Wow, how time flies ! The Third annual CNC-WORKSOP (www.cnc-workshop.com) is just around the corner!
June 11-17th
The first year it was too hot....
The second year it was too cold (and wet)
This will be the third year and I really think the weather will be fine! But heck, who cares!! We get to play with all the neat toys!!

If you have ever wanted to meet some of the guys you met on the net, this is the place to be!! The list is long, so check out Rolands website and see who is coming.

The Rickomatic has a few new additions...50,000 rpm head !!! Way cool !
Screams like a banshee, but fun to watch!

Anyway, check out www.cnc-workshop.com and hope to see ya there! Rick

Being a newbe, would it be worth my time going to the workshop?
I'm building a router and have lots of dumb newbe questions!

Skip

Hi Skip. Yes, I think that the amount of info you can get would be well worth it! From the newby's to the very advanced, everybody learns a lot! And the best part is everybody loves to share there knowledge!!

Bring a BIG notebook if you come, as I am sure you can get some great ideas and insight on every aspect of cnc's!

There will also be demonstrations on aluminum casting and cnc edm's

My "thing" is cheep and free cnc, and the casting. I will be there all week, and basicly never shut up! It's a blast!

Join the yahoo group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNCWORKSHOP/ and you can see pics from the previous years. Take care! Rick

Hey Rick

You talked me into it, sounds like fun

Skip

Rick, Maybe you can help me understand how the show works? I've come over on Friday for the last two years and never quite get into the flow of things. I can't take off the week of work, but maybe one day doesn't fit the bill either. When I get over there, I have trouble finding out what is going on where. I always find the back room with several suppliers, and then visit along the halls, go to the swap meet, but it really seems jumbled up. I almost never find the owner of the swap meet tables at them. How do I find them? Am I missing out on something to locate ongoing seminars? It also seems that nearly all the attention is placed on machining metal. Do you expect that there will be any wood guys there this year?

Thanks for the help. I have felt like the red-headed step child when I walk into the place. I kinda roam around, visit with some nice people, but always feel like I really missed out on something good.

Thanks, Rich

Hi Rich. The workshop runs from Monday until Sunday. The big problem is that a lot of the guys come from a long way away and start leaving Saturday and by Sunday the place is a ghost town! I've mentioned this to Roland, but he seems set in the days of the show.... I thought it should start on a Saturday and end on the following Friday, but it isn't my show.....
The other problem is by Friday, a lot of the guys are, for lack of a better word, burned out. I show up Sunday and by Friday, I am tired! Not a bad tired, but still tired. I will always answer questions and do my demonstrations no matter if only 1 person shows up!!
When I tell people about the show, I always try to get them to come by Thursday at the latest, because there is always soooooooo much going on!

Hope ya can make it this year! (tell the wife and boss ya need some time to yourself! LOL!!!!) Take care Rick

Hi Rich. Sorry that I forgot to address the "being left out". Come and FIND me!!! You usually can not miss me as I am the one who never shuts up! I would be happy to take you around and introduce you to the "guys"!!!

As for the swap meet, go figure, I can't find the owners either. I will bring along some paper and magic markers and MAKE THEM put there names on there stuff! We'll find them somehow....

As for the classes....sigh.... Roland makes up the great schedules... Then everybody keeps switching them around! My talks get "bumped" at least 2 times before I get to do them... Maybe this year will be better...Sure rick, keep telling yourself that...... Anyway, if you come, PLEASE come find me!
Take care Rick

Hello All,
I'm planning on attending the 2007 workshop. I'll be driving from Morganton, NC to the Galesburg site. Morganton is a beautiful small town located about 60 miles east of Asheville, NC on Interstate 40. I'm planning on attending the whole show, staying until the last dog is hung ! I'm a 63 year old retired machinist/manufacturing engineer. My wife says I have the worlds largest hobby machine shop. I'm going through the long, sometimes painful learning curve of building new servo drives, interfacing a PC with Mach3 as the control software. My project is on some of the cnczone & yahoo groups as "Bridgeport Discovery 300" If anyone is interested in riding along and sharing expenses let me know ASAP. If we get along it's possible we could share the motel & expences there also.
Paul A.K.A Tenmetalman
Cell Phone 828-390-5895

I have a Yahoo group set up in case you are looking to share a ride, have questions about the workshop, have a story to share.....
And in the photo section are pics from the previous years...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNCWORKSHOP/


Hope to see ya there! Rick

Is there anymore info coming on the workshop (schedule) ect?

