drawing was supplied by customer. Don't knock it, I still do jobs this way, it takes seconds, not months, and works.
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Lower Chittering
Perth, WA
6084