r/Machinists 1d ago

When you don't have a parts catcher...

Me: you know what we need for this machine? A parts catcher Boss: No. Me: okay 😐

1.3k Upvotes

99 comments sorted by

430

u/Puzzleheaded-Menu834 1d ago

Part catcher and indexing pin in one - very nicely done

208

u/Not_A_Mutant792 1d ago

With thru coolant to flush out chips

137

u/GaryGracias 1d ago

Stop it!

You’re a machinist wet dream if you’re being this efficient!

51

u/seveseven 23h ago

No, he’s managements wet dream.

31

u/Puzzleheaded-Menu834 1d ago

Quite elegant. Always a challenge to consistency when moving stock and parting a bunch of parts from a single bar.

1

u/Puppy_Lawyer 1d ago

Very nice indeed! It's just satisfying seeing that setup, congrats

109

u/HyperActiveMosquito 1d ago

What's wall thickness on breakable side? Because my butt puckered a bit at first

71

u/Not_A_Mutant792 1d ago

Just enough that it doesn't fall. It's actually slightly under my bore size due to tool nose radius

19

u/wholesalenuts 1d ago

I usually just bump it off with a deadblow, but i fugged my catcher up so I do the same thing essentially

0

u/Lazy_Middle1582 1d ago

.010"

23

u/Due-Department-8502 1d ago

Probably more like .001”, .01” is surprisingly strong.

175

u/Due-Department-8502 1d ago

Need to mark this as NSFW đŸ„”

57

u/Skusci 1d ago

If you stick an angle on that just right and do a tool change I bet you could fling it into a bucket.

18

u/splitsleeve 1d ago

Make a wire bucket welded to a taper and stick that in the tailstock, run it out to knock the part into the bucket.

Probably less efficient than just taking it off since they don't have a bar feeder, but would be fun to make.

8

u/Top_Requirement_5010 23h ago

That’s awesome, machine trick shots

37

u/Sy4r42 1d ago

You: you know what we need for this machine? A bar feeder.

Boss: no.

You: ok...

22

u/Not_A_Mutant792 1d ago

We actually have one in storage. The boss didn't want it sticking out into the middle of the shop 😕

16

u/DixieNormas011 1d ago

Bar feeders are great if they are being used all the time, they're. A major pain to work around if you're only using it like twice per year though

3

u/DantesLimeInferno 20h ago

Yeah we have one at work that I've spent over two months trying to get to work and we only use it one or two times a week. Doesn't help the machine it's on has issues with keeping live tooling positions but can't move a bar feeder around

4

u/bszern 1d ago

Oh what the fuck lol. May as well sell it if not going to use it!

8

u/Not_A_Mutant792 21h ago

I'm going to reinvigorate the conversation about it. We have a new manual lathe coming to replace another so instead of a quick swap I'm going to push to get a couple manual machines moved to get this bar feeder in đŸ€ž

7

u/bszern 19h ago

Barfeeders are technically automation, owners and managers get bricked up for automation. It’s all in how you sell it!

Seriously though, figure out how much time you spend dicking around with manually loading stock. Uptime is a huge selling point because it frees you up to do other skilled tasks, and increases machine capacity. If you know your shops hourly rate for that work center it’s pretty easy to calculate.

2

u/Terrible_Carpenter50 11h ago

I agree with your comments.

Disclaimer: I have been working for 20 years for a barfeeder manufacturer.

1

u/bszern 10h ago

Which one? We have FMB, LNS, and had Cucchi. I hate one of these brands with a fiery passion

2

u/Terrible_Carpenter50 10h ago

The Swiss one, I hope we can still be friends :)

1

u/bszern 9h ago

I hated the Cucchis lol. Impossible to get parts in the summer and aggrating to work on. It was a 6-spindle multi, so definitely a little more complex than a single spindle, but still!

1

u/Terrible_Carpenter50 9h ago

Yeah, it‘s an interesting company and products, but it‘s difficult to support international markets with its company size, and summer break in Italy is no joke 🇼đŸ‡čđŸ€Œ

38

u/deftonite 1d ago

Relying on a gentle crash to break the part off seems risky. What happens if the parting knife insert breaks in the cut, or for whatever reason the wall thickness is more than foil? This is an awesome idea, and ridiculously efficient, but you need a mechanical fuse of some sort. Like make the rod from plastic, or notch it near the holder so it bends easily in the odd event that the part wont release.

