CNCToolCat's Cat-House

Ox,

At this point I really don’t know how much we need to add on to the Cathouse, until all the potential new business settles in, or settles out....lol

Most of our parts are for underground mining, as it is a very “equipment-intensive” form of mining. The machines take tremendous abuse in service, and thus require replacement parts often.

Supplying the mining industry is like everything, it is intensely competitive.

And with the operating bankruptcies of some of the big companies, as a supplier you have to always be on your toes, and work to keep from getting too caught up in a specific customer’s mess.

Fortunately, we have lost just a little money over the years in such a volatile industry....not so for some of our distributors and competitors.

My partner Montie is out every day visiting customers, keeping his ear to the ground for any and all information that helps us stay ahead of the financial “see-saw” that can be the coal industry.

The OEM’s make good parts, and sell them for a mint. The mining companies like the OEM parts because they know they will work well, they just don’t like paying the high prices — especially in tough times.

It’s easy enough to reverse-engineer OEM parts. Make them from the same steels, to the same machining and heat treat specs, and guess what? Cathouse parts perform just as well as the OEM, but at a fair price.

Gotta dance with the partner that brung us!

And besides, even undercutting the OEM’s by half or more, we can still make a higher shop rate in mining parts than we do on the job shop work for local factories.

Just gotta be careful operating and selling in the jungle known as mining...

ToolCat

So I added a spare Toyota forklift here at the shop. This one is a 3,000 pound model, cushion tire, propane with 4Y engine, and has 9,000 hours.

Which may seem like a lot, but compared to our 26,000-hour 5k pound Toyota we’ve had for a decade now, the little ‘Yota will hopefully last me another decade to retirement!





And tell me the guy I bought it from is not Eric Church!? [emoji2371][emoji23]

LOL, yep, you sure did buy a forklift from Eric Church!

Eric who? Had to look 'em up....................counrty moozak or western moozak?

High tech and red neck...all in the same turning tool setup.[emoji23]

Hmmmm ... Seems I've heard that line before?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Ox said:

Hmmmm ... Seems I've heard that line before?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Click to expand...

"He's got twenty sub-woofers in the back of his truck
A thousand watts of power and he keeps it cranked up
He ain't into hip hop he ain't into rap
He likes to rattle them speakers with Ronnie Milsap"

wheelieking71 said:

"He's got twenty sub-woofers in the back of his truck
A thousand watts of power and he keeps it cranked up
He ain't into hip hop he ain't into rap
He likes to rattle them speakers with Ronnie Milsap"

Click to expand...

...I had to look it up, but that's funny

cnctoolcat said:

High tech and red neck...all in the same turning tool setup.[emoji23]

Click to expand...

Did ya run outa zip ties?

cnctoolcat said:

High tech and red neck...all in the same turning tool setup.[emoji23]

Click to expand...

So that's how they make reinforced tubing!

Could you do that if your shop was ISO certified?

Sure, just have to generate and post a sign specifying the size and type of zip tie, which zip-tie-tighener-pliers setting to use, and the ever important MSDS and Waste Disposal Plan sheets.

A lot of you probably know my shop blood runs Mazak blue, so as a quick example of how I use Mazatrol at the mill, here are some custom-milled vice jaws, done "on the fly":



It's easy enough to use calipers/mics to make a quick print of the forging, then Mazatrol conversational (i.e. fast) programming at the machine to cut the features into the pre-loaded jaws.

Quick clamping test-fits show where the shapes need to be tweaked, and with a few keystrokes, I'm back in the cut getting the custom jaws to fit the way I want.

Notice the "woodruff" undercuts in the jaws, for the forging flash line.

Here's the raw forgings clamped and ready to machine:



And after machining (programmed with just 3 Mazatrol units):



The soft jaws actually wear-in slightly over time, grabing the forgings even better.

ToolCat Greg

Wow you can do all that Im mazatrol.

I spent a day trying to do a chamfer on a round hole just to have Mazak support tell me it was not possible then today I’ve spent all day trying to get the darn thing to mill a hex with y axis. (This is on a lathe with matrix control)

Im starting to give up on mazatrol. Problem is i don’t know how to program it in my cam and i dont really have a good post...

I absolutely loved it on my sqt with tplus but very quickly not likening the matrix but it’s also a much more complex machine

So after 24 years in business, it’s finally time to air condition the Cathouse.

I got my unit from Surplus City Liquidators in Indiana. They have tons of new, surplus HVAC units of all kinds, (no affiliation, just a satisfied customer).

Normally a 15-ton unit is about $15k, but SCL had it listed for about 1/3 of that! (It did cost ~$750 to have it flat-bed hauled to Virginia from Indiana).

The unit is a Rheem 15-ton, 240-volt, air-only package unit, that is “convertible” for ground use.

Most package units are designed for roof installation, so if you want to install on the ground, make sure it’s convertible!



The big Rheem was actually bigger than what I was expecting!



Notice the two removable panels on the bottom and right. The far right vertical panel covers the “air return” opening, while the lower horizontal panel is the “supply air” opening. The ductwork connects to these two openings for ground use.

The 15-ton unit has two 7-1/2 ton compressors, and the 2nd compressor only runs when needed, helping on the power bill.

The unit has twin blowers, driven by a 3 horsepower motor. Rheem actually offers a “high static” model with a 5 hp motor, so the Catman may have to hot-rod this one if the air doesn’t move strongly enough. [emoji6]



We poured the concrete pad out back last year, midway down the 100 foot long wall of the shop, and that’s where the unit will go.

We’re getting quotes for ductwork, which will require a couple of square holes to be cut into the building wall.

