My 1240 experiance.....

[falconman]

I wrote this over a 2 week period starting with the delivery of my 1240CNC. Just an FYI for anyone considering one. Enjoy!




I thought I would share my experience with the purchase of a Smithy 1240CNC through Novakon. It’s basically the Smithy 1240 with Novakon’s control system. The mill was supposed to arrive on a Tuesday. The trucking company called and left a message on my answering machine that the driver could not find my address. When I called them back she said the driver was there but no one answered the door (my roommate and I were here all day) but she couldn't even remember whom the driver was. She asked if I had a forklift to remove the mill as it is curb delivery only. I said no, she said they would have to contact the shipper because the lift truck was more money.

They called back on Thursday saying they had authorization and a time was set for Friday. The truck arrived and the driver unloaded the crates except for the mill itself. It was put in the truck sideways and he was unable to get his pallet jack under it. He said he would have to finish his other deliveries then return to the depot to have the mill turned. While he was gone I opened the crates I had gotten and removed the base stand from its pallet and set it in place. At this time I noticed there was no documentation on how to setup the base, cooling containment or anything. Most of the door latch hardware had fallen off of the base doors so I reinstalled it and adjusted it so all of the doors (4) would actually work properly. I had to run a tap through the threaded holes on top of the base to clean them up as the bolts would not go in. It took the driver 3 hours to return and off load the mill and set it in my garage. I opened the crate and found the mill and lots of metal pans, trays and such with no clue as to where they went. I did find the coolant tray (sits between the base and mill). I test fit the coolant tray to the base and found the holes did not line up. No problem, just file the holes (4 out of 6) to slot them a little. At this point I found out that the engine hoist I had could not lift the mill. It was 2 days before I found one that could. A bit of juggling with the chains and I got it off the pallet and on the floor. I reset the chains to install the mill on the base and when setting in place found that the holes did not line up. The base, coolant tray and mill all had unique bolt patterns.
After getting permission from Novakon I had to drill the holes in the mill to 1" (from 1/2") to get it to fit on the base. Drilling the mill was easy, as the cast iron was rather soft. I hope the table is a bit more durable. At this point I noticed that the entire mill was covered in automotive body filler, sanded, then painted. Even the sheetmetal components had filler on them. I took a close look under the mill as I was lifting it back onto the base and found that the casting was very nasty/rough looking. Since that was merely cosmetic I don't see a problem with it. Once setup you don't see it anyway. Quick note, there were 2 boxes in the base that had tools and steel plates (4 round plates, 2 square) that I figured went under the mill to space it off of the coolant tray. Again, no documentation. As I was supposed to get a coolant pump I am assuming that the second tool kit/plates were installed in the base by mistake instead of my pump.
It took me a day and a half to figure out how to remove the shipping block on the spindle (instructions merely say to remove it, just not how). It’s just a long drawbar that threads into a t-nut in the table. Just undo the nut in the mill head then unscrew from the t-nut and pull up through the top of the mill head. Next was to connect all of the cables to the mill and computer. I wanted to see this thing move! I have never used CAD/CAM software or run a cnc anything before so when it did not work I thought it was my lack of knowledge. I noticed the mach3 kept saying something about an external stop issue. After 3 days of reading manuals, online help forums etc I found the problem. The short parallel cable gender changer (or so I thought) was actually a jumper cable to go from the parallel port of the PC to the add-on card (mill controller) then the cable from the mill actually connected to a different port on the controller card then what I was using. Again, some documentation would have been nice here. It did however give me the opportunity to learn alot about the mill and software. The PC booted and I started the mach3 and the mill moved!!! Success!!!! It took me about 3 hours to draw my first part in Bobcad then about another 2 hours to generate the toolpath and gcode. Now that I am familiar with the software I can redo it in less than an hour. It did take a couple of days to figure out/debug the gcode but the mill moves through the motions just fine. I have not yet received my coolant pump so I spend my days watching the laser pointer I put in place of an end mill trace a printout of the part I created taped to the mill table. I’m also learning how to setup stock in the mill to cut the parts and how to do a tool change. I think I have it all figured out. All in all I think the mill is a good one. There were a lot of annoying little problems but I don’t feel they will detract from the operation of the mill. I still have a few parts leftover that I don’t know where they go. I think they were for the Smithy control equipment. Might be for the coolant system. I’ll figure it out when the pump arrives.

