Man, you beat me to it. I've played with the MPLMASTER post. Good stuff. I'm curious though, Will a 0iMate control do C axis stuff??? I looked at that same machine when I bought my Daewoo. They quoted it to me with a 21i on it because of the live tooling. I don't know. Maybe they was foolin me.

We were just over at the building we are going to move into last night talking and measuring. figuring out the layout. This is going to be fun. Don is indeed a very sharp guy. We'll be talking more. He has very kindly given me a couple of posts for my turning centers that really solved some problems I've had. This is going to get good!

I have tool probes on both of my lathes. I had never used one before. I didn't use them for a long time. they are expensive ya know... Didn't want to crash it. Now I couldn't get along without them. My ne xxxxisontal is comming with tool prob and spindle probing. My new Y axis lathe is comming with a tool probe... Good stuff.

Man, I got me some more research to do. My head is just spinning from the choices....

Rick, I completely and utterly agree that you shouldnt have to quit to get a raise. I'm of the opnion that if you are contributing to the companies success then you should be rewarded accordingly. We do profit sharing. It's based on doing better than the bid. I have a couple guys that get about a months salary every quarter.

I have only looked at a faro arm briefly. I think I want something dedicated that isn't portable. I'm not so sure about the faro arm's accuracy and repeatability also.

Off topic sorta, but what the heck Anyone here know anything about the used CMM market? I'm in need of a manual CMM. Dea, Mitutoyo, B&S... Don't wanna spend a million bux. I'm already doin that.

Don, You've got mail...

quote: Oh and dont forget to ask the five WHY's... LoL!! I got yur five whys...... I'm glad "I" don't have to deal with that stuff any more.

I'm going to be tooling my new Horizontal. I have questions about holders. My new machine has a 14k big plus spindle. I machine a mix of aluminum, stainless and stuff like 4340. I like to press on, so to speak. I machine 4340 at about 1000 sfm adn .004 or so ipt. works well on my little Sharp. I've been using ER32 and ER16 collets. Problem is, I can suck a half inch four flute clean out of an ER32 holder. So, for roughing, I've been using regular endmill holders. Clamping on the weldon flat. So, my question would be, what system of toolholding do I want to look at? I have a couple jobs that require that I reach into a hole to get a smaller cutter in there. Never been around shrink fit holders. Hows the life expectancy? What other options are out there. Are shrink fit holders better balanced? What about runout? Then I gotta think about a presetter.

Yes ISO is really pretty simple. I learned long ago not to paint myself into a corner and not to hand cuff myself. I spent a good number of years in the inspection department. I've been involved in getting companies Boeing certified back in the days of the D1000 system. We have been planning and putting processes in place for over three years now with the ultimate goal of becoming ISO certified. It was that same desire to improve that led us to be named one of the Top Ten in America by American Machinist in 2006. We have long understood the value of designing processes so that we can improve.

I'm buying a Daewoo HP5100. 120 tools, 14k spindle, coolant and air thru, Big Plus, tool management, laset tool setter, spindle probe, 18i control with lots of options turned on, AI nano, macros, lots of stuff.

We already have a consultant that we are working on the very thing with. Good stuff...

It's like I said Shawn I have seen the light. I have drunk the koolaid I stand among the converted. We are going to go to lights out machining with horizontal machines and pallet pools. Same thing with multi axis mill turns machines. It is the future.

I have talked briefly with a couple of members of this site. They both, independantly suggested that number. I have little time for hand holding.

Thanks Ron. You understand exactly who I'm looking for. I have been around machine shops for a lot of years but I learned a LONG time ago that I don't know everything. I know enough to bounce ideas off of each others foreheads. This person is going to have a HUGE job. I know that cause I'm doing it now. It's just getting bigger. I really think this is a two person job. Possibly a pair of Mfg Eng's. I need to produce 120 ship sets of 63 component parts each inside of nine months. There will be schedule issues with programming and spindles, and material procurement, and.... I'm not looking for a person that want's to know how I do it, I want a person that has the know how to find the best way to do it. We want to start the ISO process in two years. We want to do this right. I've talked to a couple of headhunter shops and they don't have a clue what I'm talking about. So, I'm still curious as to how to refine my search for this person.

So, I have no idea what this persons salary should be. I have been talking to a couple of guys local to me that sugested that number. What do you guys thing? In Seattle the median price for a house is I think about $650k Over here across the water I think it's about $400k. But we got way less traffic and crap to deal with. I would look at this as a big job for some one. I have not researched what someone in this position ought to make. I heard this number as a ballpark. I got no problem with that. This person will make me a lot of money. They need to be paid well. You can't FIND a good programmer. So, Whaddya think?

If you come David, Don't forget to bring beer....

Doug The person I need is going to manage my programming dept. I know that sounds a little silly now because "I" am the programming dept. But we're growing fairly quickly. We have doubled out gross every year or better for the past three years. I just got a verbal OK on a, for me, huge contract. It's about $2m of work that will run for about 10 months. It will pay for my new horizontal and my new Y axis mil turn. I've talked to a couple of guys here in Emails about salary for a programmer. I think it will be in the $100k range. That person will need to handle all the programming for my 7 machines, plan tool and fixture requirements, be able to work with my machine tool guys to integrate a pallet pool in a year or so. Be able to understand and impliment the computer software (most likely Predator) to deliver programs to the machines and execute the machine schedule when we go lights out. I think that is going to involve a manufacturing engineer and another programmer. It's a huge job for one person, but for now it's what I have to do. We are sending some people to school to learn MC and that will help, but that's what I need done. I haven't really sat down and thought through exactly what the entire job discription will be, but that is a lot of it. We did I think about $900k last year. We are going to do better than double that this year. We need to look at ways to get more efficient. But that's everybodys job. So, Salary isn't set in stone, But that's a ballpark figure.

That's a good point. I have a Big Plus machine on the way. Been thinking about how many big plus holders to get. It's a 120 tool machine. Looks like I need about 200. Or more....

When you find out, let me know too...

I'm in the middle of planning a move to a new building. 9200 sq ft. We're buying an 500mm horiz and a y axis turning center. I am more than likely going to get a very large contract to manufacture a system for the National Science Foundation. I am going to need a Manufacturing Engineer, a competant 4 axis horiz and live tool turning programmer, A quality manager and buy a CMM. The machine trades are booming here in Seattle. I realize I am going to have to pay well. I have no issue with that. We already pay well. But my queation is where am I to find these people at? I have way too much on my plate to do this myself. Who does this sort of thing? Are there headhunter co's out there that actually HAVE qualified people?

I don't even remember where I heard it at (Hey...I'm old.) But I had heard it was going to be a difference like V8 to V9 was. They would update, but the structure was different. Lots more strings. I could tweek V8 posts pretty easily. V9 and later just confuse the heck out of me.

I had heard that the new X3 posts are going to be different from the previous X series posts. I also know that the last post CD was V9 and that there was talk of one being worked on. Does anyone know if there is any activity for the X3 post CD? My question is all based on rumor, so it could all be for naught. I'm just trying to get to a point where I don't ask so many silly questions... It'd be nice to know how my posts actually work.

Or dump the contents of your temp folder.