Subscribed. I'm a retired CNC whisperer. I started by repairing servo and spindle drives at a local electronics shop and making the occasional service call. When business started drying up at my shop, one of our customers offered me a maintenance job. I was making lawyer level money for a while. 😂
I love it and hate it... I love the challenges and the struggles/I hate them too ...just did a DS ST-35Y alignment.. 16 month tech, hope I can keep hanging In There
As a CNC technician at an OEM(mostly new machines ), I feel you. Although I couldn't imagine working as an independent technician, repairing proprietary systems such as toolchangers without proper documentation and stuff. I've had a few times where we (OEM technicians) had to come out because some third party wannabe wrecked a and toolchanger and magazine. When you said you worked on the G&L machines, did you mean the HBM line or their HMCs? Their smaller HMCs where actually German designs, only the HMC 410 /1250/1600 are US designs. Also the Cassette magazine they used to use is a German design that they were able to use due to their association with Hueller Hille under Thyssen Krupp
Mostly the horizontal boring but I’ve worked on a few big mills that had 100 feet of travel. Most of them are in places I can’t take pictures. Some of them had a control upgrade. It’s always fun pulling out your phone. Translator to look at the drawings because it’s all in German.
@@cncrepairman yeah I only really know their hmc line, since they've been closely related to the Hüller Hille NBH Line of machines In the past. Before I joined the company they actually built a pair of G&L HMCs in Germany for one of our regular customers. I think their plant was in Gainesville, Georgia.
It's like a can of worms, just keep finding things that don't work.. Also they are complicated af even with all the electrical drawings get pretty confusing. I'm currently retrofitting a 98 Mazak
So my friend dropped the wire that supplies 24Volts DC to my parts ejector actuator on the sub spindle housing and it went sparky spark. and now I have an extra alarms that says I lost my signal to my Parts catcher, I replaced the 24 vdc power relay on the power module and restored the entire 24 volt circuit, but now I have no LEDS on my sensors and my Pneumatic Solenoids. I don't know if there are no LEDS because there are there are alarms present or if i'm missing a ground to those circuits. We checked are status page and I see the signals on ejector when I jump the wires x065 and x064 and L+. Alarms are ex 2286I work ejector timer over limit and ex 2165F parts ejector lost signal. Have a great day.
I currently do in house equipment maintenance and line support for a medical device manufacturer. Your statement about PM work is too real. On more occasions than I would like I've been inside a machine for scheduled work and out of pride for maintaining my machines well replaced "that part that looks worn" or done an extra alignment only to cause more issues that need to be resolved. It is amusing how well some pieces of decades old equipment will run if you just leave it alone, even if it looks like it is about to fall apart. Some techs are ok with that approach of waiting to "fix it" until it breaks; but I try to avoid that. As an aside there's no greater feeling in the world (in my opinion) then being inside of a machine and finally figuring out a problem that you've been ignoring because production needs to run NOW and 24/7 thereafter. Finally found the cause of that weird noise or squeak?, figured out where that bolt that fell on the floor a few weeks/months ago belongs?, got it dialed in to where the operator stops complaining about how the machine's a piece of shit?, found the cause of that periodic trouble code that nobody's figured out and just gets reset? OH YEAH BABY! You feel like a damn genius.
The electronics suffer from capacitors failing, the problem is exacerbated from a period where the market was flooded with cheap unreliable and fake components (the 90s). Those components came to end of life at spurious occasions. There is still good money to be made by those with electronics acumen capable of waving a soldering iron. Just one huge problem, diagrams and schematics are rare as hens teeth. Not to mention the machine builder dont want people to know how to fix machines. That has the knock on effect of companies only hiring board swappers and not enough knowledgeable staff. The world complains about waste and the throw away society being the cause of a potential global catastrophe - and yet people just love to throw away. I fully endorse the CNC Repairman and wish him and his team the very best.
Good point I’ll have to make something. I have worked on retros and they are a pain! Every company I know who did them is now out of business. In short I don’t think it’s cost effective for someone who wants to make parts quickly on a small machine. Huge stuff 60+ feet of travel it makes sense.