A couple of days later and a few more things to add here. I found that the t-slots in the bed were not machined well. The t-nuts would not fit. I had to use a belt sander on the nuts and a Dremel to fix some imperfections in the slots. I went and bought 9/16ths t-nuts so I wouldn’t have to mess with it anymore. There are a lot of sharp edges on the sheetmetal parts. Seems every time I walked by the mill I got a new scratch. A fine file fixed all of those pesky things. Still no pump. I asked when it would get here, got an offer to put my story in a magazine for a response. I have used the mill for drilling a few parts. The Mach3 was a lot easier to use than I thought it would be. A little practice with feed rates and traversing the table to setup a part was a snap. I think a wireless keyboard might make it easier to run/setup parts. Just worried about keyboard response time. Got tired of waiting for the pump so I went and bought another one. It was 110v and the mill is setup for a 220v pump. It works (with a little wiring magic) but when running a program it’s 50/50 whether the pump starts or not. I’ll install the 220 pump later. Once I had the mill fully operational I annihilated the rebel forces and made some parts. My only experience with machines has been with manual units so a computer controlled one is a bit different. I know exactly what I want to make but can’t figure out how to draw it in the CAD/CAM software. So far I have been making 2D parts and all of them have come out great. The transition to 3D is going to take a while. All in all I think the mill is a good one. With a bit of practice in setting up milling operations and training in CAD/CAM I believe I’ll be making parts with this machine for years to come.

Jim M.

[sharpshooter90]

Sounds like the trucker was not real bright- we had a similar situation once and simply tied a strap to one corner of the pallet and pulled it with a pickup until it turned enough to get the pallet jack under it.
As far as all those misaligned holes, soft and rough castings and sheet metal, you would expect that stuff on a 995.00 cheapy mill, but on a " production" model CNC, it sounds pretty disappointing. It sounds like the Smithy model is a hasty catch up to the Tormach design. Somehow the Tormach guys have their machine built at the same factory that builds the high end Smithy Granite series, while Smithy builds their version at the factory that produces their cheapy Midas machines. Tormach must have come up with this design and out flanked Smithy in getting an exclusive at the ISO9001 factory and Smithy is now scrambling to compete with one built at a regular state run place.

[djnbig]

Hey Falconman,

How are things going with the mill now?

Hey, I'm curious, do you know if Novakon gets their mill's from Smithy or do they get them directly from the manufacturer in China?

Hope all is starting to balance out. It's no fun dealing with all those surprises. :S

djn

[falconman]

They told me it came from Smithy. The crate looked as though it went straight from China to me though. So far it's done everything I've asked it to. If I setup a part or tool wrong it lets me know. The last hurdle for me is the BobCAD. Once I learn that I'll be ok.

[smallblock]

Is the Novakon control superior to the Smithy? Is it made in US? I'm still trying to decide whether to buy or build a system for my machine.

[falconman]

I don't know. I just couldn't find anything on the net about ez-trol except what was on the smithy site. That told me it was a proprietary software and I wanted something more universal as I will be getting a cnc lathe next year. I didn't want to learn 2 different software programs. One will be enough for me. As for where they make it, no clue. My guess would be assembled in Canada. The pc weighs about 4.73 metric tons. I had to make a small cart to get it around the shop.

[ryansuperbee]