Have you gone to the workshop site "http://www.cnc-workshop.com/" ?Is there anymore info coming on the workshop (schedule) ect?

Yes I have. Just wondering about all those blank spaces

Ahhhhhhhhh, the schedule. I think that by next week Roland may be able to update the classes. Then, when you get there, you will find that it has changed! In a perfect world I would be rich, handsom, and have a brand new Haas (make that 2 LOL!) in the shop, but....things don't always work out that way....
If you have been to the workshop, you know how much is going on at all times! The best thing is to keep checkin' the website and show up for the workshop. A LOT will be going on!
As a side note, I scheduled a aluminum casting demo opposite Paul Hamlers investment casting demo. Both were generally crowded, so I thought we could break up the group. During the demo I looked up and there was Paul ! He cancelled his demo, cause he wanted to see mine!!! LOL!!! Go figure!

The workshop is an offshoot from the cnc display that started at the N.A.M.E.S. Show in Michigan, many... years...ago...

Every year the cnc area grew, and grew until Roland decided (persuaded by us, cnc guys) to sponser the workshop. Trust me, it's a lot of work on his part and his crew!!!!!(and they are some great guys too!)
Anyway, although I'm sure this was not the answer you were lookin' for, come to the workshop, have fun, learn lots and meet some great guys, have dinner out, drink a few cold ones, tell lies, and dream of cool toys to build.....

Take care. Rick (cheep and free cnc, Rickomatic)

With only one week away, I hope everybody that's coming has all there "toys" ready! If I had a month more..... LOL!!! I will be demonstrating both sand and lost foam casting this year as well as "cheep and free" Rickomatic stuff. I have found a new use for the cnc...Sharpening dies (thread cutting hand type) If you have any "tired" ones, bring em' along and we will sharpen them up! Hope to see ya there! Rick

I have been looking forward to this all year. This will be my second year. I only come fri,sat,sun though. It is a good time.

I can't wait to see the mods to your rick-o-matic. Nice machine. I will probably be hanging around (annoying) the emc group :) I got to see your sand casting and also fenns lost foam casting.

sam

Hi Sam! I'm getting very excited with the workshop less than a week away! I hope that Ben (the guy doing lost foam last year) will be back again. I have been working with it a bit and have been amazed at how well that process works!
If anybody that is coming to the workshop has a cnc hot wire cutter, BRING IT WITH YOU!!!! I have not had the time to put one together yet....
Rickomatic will be there, and hopefully I will pay better attention and not crash it again this year!
See ya next week! Rick

I would like to attend the whole show but work prevents that. Does anyone know if there is a per day option or is the cost $100 regardless of the number of days of attendance?

Thanks

http://www.cnc-workshop.com/costs.htm

He only shows the whole week cost $100 - $120 at the door

Or

Fri, sat, sun for $20 - $30 at the door.

sam

Argh, how did I miss that? Thanks :)

I spoke with Roland tonight. Everything is going well. He tells me there is a LOT of room in the warehouse now! Most of the BIG machines are now gone so there is enough room for the demonstrations now. We may top 300 people this year!!! Man, I got a lot of talkin' to do!!!! He may have the website updated with all the current classes and demonstrations by Thursday night.... Hope to see ya there! Rick

Any news from the CNC-workshop?? I'm planning on being there Thursday and Friday and possibly Saturday and I was wondering how it was going.

Scott

I'm flying to Galesburg on Saturday (a Father's day present) so I hope all the really cool stuff will be on Saturday. :) Looks like the airport is close but not close enough :(

I will be down there thurs, fri and sat. Mostly bothering the emc/linux guys and wondering around:)

Here is a fest cam showing mostly the emc2 development crew. In the background you see the mazak that they have been working on. Last year it did tool changes - this year it is hoping to do rigid tapping. You can't see it - but on the end of the left table is cradeks lathe - People seem to congregate around it to watch it run. :)

http://linuxcnc.org/compile_farm/festcam.shtml

They just got the Constant Surface Speed for lathes working - you can read about it here.
http://axis.unpythonic.net/01181527543
cradeks lathe
http://timeguy.com/cradek/cnc/lathe

as always - http://linuxcnc.org

I'm leaving at dawn from south of Detroit. Only can stay for the rest of Friday and need to be back for Sunday or face the wrath of some imediate family members.

The website doesn't seem to have been updated in the month prior to the event.

The website doesn't seem to have been updated in the month prior to the event.