@@cncrepairman thank you for elaborating. I also thought about getting into that eg. with LinuxCNC. I have converted some chinese manual machines myself using LinuxCNC and I regularly use them (tiny machines - a mill and a lathe, which were good enough to help me to make parts for a DIY smd pick and place machine which my family income now depends on). So it seems like retrofitting is okay if you directly use it for parts for yourself or for your business but the converting task itself is just not suitable for a direct business. Why did I convert a manual machine - to save cost and that it did... Thank you for your videos.
@@cncrepairman I would second that assessment, being someone who has retrofitted an old mill. by the time you buy the retrofit control kit and the doner machine, add all the hours spent troubleshooting and the extra unforseen purchases like additional sensors, pneumatics, replacement coolant pumps etc. The project that started at £750 grew legs and ended up closer to £3500, that's kind of the price of a running old machine (ish). Our colleagues will vouch for the cost and fault finding required to get an old beaver working, or the Seki before that, the person Aaron and i know quite well also has access to an original Haas VF1 with the futuristic plastic housing. Having said that buying used machines can be like trading with snake oil sellers.
(1) This iS the First Video i Have Seen of Yours, So This Comment Was Produced with Little BackGround of Your Previous Videos. (2) RUclips Will Add a {Documentation} Tab, to RUclips Videos (Click the [ ... ] to Reveal the Documentation Option), and RUclips Channels (Home > Videos > Shorts > PlayLists > DOCUMENTATiON > Community). (3) The DocumentationTab Will iNCLUDE: (3.1) The VideoScript that was Written as an Audio Guide for the Video (Not Necessarily the Actual Audio of the Finished Video). (3.2) All Text or Non-Video Materials that were Referenced, or May be of Use to Future Viewers. (4) By Providing Documentation, CopyRightLaw Doesn't Apply --- and Those Who Would Sue for iNFRiNGEMENT Would (At Best) Have to "Sponsor" the Videos Creator, iF They Wanted a Percentage of $ Return (Which iS Really Just Food, Shelter & Time). (5) This, of Course, iS the Beginning of the Era of RUclips Where Earthly Citizens Share Their Knowledge, for the Education of How to Produce a Better Product for All to Eventually Experience (Automation). (6) The Documentation Tab iS More iMPORTANT Than the Video, for the Same Reason Books Were More iMPORTANT Than Pure "WordOfMouth" (Text & Link File Size iS Also Much More Manageable for iNDiViDUAL HardDrive Backups). (7) i Don't Expect the Reader to UnderStand Right Now, but the Children Will Welcome the All iNCLUSiVE Digital Education, Before Deciding Who to "Work WiTH (NOT For) iRL". (8) This Comment Was Made as a "Digital BookMark" for You and Us, as to What iS Expected of "Alphabet iNC & Google (RUclips)" Post 2024. (9) i Commented Because i Saw You as an Old Man, and You Asked Me to Remind You to Keep Everything iN Your Channel Organized for Future Reference, and that there would be NoQuestion as to "How iT Was Made". (10) iN Closing: (10.1) Write the VideoScript & Determine the PlayListTheme. (10.2) Record the Work. (10.3) Edit the Work. (10.4) Finalize the VideoScript & iNCLUDE Documentation of Used Resources. (10.5) Choose a (PlayListTheme), or Place iN (RandomVideos). (10.6) Post the Video. (10.7) Listen to Your Own FeedBack (Not the Comments). (10.8) Repeat [(10.1) > (10.7)] Until the Project iS Complete. (11) What 12 Major Companies Do You Work With? .
Subscribed.
I'm a retired CNC whisperer.
I started by repairing servo and spindle drives at a local electronics shop and making the occasional service call.
When business started drying up at my shop, one of our customers offered me a maintenance job.
I was making lawyer level money for a while. 😂
I do a few repairs on the machines at work, and it has given me massive respect to anyone who does that as a career.
Been a service tech for 3 years now it’s a very well paid trade I recommend it!
Been a cnc tech new and used machines for 6 years I’ve never felt so seen lol great vid🎉
Excellent!
I love it and hate it... I love the challenges and the struggles/I hate them too ...just did a DS ST-35Y alignment.. 16 month tech, hope I can keep hanging In There
Great work!
you get to see all the cast iron structures underneath, I'm jealous.