Hillarious!!! I bought the 1240 about 6 months ago and had the exact same problems. That 4x4 for the z axis was a *****! I agree with you 100%. They had no manuals what so ever for unpacking and assembly. And NOTHING fit. I probably had it worse though. After I got the mill set up, the spindle would not come on. 2 weeks later they sent me a new varible frequency drive. After I replaced that I found that they had the foward and reverse backwards. ( I made an electrical diagram and took pictures of the original wiring before swaping them) So that worked for a few days, then the computers breaker started fliping when ever I set the machine to motion. So I could'nt even jog the thing. Anyway the list goes on and on. Finally they sent me a whole new machine! And it had problems too! I also bought the fourth axis for my machine. It was as if they never even tested it! When I pluged in the cable for the fourth axis, it FRIED the fourth axis driver. Smoke and all!!! They wired up the pins wrong. So I was bummed about that. But I still wanted to see the fourth axis work. So I unpluged the y axis. And connected the A axis into the Y axis. Wouldn't even budge!!! There is coupler that connects the motor of the A axis to the rotary tables shaft. The set screws that hold the two ends together were gouging the inside of the shaft housing!!! So I took the fourth axis apart and set the shaft housing on my manual milling machine and bored it out to the correct dimensions. Once that was all done I put everything back together and it worked! For about 2 minuets. I couldn't believe it. The fourth axis started moving in the opposite direction I told it to. And would keep moving after I released the jog button! I had to swap out the driver 3 times. Finally they sent me all new internal cables for it. When i compared the two I found that there were two wires twisted together that were not supposed to be touching at all. Finally I have a nice working machine. But it took 5 months to get to that point! The only complaint that I have is the machine is not cutting as accurately as it should, But it is very close. If you have any questions for me please feel free to ask!

[ryansuperbee]

P.S. The very first job I had come up with my Smithy 1240, involved the fourth axis. I was not even familiar with the machine yet. But it turned out nice! since then all I have been making is 3D parts. They are very simple. I'm not familiar with the cadcam software. I use Bobcad. And things seem to work out very nicely with that software. Have you had to make any adjustments to your machine yet, as far as things not cutting out to the exact size you programmed?

[ryansuperbee]

Sorry, for multiple postings this is my first time using forums. Jim, I also wanted to tell you that if you are thinking about buying a CNC lathe, you should go on www.youtube.com and type into the search " duality lathe" I think you will find it far more attractive option. Its a simple setup. All you need is a regular bench lathe. Nothing fancy. The lathe cutting tools are mounted to your spindle's neck so that they are stationary. Your X and Z axis take over from there. And It works beautifully!!! It works just like a CNC lathe! I have been able to make very elaborate part with it and highly accurate. The ONLY thing I cannot do with the lathe is threading. I don't have a cable that will synqronize the lathe spindle to the movement of the X axis. All other functions are fully capable! I have also contacted Smithy and they are going to look into making me a cable that will synqronize the lathe with the X axis. So look into that first. I spent about $700 dollars on a bench top lathe, and it works better than you could imagine. And then when you are done with the lathe being on the mill, you have a regular manual lathe! Watch the video on youtube and let me know what you think! I haven't looked at a "real" CNC lathe since.

[MichaelHenry]

Originally Posted by ryansuperbee ...I also wanted to tell you that if you are thinking about buying a CNC lathe, you should go on www.youtube.com and type into the search " duality lathe" I think you will find it far more attractive option. Its a simple setup. All you need is a regular bench lathe. Nothing fancy. The lathe cutting tools are mounted to your spindle's neck so that they are stationary. Your X and Z axis take over from there.

That's actually sold by Tormach for use on their PCNC 1100 mill and, as they've implemented it, there's a bit more to the design than simply using a standard bench lathe. It's got pretty impressive performance for the cost.

Mike

[ryansuperbee]

The duality lathe is nothing more than a standard lathe. The only thing that Tormach has tied to the machines computer is the spindle speed of the lathe, and the ONLY thing that is good for is the threading operations. Nothing more. I know this because as I have stated before, I use a standard bench lathe on my CNC mill. A plain old bench top lathe! There's nothing more to it than that. I can still perform EVERY type of cut that a regular CNC lathe can, (with my plain old bench lathe) Like I said, the ONLY thing that I cannot do is threading. So, if you have a CNC mill and you want to perform FULLY capable lathe operations (except for threading!!!) then all you need is a standard lathe and a collar that fits around your spindles neck. (the collar is stationary and is what holds your lathe tools. As seen on you tube, if you have a CNC mill you can easily make the collar.) Please do not be fooled! If you can deal with not having CNC threading operations, Then buy a standard bench top lathe for your mill! I bought mine brand new for under $700 dollars and I can make ANYTHING a CNC lathe can! If you have any questions please ask!

[smallblock]

Simpler yet, just use a headstock and tailstock from a lathe and scrap the rest. All you need to do is key the 2 parts to the mill slots so they align and 1 guy can easily lift off either part by himself.