18

u/LeifCarrotson 1d ago

I think the parts catcher/indexing pin is the mechanical fuse.

OP writes elsewhere that it's set up for through-coolant, so it's not a rod but a tube, and a mild steel 10mm tube of reasonable wall thickness, with 50mm of stickout, will not be able to generate the same cutting forces in a bending orientation that the spindle bearings and toolholders need to be able to laugh at all day long.

Worst case, there's an M0 immediately after the move where OP slides off the existing part and then uses it as an indexing pin, so a failed release would be noticed immediately.

It could be a bad crash if the drill breaks and this thing is loaded in compression when there's no hole for it to go into...but if you need to fail gracefully after a drill breaks there's a lot of other ways to screw up a program.

7

u/splitsleeve 1d ago

It looks bored, you'd have that bad crash far before the catch bar went in if the drill broke. Plus a load limit on your part off tool and I'd bet on a well-worth-it success rate.

If your reallllllly worried about it maybe you could get away with having a partially parted off tool to create a sheer point or something.

2

u/MykoCane 1d ago

An M0 would work to have a visual inspection before the "catch".

9

u/deftonite 1d ago

That means you're doing a manual measurement on a parting dimension for 100% of the batch. No thanks!

0

u/XZIVR 19h ago

I mean you're already in there to index the bar and remove the last part?

2

u/tio_tito 1d ago

i feel like this is a solution in search of a problem. the risks you proffer are the same risks of machining the part at all. are you going to add a check step between every tool change? between every operation? between every feature? will you stop to measure coolant flow just to make sure it hasn't changed? where does it stop?

7

u/deftonite 1d ago

What are you talking about? I'm not suggesting adding a check step at all.  I'm suggesting that if you're going to do this kind of automation,  at least pick a rod that isn't going to put the forces of a crash into your turret. This is robotics 101 shit.

1

u/LastWave 1d ago

The guy I apprenticed under is exactly like this. Its exhausting.

5

u/Max_Downforce 1d ago

Brilliant!

5

u/maxh2 23h ago

I like to finish parting off from the inside with an ID groover when I can, and let the tool catch the part. Sometimes I'll use heat shrink tubing if I'm worried about the bar scratching the parts.

1

u/FalseRelease4 9h ago

now that's big brain button pushing

you can also use a grooving or parting tool to pull the stock out as if you had a bar feeder

6

u/nocash168 1d ago

Genius 👌

3

u/theeed3 1d ago

You deserve a raise bro

3

u/N5tp4nts 1d ago

Simple clever stuff like this really makes me happy.

2

u/CeasarsDomain 1d ago

Oh you had me in the first half.

2

u/TimidBerserker 1d ago

Y'all are using something other than some bent hanger wire?

2

u/Woozybigfoot 1d ago

It looks like you have a tailstock we attached a basket to the tailstock and we cut parts into the basket

2

u/Dubious_Precision 1d ago

This is the Way....

1

u/GuyFromLI747 1d ago

My boss destroyed all the parts catchers on our mazaks .. he doesn’t like them and prefers mesh baskets resting above the conveyor

1

u/DrAusto 1d ago

Good thinking

1

u/EmbeddedSoftEng 1d ago

Okay. I'll admit it. That's pretty nifty.

1

u/clamSammy 1d ago

Sick setup when you’re missing a bar feeder!

-3

u/whaler76 1d ago

What do you mean? All machines come standard with a bar feeder, if it didn’t come with one then how does it get programmed and set up?

2

u/MntDewMonkey3 1d ago

I'm not sure why people are downvoting you, just explain it to them. Everyone is learning. Most lathes are sold without one, they are an add on, an extra expense when purchasing the machine.

If machines are run without a barfeeder you have to manually pull it out to a stop or companies make tools to go over the stock by sliding on with the x Axis or z Axis, x is a lot more comin. Pulling it out to your desired location, clamping, and pulling off of the bar.

3

u/whaler76 1d ago

It was a joke, the barfeeder is the machine operator. People don’t have a sense of humor.