I try to post pictures on Instagram. Casting and webbing is really cool.
As a CNC technician at an OEM(mostly new machines ), I feel you. Although I couldn't imagine working as an independent technician, repairing proprietary systems such as toolchangers without proper documentation and stuff.
I've had a few times where we (OEM technicians) had to come out because some third party wannabe wrecked a and toolchanger and magazine.
When you said you worked on the G&L machines, did you mean the HBM line or their HMCs? Their smaller HMCs where actually German designs, only the HMC 410 /1250/1600 are US designs. Also the Cassette magazine they used to use is a German design that they were able to use due to their association with Hueller Hille under Thyssen Krupp
Mostly the horizontal boring but I’ve worked on a few big mills that had 100 feet of travel. Most of them are in places I can’t take pictures. Some of them had a control upgrade. It’s always fun pulling out your phone. Translator to look at the drawings because it’s all in German.
@@cncrepairman yeah I only really know their hmc line, since they've been closely related to the Hüller Hille NBH Line of machines In the past. Before I joined the company they actually built a pair of G&L HMCs in Germany for one of our regular customers. I think their plant was in Gainesville, Georgia.
I'm curious why never ever do CNC retrofits? My guess is liability is too high, and always takes longer than anticipated? Love the channel.
It's like a can of worms, just keep finding things that don't work.. Also they are complicated af even with all the electrical drawings get pretty confusing. I'm currently retrofitting a 98 Mazak
@@oliverrowe8648 what control and system are you using for retrofit? i need one on a big bridge mill.
Can you do a video Why retrofits are bad or why you don’t work on them .
I’m gonna do one with my dad. Probably later this summer, though it will be spicy.
So my friend dropped the wire that supplies 24Volts DC to my parts ejector actuator on the sub spindle housing and it went sparky spark. and now I have an extra alarms that says I lost my signal to my Parts catcher, I replaced the 24 vdc power relay on the power module and restored the entire 24 volt circuit, but now I have no LEDS on my sensors and my Pneumatic Solenoids. I don't know if there are no LEDS because there are there are alarms present or if i'm missing a ground to those circuits. We checked are status page and I see the signals on ejector when I jump the wires x065 and x064 and L+. Alarms are ex 2286I work ejector timer over limit and ex 2165F parts ejector lost signal. Have a great day.
You’re gonna have to look at electrical schematic and trace the wires. You probably have a short somewhere or a blown fuse or breaker.
@@cncrepairman Thanks sir! this is the best bedtime reading materials ever.
You cool. My respect : D
I currently do in house equipment maintenance and line support for a medical device manufacturer. Your statement about PM work is too real. On more occasions than I would like I've been inside a machine for scheduled work and out of pride for maintaining my machines well replaced "that part that looks worn" or done an extra alignment only to cause more issues that need to be resolved. It is amusing how well some pieces of decades old equipment will run if you just leave it alone, even if it looks like it is about to fall apart. Some techs are ok with that approach of waiting to "fix it" until it breaks; but I try to avoid that.
As an aside there's no greater feeling in the world (in my opinion) then being inside of a machine and finally figuring out a problem that you've been ignoring because production needs to run NOW and 24/7 thereafter. Finally found the cause of that weird noise or squeak?, figured out where that bolt that fell on the floor a few weeks/months ago belongs?, got it dialed in to where the operator stops complaining about how the machine's a piece of shit?, found the cause of that periodic trouble code that nobody's figured out and just gets reset? OH YEAH BABY! You feel like a damn genius.
Medical equipment is really cool. I went to school and took the first part of a biomedical technician program.
The electronics suffer from capacitors failing, the problem is exacerbated from a period where the market was flooded with cheap unreliable and fake components (the 90s). Those components came to end of life at spurious occasions. There is still good money to be made by those with electronics acumen capable of waving a soldering iron. Just one huge problem, diagrams and schematics are rare as hens teeth. Not to mention the machine builder dont want people to know how to fix machines. That has the knock on effect of companies only hiring board swappers and not enough knowledgeable staff. The world complains about waste and the throw away society being the cause of a potential global catastrophe - and yet people just love to throw away. I fully endorse the CNC Repairman and wish him and his team the very best.
