Dumbest *looking* machine tool ever ?

Brian, great job. That's quite something. Not sure what, but it sure is.

Doesn't those Honda elements come in metallic copper also? I think I remember seeing one.

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Prior to 2006 the Element orange color was called Sunset Orange. For 2006 it's Tangerine Metallic.

To state again, in spite of how the brochure scan is coming thru on your computer screen, the Moog's were not "copper" but just plain old middle of the road, "orange". But, apparently it's more "fun" to imagine they were "copper" and thus the fantasy persists in spite of my previous revelations of reality.

John, I suppose it does need an explanation. First, please excuse the mess in the shop. I had just moved the mill into a new extension.

I bought the mill, one of those dumb "so cheap I could not afford not to" projects, because mechanically it was nearly perfect. This was, of course, because no one could keep it running for more than a day at a time.

The mechanical rebuild was easy, just a strip down and coat of fresh Hammerite paint. However, it was clear the pneumatics system was a disaster. I ripped out the pneumatics and started planning afresh by grafting modern components onto the old control system. The large bank of blue air solenoids in the photo now connect to the old pneumatically signaled servo hydraulics. The rest is fairly logical (excuse the pun).

I happen to be interested in electronics and logic programming. It was not too difficult to design a circuit whereby a logic board would replace the massive bank of relays that controlled the original machine. Then it was another simple matter to control the air solenoids from a laptop computer.

I put a J-head on the machine for testing. I do have the original Moog head. The problem now is worn O-rings in the X-axis which are no longer available and will need to be custom made. The Y-axis works perfectly. The X-axis drives correctly but does not lock in the selected position. The table drives to the correct X position but slowly creeps to the extreme right position when the control signal is removed.

After I fix the X-axis I will probably build the bank of air solenoids and the logic circuits into the old pneumatic console.

Rear left of the machine, on the wall, is the power and hydraulics control panel. A 3 phase converter and the hydraulic power pack are outside of the shop (I have plumbed in 1500 psi hydraulics for my other hydraulic needs). The hydraulic unit was just too noisy to have it inside. Now all I hear is a quite hum from outside.

Brian

Hi All
It will take an old guy to bring you up to speed on this. He is not around at the moment so I will step into his shoes. William Moog picked this color to match his 1965 Mustang. He wanted his machines to be quickly recognized in any shop that had one. The first CNC machine I learned on was this 83-3000 machine. I am from Buffalo, NY. Moog Valve is in a suburb of Buffalo. Ours had the ASCII tape reader/writer in it in the beginning. Memory space was a luxury back then. Our company also had a 5-axis Omni-Mill which also used ASCII tape. Maybe to stay compatible. The Omni-Mill was bought to do some of the operations on the Legendary ZL1 aluminum 427 Chevy engine blocks.

In another suburb of Buffalo was Moog Music. Inventor Robert Moog manufactured his music products at several facilities in the area. I do not think Robert and William Moog were related.

Gotta run. The old guy is coming.

The banks of relays in these 60s tape machines all had multiple platinum points.....like a 100 tiny platinum points in a small plastic case 2"x2"x1"......and almost no one new it.

Canoester said:

I saw one of those MOOG mills get dropped while being loaded on to a truck. Underneath the very large fiberglass shroud (that disentegrated on impact with the truck bed) was a standard Bridgeport head. The shroud could have been 50% smaller and still covered the head.

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A best friend selling modern CNC's called the shrouds, extensive chip guards etc "fenders". Not critical to efficiency like those on a Bonneville Salt Flats lakester; just pure cosmetic nonsense.

precisionworks said:

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Close, well accessorized, but not my pick.
It'd be guy with same knot in his hair as a trashbag.

Toolmaker51 said:

A best friend selling modern CNC's called the shrouds, extensive chip guards etc "fenders". Not critical to efficiency like those on a Bonneville Salt Flats lakester; just pure cosmetic nonsense.

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Best thing that could have happened to it. Those things were JUNK.

jimz28 said:

Hi All
It will take an old guy to bring you up to speed on this. He is not around at the moment so I will step into his shoes. William Moog picked this color to match his 1965 Mustang. He wanted his machines to be quickly recognized in any shop that had one. The first CNC machine I learned on was this 83-3000 machine. I am from Buffalo, NY. Moog Valve is in a suburb of Buffalo. Ours had the ASCII tape reader/writer in it in the beginning. Memory space was a luxury back then. Our company also had a 5-axis Omni-Mill which also used ASCII tape. Maybe to stay compatible. The Omni-Mill was bought to do some of the operations on the Legendary ZL1 aluminum 427 Chevy engine blocks.

In another suburb of Buffalo was Moog Music. Inventor Robert Moog manufactured his music products at several facilities in the area. I do not think Robert and William Moog were related.

Gotta run. The old guy is coming.

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What makes you think we need to be brought up to speed on an 18 year old post?

18 year old post to start......out of how many threads, countless posts, by more than a handful of contributors. Of those, no two people have fully common interests, frame of reference, experience, knowledge, or train of thought.
What is common, plenty of 'Diamonds' willing to shit on those heads for tapping out a few words, that may have not occurred to them previously,or time to spend doing so.
Cancel culture may have ignited right here in PM. With almost exactly 13 years aboard, that's increased, noticeably.
It's the internet. Unless a moderator shuts off responses, the additional content is perpetual.
Shut off, thoughts permeate elsewhere.

Toolmaker51 said:

18 year old post to start......out of how many threads, countless posts, by more than a handful of contributors. Of those, no two people have fully common interests, frame of reference, experience, knowledge, or train of thought.
What is common, plenty of 'Diamonds' willing to shit on those heads for tapping out a few words, that may have not occurred to them previously,or time to spend doing so.
Cancel culture may have ignited right here in PM. With almost exactly 13 years aboard, that's increased, noticeably.
It's the internet. Unless a moderator shuts off responses, the additional content is perpetual.
Shut off, thoughts permeate elsewhere.

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What exactly are you doing ?

Not getting stepped on.