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Making Mirrors and Dust Collectors #65 - Pensacola, FL
Mr Gerald and fellow MM builders and users. I would like to introduce myself to the forum. My name is Jimmy Phetteplace and am from Pensacola, Florida, USA. I became interested in wood CNC about a year ago. I think I bacame a member in April of 2008 and started to print the plans, when after a few pages were printed I started to read them and became very intimidated and stopped the printing. I continued to search the internet for other CNC machines to build and about December of 08 I thought that I had found what I wanted. For some reason the name MechMate would come out. So I went back to the site and started reading it in more depth. I then printed the complete set of plans and read more and more and more. Soon, I said I can do this, so the adventure is under way. So in March of this year I decide to start with the kitchen top build and ordered the cut and bent parts "fast Joe" of Home Sweet Ala. They really look great in the kitchen.
Some of my back ground. I have owned my own business for the last 32 years, which is a VW Repair shop. My son is the only employee that I have. We have many years of expertise with building our drag cars. We have many more tools that you normally don't find in an auto repair shop like mig & tig welder, lathe & mill, plasma cutter, sheet metal shear and brake, bandsaw, sand blaster, bead blaster, powder coating operation, and soda blasting. In my home shop for wood working I have the usual assortment of tools like planer, belt sander, table saw, table router, jointer and such. After studing the plans and getting a game plan, I have started the build by ordering motors, bob, rollers, racks, material for Z plate. My hope is not to be just a talking of the plans and run, but to maybe add to the site as so many of you have done. The electronics I think is the biggest issue for me, but I plan to work through it. My plan is for the build just as Gerald has on the site, probably for the sheet size of 97" x 49". I know I will need help and hope that you guys and girls will bear with me. Thanks to Gerald for this site and all of the members that seem to be united to on final goal. Thanks Jimmy |
Jimmy,
Welcome from Orlando area. You are a heck of a drive away but you are welcome to come see my machine and Sean's. We are always happy to show off our machine. Start with the table. You will be able to do the electronics. |
Welcome Jimmy! A VW repair team....do you do Tourans? That's my favourite car to date (1.9TDI). We are one of the few countries still producing the Golf I (our daughter has one). Wife drives a Golf III. My old man owned a VW repair shop, with a Belgian mechanic that ran that part of the business - my old man actually hated those air-cooled engines.
We have a car rental company out here that does beetles for students: http://www.bestebeetle.co.za/ Often see them broken down along the road! :) |
...and now I found another source to help me restore my vw beetle(s).
1st car was a 68/69 beetle and miss the nostalgia. As far as MM cnc machines go, you have help in florida if you need it. Good luck. Sean |
Thanks for the welcome.
Nils: I will take you up on seeing your machine operate. We will be in Orlando the middle of June to feed the rat. We have been going there for the Florida Credit Union League Convention. If okay, I'll PM you with the date. Gerald: Thanks for the welcome. I don't think that we get the Turans in the U.S. But if you could get it here I'll be glad to service it. I'm surprised that the Golf I is still in production. I think that it was called Rabbit here, then Golf, back to Rabbit and now back to Golf. I drive a 98 New Beetle 2.0, before that an 86 Golf Diesel. My son drives a 91 Jetta Diesel, before that a 79 Rabbit. The list could go on and on. My wife has an 05 new Beetle Convertible for weekend/fun time. Only 7500 miles (not too much fun in several years). VW still makes a very good product as a whole. Diesels are a lot in demand. I can understand why the rental cars and students don't mix. Sean: How many VW's do you have? I'll be glad to help in any way. My next stage is to go to the construction and post some pictures of what I have and some of the work already started. Thanks again for the welcome and hope to be an assest to the forum. Thanks, Jimmy |
Jimmy
Sean and I coordinate visits so that if it is possible you will be able to see both machines. Now that Sean has modified his machine, you actually will be looking at two different machines. When you PM me with the dates, I will send you contact info. I look forward to meeting you and showing you my machine. If possible, I will give you a tour of Skycraft Parts & Surplus. You don't want to miss a visit there. You can save yourself some money on at least wire. |
Welding the table together - Pensacola, FL
Mr. Gerald and other members and users I have started the build with the control box and some of the Z parts and pieces. Here are some pictures of what I have gotten and some machines parts. Still have to get the power supply and other electrical parts. Yet to get metal for legs, rails and table.
