Member postings for Ronnie Zownir

One thing to consider is the quality of the cast iron used to produce the machines coming out of China and whether it's been properly normalized/stabilized. A machine made from poor iron eventually reflects the quality of the base material. The owner of one of the machinery manufacturers my company deals with said they use cast iron from Taiwan for their budget line of screw machines because they do it right there. So, if you go down this path, lean toward a Taiwanese product, like Jet. The small extra money you spend on one from them is the price of certainty of not encountering basic trouble you cannot fix.

If you live in a part of Canada that has (or had) a decent concentration of manufacturing, refurbished machinery may be another choice. Oftentimes, a refurbished vintage machine from North America or Europe is superior to anything you can buy new today.

Check out the tour that the owner of Suburban Tool did at one of these facilities for its YouTube channel:

Edited By Ronnie Zownir on 02/10/2020 19:02:19

Edited By Ronnie Zownir on 02/10/2020 19:04:10

Steve, I'll check out the NJ Live Steamers once things get back to normal.

I went to the CAMA Fall show in Kent, CT last year and was in nonstop amazement. Steam trains, tractors, and land vehicles are great. And the sweet waxy smell of a coal-fired steam boiler is an experience all its own. What I really want, however, is a boat. Building my own steam launch is on my Must Do list. But many projects ahead of that massive undertaking.

Chris, I haven't forgotten about the photos! Took some yesterday, but have to get them off the memory card.

Brian, no problem. Hope you found what I wrote useful.

Steve, what part of New Jersey? From Bergen County and went to college in central NJ.

Chris, I will try to post photos of my complete Alco Firefly set later.

Brian, I began learning CNC machining in college. It was a basic introduction, but the experience made me want to buy a CNC mill. Nine years later I finally did. I sometimes work closely with the professional CNC programmers at my job and have learned from them, but I am mostly self-taught. There is always more to learn, and I learn as I go. I believe it is something within anyone's grasp who has a genuine desire to take it on, so dive right in!

People with solid experience in manual machining who know the "feel" of cutting metal have a great head start when it comes to CNC. Without that, there is much more fiddling around and missing what would otherwise be obvious.

Another observation is that small CNC machines present their own unique challenges, which require you to be more thoughtful, clever, and deliberate. The guy making chips on a Haas, Brother, Robodrill, etc. would probably stand to benefit from experience on a Taig or Sherline. Some pros may scoff at that, but whenever you have limited resources to work with, you become better at utilizing them and your work is more efficient. That is a fundamental truth which is widely applicable. Model engineers understand it well!

A third observation in going from small manual to CNC machining is that the consistency and complex control CNC affords improves your machine's effective capability in a way that is not widely appreciated. With CNC, more of a small machine's limited power can be made to go into cutting metal rather than the frictional losses associated with trying to do so. Learn about the concept of "chip thinning" and the calculations that go into feeds, speeds, and power utilization with low radial cutter engagement. Only CNC operation can allow you to take full advantage of this. I have done trials pushing my mill to its limits and probably set the record for material removal rate on a Taig, with calculated power exceeding the 1/4 HP continuous duty rating of the motor. Going from locking up the spindle and having to retram the mill doing pathetic cuts the wrong/inefficient way to ripping through with complete confidence is sure to bring a devious smile to your face!

Along the way, you will be making improvements and custom accessories to enhance your CNC mill. That’s all part of the fun of it.

Hello everyone,

I'm a mechanical engineer from the Northeastern United States. I have a home machine shop which includes a Taig CNC mill with ball screws, two Sherline CNC lathes, a Shapeoko 3 XXL CNC router, a WWII-era Atlas Lathe that my grandfather purchased new as a young tool and die maker, and a Jet engine lathe, among other things.

I collect model engines and the British ones are the pride and joy of my collection. Last year, I was lucky enough to find an original unfired Alco Firefly steam boiler that went unsold at an auction house that typically deals in fine art and furniture. I discovered it a few days after the auction took place and snapped it up for half the opening bid! (I have not seen another one online in such excellent condition.) I already had my sights on and subsequently acquired elsewhere an Alco Firefly genset. Both the boiler and the genset are from 1944 and the serial numbers on each are close enough that they may have been at the factory at the same time. I don't know the history of the boiler, but the genset has been around the world. It made its way to Australia from London and spent the last 20 years in Idaho.

I hope to share my passion and knowledge with this great community! Glad to be aboard.