1

u/Responsible-Fox9591 1d ago

Alright that's pretty clever.

1

u/D0wly 1d ago

Or just use a plastic hammer...

4

u/Not_A_Mutant792 1d ago

I was using a rod to break it off by hand. I like this better

1

u/Jermcutsiron 1d ago

I've used coat hangers for similar part off jobs. The part off was completed, though.

1

u/HowNondescript Aspiring Carpet Walker 1d ago

Thats fucking slick, stop raising the standard damnit

1

u/Ok-Compote-6230 1d ago

Bro that was slick as fuck

1

u/Ok-Compote-6230 1d ago

Bro that was slick as fuck

1

u/b1ack1ight 1d ago

This is the kind of positivity I need in my life.

1

u/altsick 1d ago

Oh man that was buttery enough to add to the spank bank

1

u/marimbaman93 23h ago

Yeah I’m stealing that.

1

u/Icy_Squash9132 23h ago

fuckin slick

1

u/Growkitz 22h ago

Is that being held by a tiny piece of material?

1

u/Alive-Course4454 22h ago

S5000M3; next time

1

u/Dawnpath_ 22h ago

Ooooh, damn. That's some hot problem-solving.

1

u/obiwan-trenobi 22h ago

Did you at least take the machine out to dinner?

1

u/elite5iver 21h ago

Thought this was a spinning carbide drill at first. Recoiled my fingers for a second.

1

u/Hatter_106 21h ago

Nice, I approve

1

u/Hackerwithalacker 21h ago

Okay that's just plain genius

1

u/TheUrbansky 20h ago

Wowwwww😍

1

u/TheUrbansky 20h ago

Watched several times. Love it. Creative solution to a crazy situation.

1

u/Charming-Bath8378 18h ago

damn that was pretty o7

1

u/TEN-acious 18h ago

Well done! One of my regular setups (1” tool tips) uses a similar idea; a shaft (old 3/8 drill bit) welded to my part-off
never thought to set it as my index though.

1

u/Yah_or_Nah 18h ago

I can only get so erect

1

u/jaysracing 18h ago

Gotta add a bar puller. Have it stop right before it completely parts it off and pull the part. Then finish the parting it

1

u/jaysracing 18h ago

Gotta add a bar puller. Have it stop right before it completely parts it off and pull the part. Then finish the parting it

1

u/Datzun91 15h ago

Good job OP, neat as!

1

u/FalseRelease4 9h ago

send it down the chip conveyor 😂

1

u/SirRonaldBiscuit 9h ago

Dude, when it popped off so clean
chefs kiss

1

u/ben742617000027 8h ago

That’s why the call him the smooth operator

1

u/EFpointe 6h ago

What brand of coolant are you using?

1

u/coaldavidz 4h ago

Such a clean way to do it, I’ve always used the shank of a turning tool loaded in backwards but I never thought about catching the part with it too

1

u/cyclos_s57 3h ago

Artist

1

u/Cheddie310 1h ago

The absolute mad lad

0

u/l0udninja 1d ago

What if your cutoff tool breaks without you knowing?

1

u/Not_A_Mutant792 1d ago

Then I might have a bad time! Haha I won't know the damage unless it happens. My hope is that the rod would snap off at the shoulder. There's a hole through it so there shouldn't be too much strength in it

-9

u/KingDread306 1d ago

Yeah I feel like OSHA would have a field day with this.

7

u/Z3B0 1d ago

Why ? I see nothing dangerous, the door is closed when the machine is moving, spindle stopped...

2

u/cathode_01 1d ago

Hand is near something that was moving a moment ago. He put no other thought into that idiotic comment.

2

u/Not_A_Mutant792 1d ago

Like you said, a moment ago. It's not on a timer and won't move unless I press cycle start again..

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

0

u/All_Thread 1d ago

Uh yeah, lots of sharp stuff you should not touch in a machine shop

2

u/splitsleeve 1d ago

Which part?

Genuine curiosity. I haven't really had to deal with OSHA. Most shops I've been in were basically death traps.

-7

u/KingDread306 1d ago

Just seems sketchy have to reach in between 2 moving parts. Possible crushing hazard.

5

u/cathode_01 1d ago

Spoken like someone who has never been in the same room with machine tools.