Dude thanks!
Can you write why you don't do retro fits? Yes it's clear you aren't doing it but why?
Good point I’ll have to make something. I have worked on retros and they are a pain! Every company I know who did them is now out of business. In short I don’t think it’s cost effective for someone who wants to make parts quickly on a small machine. Huge stuff 60+ feet of travel it makes sense.
@@cncrepairman thank you for elaborating. I also thought about getting into that eg. with LinuxCNC. I have converted some chinese manual machines myself using LinuxCNC and I regularly use them (tiny machines - a mill and a lathe, which were good enough to help me to make parts for a DIY smd pick and place machine which my family income now depends on).
So it seems like retrofitting is okay if you directly use it for parts for yourself or for your business but the converting task itself is just not suitable for a direct business.
Why did I convert a manual machine - to save cost and that it did...
Thank you for your videos.
@@cncrepairman I would second that assessment, being someone who has retrofitted an old mill. by the time you buy the retrofit control kit and the doner machine, add all the hours spent troubleshooting and the extra unforseen purchases like additional sensors, pneumatics, replacement coolant pumps etc. The project that started at £750 grew legs and ended up closer to £3500, that's kind of the price of a running old machine (ish). Our colleagues will vouch for the cost and fault finding required to get an old beaver working, or the Seki before that, the person Aaron and i know quite well also has access to an original Haas VF1 with the futuristic plastic housing. Having said that buying used machines can be like trading with snake oil sellers.
God i hate Giddings and Lewis tool changers
Toshibas are also a pain the dick, luckily they dont mess up as frequently as GLs😂
So true! Gotta love reading the directions backwards, and in between the lines.
(1) This iS the First Video i Have Seen of Yours, So This Comment Was Produced with Little BackGround of Your Previous Videos.
(2) RUclips Will Add a {Documentation} Tab, to RUclips Videos (Click the [ ... ] to Reveal the Documentation Option), and RUclips Channels (Home > Videos > Shorts > PlayLists > DOCUMENTATiON > Community).
(3) The DocumentationTab Will iNCLUDE:
(3.1) The VideoScript that was Written as an Audio Guide for the Video (Not Necessarily the Actual Audio of the Finished Video).
(3.2) All Text or Non-Video Materials that were Referenced, or May be of Use to Future Viewers.
(4) By Providing Documentation, CopyRightLaw Doesn't Apply --- and Those Who Would Sue for iNFRiNGEMENT Would (At Best) Have to "Sponsor" the Videos Creator, iF They Wanted a Percentage of $ Return (Which iS Really Just Food, Shelter & Time).
(5) This, of Course, iS the Beginning of the Era of RUclips Where Earthly Citizens Share Their Knowledge, for the Education of How to Produce a Better Product for All to Eventually Experience (Automation).
(6) The Documentation Tab iS More iMPORTANT Than the Video, for the Same Reason Books Were More iMPORTANT Than Pure "WordOfMouth" (Text & Link File Size iS Also Much More Manageable for iNDiViDUAL HardDrive Backups).
(7) i Don't Expect the Reader to UnderStand Right Now, but the Children Will Welcome the All iNCLUSiVE Digital Education, Before Deciding Who to "Work WiTH (NOT For) iRL".
(8) This Comment Was Made as a "Digital BookMark" for You and Us, as to What iS Expected of "Alphabet iNC & Google (RUclips)" Post 2024.
(9) i Commented Because i Saw You as an Old Man, and You Asked Me to Remind You to Keep Everything iN Your Channel Organized for Future Reference, and that there would be NoQuestion as to "How iT Was Made".
(10) iN Closing:
(10.1) Write the VideoScript & Determine the PlayListTheme.
(10.2) Record the Work.
(10.3) Edit the Work.
(10.4) Finalize the VideoScript & iNCLUDE Documentation of Used Resources.
(10.5) Choose a (PlayListTheme), or Place iN (RandomVideos).
(10.6) Post the Video.
(10.7) Listen to Your Own FeedBack (Not the Comments).
(10.8) Repeat [(10.1) > (10.7)] Until the Project iS Complete.
(11) What 12 Major Companies Do You Work With?
.