http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2048.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2049.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2050.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2051.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...dsparts013.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...dsparts016.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...dsparts019.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...parts011-1.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...dsparts007.jpg More pictures will be coming as construction moves along. |
Jimmy,
Yup, that looks like all the right stuff. See you in June. Get your shopping list ready so when we visit Skycraft Surplus you can load up. |
Welcome aboard Jimmy. Be sure to ask questions......and post a lot of pictures :)
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Northwest Florida build
Hello MM builders.Here are some pictures of my build so far. There is no ryhme or reason for the order of them.The control box is used and was free.It may be a little large but better than to small.We have cut the interior plate out of .090" alum. Have mounted a fan from Radio Shack wirh stand offs for the geckos.Installed the BOB. Have yet to get the power supply and other parts needed. After the box is built. it will be powercoated blue as all of the build will be. I have started on the Z plate by grinding the 45's. I first used a 10" chop saw disc but there was to much flex.Read some more in thr forum and seen that Gerald used a much smaller disc. I got a 7" disc and machined a 3/8" alum. support plate to back up the disc, then the grind went good. I glued some 220 grit sand paper on the support plate and ran the Z plate thur several tmes to help remove the gringing marks and finised up with a wet stone. laid out the pattern to drill and tap the Z plate to the support tube. More to follow as work and time permits.
http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2073.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2072.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2087.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2089.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2093.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2097.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2079.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2076.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2077.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2081.jpg |
Nice ideas on the grinding Jimmy! :)
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Northwest Florida build
Progress has been slower than I wouuld like. Here are some pictures of what is going on. May 31 was my brithday and this is the cake that I wanted and some of the gifts.
http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2102.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2103.jpg http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...5/100_2105.jpg |
Hmmmm….A beer can holder with a new router.....
Dangerous combination I’d say when a nice cake like yours is around :eek: Wishing you a ‘Sweet” built up.... Congrad Jimmy ;) |
Happy Birthday Jimmy,
Those sure are some great Birthday presents. :) |
Birthdays always get good luck to Mechmater's - Have a good one Jimmy!
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Jimmy,
Happy Birthday and those are perfect gift for a MM birthday. You can remove the height adjustment screw on the Milwaukee. It is very easy to do. See you in Orlando. |
A picture of Spain's Navy sailing ship Juan Sebastion de Elcano. The ship came to townas part of Pensacola's 450th anniversary celebration (and i thoughtthat they came for my brithday). Spainsh explore Don Triatan de Luna first came to Pensacola in 1559. Some more peogress on the z plate.
http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...dsParts034.jpg |
Jimmy,
Nice ship. The ships are some thing. Thanks for the photo. |
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northwest florida build
Hello Mechmate
Not much has happened on my end of the build lately. But did get to Orlando and meet Nils and machine number #12 up close. It was a treat to see one work. Nils and Sean did a good job building it.Nils even made me a souvenir.Better than any thing from the mouse world. We got over to Seans place to meet him and machine #5. Got to go into the super sercet laboratory but could not take any pictures. The picture is of Nils and Sean outside of the door. What you can not see is the armed guards with the dark suits and sun glasses. Nils and I did get over to skycraft surplus. What a neat place. We did get some lunch in. Nils is a cheap date. Subway sandwich ,tuna footlong,three scoops instead of four. I really enjoyed my visit. Very nice of them to take time out of there day for me. They have did this several times for other builders. Thank you guys very much. http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/v...Parts013-1.jpg |
Jimmy,
It was nice to meet you also. I enjoy showing off my machine and I was nice of you to take the time to visit. Lets see some more activity on building your machine..... That sure is a great looking T-Shirt. |
I hope you enjoyed building that as much as I enjoyed looking at the pictures - thanks! Nice job! :D
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Jimmy,
Nice job and great progress. Keep this up and you will be done soon. |
Wow. did not know this painting system. Interesting.
But I think it takes a long time in the oven,(12h?) and very expensive energy consumption |
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Jimmy,
Now your making my big-blue mess at the shop look so inferior. Great start....keep going. Sean |
The most impressive pic is the one outside his building, where the building's exterior colours can be seen - also the logo/sign higher up on the wall :D
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Gerald thanks for your comments. You inspire us to do the best we can with what we have to work with. Your kind comments and constructive criticism go a long way. You don't seem to miss much in the pictures! Nils and Sean seeing and watching a MM work is all part of that inspiration. I'll be glad to see my big Blue in a mess. Ross, Gerald gave a good referrence to the powder coating system. Time in the oven is about 20 minutes after the parts start to flow out, that is after they turn from a flat powder look to a gloss skin. After the parts come out of the oven and cool off they are ready to be put into service. My oven is on a 3 phase system so the energy consumption is not that bad, but again we are building a MechMate so what the heck. I do try to have a load worth lighting it up. Thanks again for all of the comments. I did say that I was going back to the control box build but I did order the material for the table build, just to keep the juices flowing
Thanks, Jimmy |
Hi Jimmy,
The electrical consumption is the same for single phase as it is for 3 phase. How your utility charges for delivery will determine if it is cheaper. My guess is that the rate you pay for 3 phase is higher than single phase because the 2 extra transformers on the pole outside your shop have to be covered in the rate structure. This is what my job was before I retired in 2000 at the ripe old age of 49 ( Just lucky!) |
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