Yah, no kidding... they could certainly use someone to help out with the website. :)

I made it to the workshop on Friday and had planned to stay through Saturday. I arrived at 12:30 and left at 2:30 on Friday. I ended up with a significant data point and have an high expectation to return next year. The barbeque and aluminum casting were big temptaions to stay overnight, but I had to balance that against some "should do" items on Saturday. Plus, the hotel let me out of my reservation.

The significant data point was to understand that this is a REAL "workshop" and not a show or exposition. You need to come prepared with concise questions, a project you are working on or something to share that you need advise on taking to another level. The passion and expertise present is excellent.

I got this from only a couple hours. My job is as a troubleshooter and I have been sent around the world over 20 years to evaluate, certify or revise high production settings. Over time I have been able to make an assessment in a very short time if there is only smoke or merit in the facility.

I arrived with a blank yellow notepad and camera, which were totally inadequate. Taking the whole week would have been good, but not practical for me. Next year I plan to arrive on Thursday with my mill secured in the back of my vehicle and a bunch of pictures and notes to ask questions from. I will need to rent one or two of the tables.

My other big observation is that Roland has too many toys. This may come from my being an urban type without the out buildings. I didn't get to meet his wife, but she must be awesome to have allowed all of it over a very extended period of time. Unless all of the RC airplanes were hers.

I also came to understand how Rick got the nickname "Rick-o-matic." The guy could compete in any continuous talking competition.

The emc2 group got rigid tapping working on the mazak.. Pretty cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCEwlfJj__A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNn-Yr7it5s

the tooling was a bit lacking so the emc2 group made due.

Very very smart bunch - it was fun to watch them work.

sam

Wow! Third year and still going strong! What a great week seeing old friends and meeting a lot of new ones! It really wasn't hard meeting them. When I saw someone I didn't know I just grabbed them and asked them who they were! LOL!! The weather was nothing short of GREAT (maybe a little hot in the afternoon...) and I got to go for a ride in a 1942, 7 cylinder radial engine army trainer!!! Open cockpit, and I LOVED IT! oh, yeh back to the workshop..... I did the Rickomatic stuff and "lost foam casting demo's all week long untill I was exhausted! What a great time ( I did mention that before, didn't I?!?) Dan Mauch from Camtronics-cnc.com brought his real nifty 3d laser scanning setup. VERY COOL.....Neil Knopf, editor for The Home Shop Machinist, and the new Digital Machinist magazine showed up Saturday and gave me some pointers on writing magazine articles.... Cheap and free, here we come! LOL!! Fred Smith from IMService (imsrv.com) was across from me and machined up some neat foam pieces for me to cast! Sorry I have not posted the pictures yet, but they are coming! AND, anybody who has pictures, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE send them to me!!!! Make a folder, zip the photos if possible and send me the zipped folder. It works better that way. Pete....I really need those plane pics....
Special thanks to Roland Friestad (our host) Ed and Joe, who did whatever I asked (or needed) and made the coffee that gave me life in the morning...To Ruth, er, Rudy and Lyne and to Boris (the cat) for hanging out with me until 3:00am while getting ready for the following day....
I know this just "scratches the surface" but I am still recouperating and will get caught up next week! Had a great time, and will have even more "stuff" next year!!!! Take care everyone! Rick

Any one have any pictures of the event? I arrived on Saturday and was told a lot of people had already packed up their projects.

Hi Wildcat. Yeh, I have a few pics, and as soon as I can get them off this (#!@%#@&%#) sd card I will post them. Being cheep and free sometimes my "old" software and me don't get along... Maybe I need something better than this ol' xt machine... LOL! (just kiddin') should have them up by Tuesday. Did I meet you? I was there until 6:00pm Saturday. The new dates for next years workshop end on Friday I believe....
I have started the cnc hotwire cutter that I need (ok, want) and I am going to submit it to the Digital Machinist magazine as an article. Should be fun! Maybe see ya next year! Rick

Wow, how time flies ! ! The first year it was too hot....
The second year it was too cold (and wet)
If you have ever wanted to meet some of the guys you met on the net, this is the place to be!! The list is long, so check out Rolands website and see who is coming.

yeah,how time files!and here is a good place to meet some of the guys !we'll be friends!

We (MachMotion) are planing to be there again this year! We will be coming in Thursday afternoon and leaving Saturday afternoon (wish we could be there longer but that is all we can do at this time). We will be showing off some of our CNC Controls, Drives, Motors, and a new breakout board.