The guys and me will pull the 3-phase circuit, and install the thermostat. So, once the ductwork is in, since it’s a package unit (pre-charged and tested), all we will have to do is throw the power to it, and ease the thermostat down, to have 6000 CFM’s of cold, dehumidified air!

I will post follow up pics once installed, and report on how it works. [emoji3063][emoji23]

ToolCat

To continue on the new air conditioner install at the Cathouse, here’s how we got it around back:



(and yes, I’ve had the materials to build a roof over the Quincy air compressor for about 8 years, but just haven’t gotten around to it...lol)

The ‘ol Toyota 5k riding over two alternating sheets of 3/4” plywood (treated-type, I’ve had for almost a decade, and yes it was soft under the hard tires, but I wasn’t paying $100 per sheet for plywood just to drive on!)

Notice I broke a 2x8 on the final approach...haha



Once set, my goal was to get both large openings cut through the building in a day...sounds easy enough, but it took over a day to get to this point:





Because the ductwork quotes came back REALLY high, I decided to build temporary ductwork myself, to get some cold air somehow.

I used 1” foil-faced extruded foam board, as it’s easy to cut and glue/tape into “Erector Set” boxes, which were then shoved through the wall openings to the package unit outside. (The duct will only see cold air, as it’s an air-only unit. We heat the shop with a 175k natural gas unit heater.)



A top “hat” forces the air out into the shop, from about 8’ off the floor. I later installed a couple of air vanes, to shield a couple of close machines (visible in pic) from too much cold air (is there such a thing?) and also help reach the far ends of the shop better.



If you notice the two 20x25 filters, the big 15-ton behemoth is breathing!

Not without a hitch or two though...more later.[emoji16]

ToolCat Greg

In addition to foam-safe construction glue, I used aluminum tape to secure the sections. On the outside, I used aluminum-faced, butyl-rubber tape to “roof” the supply.





I didn’t roof the return yet, because I wasn’t satisfied with the way I sealed the return.




See, due to a red-metal cross member in the shop wall, my through-the-wall return height was limited, about 1/3 less than the unit’s return-opening height.

I originally just continued the return at the same reduced height to the unit, using a vertical piece of foam to seal the return.

Later I would go back and cut in a 45-degree corner between the return and the unit, to give the air better coverage over the evaporator coil just inside.



Notice the filters inside the unit, protecting the evaporator coil, which is 90 degrees to the incoming return airflow. More reason to expand the return!

Here’s the finished, improved return:




The butyl rubber tape is some amazing stuff!

Anyway, once the ductwork was satisfactory, it was time to throw the power to her, turn the thermostat to COOL, and run her down to about 70....

Nothing.

I checked the 3-phase, all good. Checked the thermostat, yes it’s closing the circuits.

Hmmm...

Well, as it turns out, it pays to read the manual.

On the inside of the COVER, it says the unit is shipped with the main circuit control board set to OFF, so as to prevent accidental startup when installing.

Bingo!!

I open the panel, and find a very “CNC-like” circuit board with LED readout, and 4 little clicker-thingy input buttons. After a little fiddling, I was able to set the unit to “Cool - 2 Stage”.

Thermostat ON, Cool, 70.

She roars to life!



For about 10 minutes.

To be continued...[emoji2371][emoji23]

I am back finally, to put a bow on the air conditioner story. (Russ has taught us well!)

After running fine for 10 minutes, the unit shuts off. Turns out a 30-amp (3-phase, 240v) breaker wasn’t enough—the culprit of the unit shutting down.

(For reference, we pulled #6 wires, about a 90’ circuit in 1” EMT from the breaker box.)

So, I swap from the 30-amp to a 40-amp breaker. Unit fires right up, cool air roars out like a boss.

For 10 minutes…

You guessed it, the 40-amp breaker wasn’t enough. Just so happened I had a 50-amp in reserve, so I pulled the original 30 and screwed down the 50. (Even though I use insulated screwdrivers, I still always shut the main 400-amp service breaker OFF!)

Now, the 15-ton package unit roars to life, this time for more than 10 minutes.

Seems 50-amp breaker did the trick, as the unit has been doing a good job
since being installed.

The metal-building shop only has the minimum insulation package (thus 15-ton size), and you can tell less than 10 minutes after the unit is shut off how good of a job it does at making the shop comfortable!

On the hottest, most humid Virginia 90+ days, the unit has kept the shop around 78, with the dehumidifying being the best part.

If the temp stays in the 80’s outside, the unit can keep the shop right at 72 all day.

Power bill looks to take about $100/week hit if it’s mighty hot out, but that’s not too bad, $20 per day to not suffer! (The unit only runs both compressors when needed, so that helps on the juice bill.)

I want to fabricate and install full ductwork sometime this winter, as that would help with efficiency too. Will post pics of that when (if…?) I get around to it.

Like everyone says, should have done air conditioning years sooner!

ToolCat

How difficult, and what payback, to insulate the shop building? (Do you own it or lease?) Can sometimes be a huge hassle as well of course...

bryan_machine said:

How difficult, and what payback, to insulate the shop building? (Do you own it or lease?) Can sometimes be a huge hassle as well of course...

Click to expand...

Insulating a metal building can be a real pain. I have a similar building space that I rent, best option for me is to do an insulated dropped ceiling. That is about all I can do and the landlord will let me. But I have this big beam in the way, on an angle no less that will make it a bit of a job to work out. But perhaps I can get it done for next year. Did get an insulated garage door installed, wow what a difference that has made. Not in overall comfort but the old single skin door would fry the hairs off your forearm if you got within a foot of it during the summer.

Charles