When I knew I was seriously going to do another startup – even before I knew quite what it was going to be – I started tooling up. I freely admit this approach is a little backwards – but repeatable and quick production was a bottleneck I wanted to explore early. As a result one of the first tools I looked for was a reasonable sized mill that I could convert to be computer controlled (CNCed). Putting as many tools as possible in the shop under computer control seems attractive as a way for a few guys in a small shop to be able to mass produce items. Sort of reinventing the industrial revolution.
In June of 2008 I finally bit the bullet and ordered the G3102 mill from Grizzley. The mill weighs in at almost 900 Lbs, so I was expecting it to be big. I should not have been surprise; I had the weight and dimensions. Still when we picked it up it was a shock. We drove slowly on back roads from Seattle all the way to the base of the mountain I live on. That set us back about an hour unexpectedly.
Once we got to the base of the mounting we were faced with driving up several 30+ degree sections and were worried the mill might tip over. In the end we got a second car and drove to my house for some tools and 2×4s and built a crude set of bracing to help support the mill. Then went up the hill in low gear with our fingers crossed. Less then ideal but we did not really have any other option at this point. Below you can see me working on the bracing and worried senseless.
Bracing the mill for the drive up the mountain
This is my second startup with Konrad and like the millionth crazy engineering project. I really was not going to be business partners with him again. I don’t care if he is a deacon in his church and everyone swears he is the nicest person – the guy scares me! You see that crowbar he is holding in the picture – he has started bringing it with him to company meetings “just in case”.
Konrad scares me
Ok, seriously I am just paying Konrad out because once it became clear that we were not going to get the case open cleanly, and that we were not going inside where it was warm until the crate was opened and we got to see what we were dealing with, he stepped up and just demolished the crate. For a quiet guy it was quite the site. Since this was at 11 o’clock at night I was half expecting one of the neighbors to call the police. Just the unboxing took almost a half hour with three guys.
Konrad unboxing the mill
At this point someone it became clear the truck would not fit into the garage with the mill in the bed. So it turned out we were going to be stuck out in the cold for another hour and a half. We ended up taking the head off the mill, cutting all the wires and I am sure kissing my warrantee goodbye before we even fired it up. Just the head weighs in at 160-200Lbs and the mill was sitting in my truck bed. So in the end we dragged the engine hoist from the garage down to the street to disassemble the mill head and lower it into the truck bed.
Off with its head!
We slowly backed the truck into the garage with two guys siting that things were clear. In the end the mill cleared the garage door by about an inch and a half. At this point it was about 12:45 at night, we had picked the mill up just before 6, and been at it for almost 7 hours without a break.
Will it fit?
We decided to push on and get the mill on the floor. Working on a smooth concrete floor, out of the wind, things went surprisingly quickly. I think everyone left by 1:30. The unnamed trooper at this point is my friend Nate – who knew he was showing up to help me “move some large equipment” and ended up being at my place for like 7 or 8 hours solid.
Relief
A couple days later another friend Joel stopped by to help me put the head on the mill. Then on principle Joel refused to leave until he had seen the mill make some chips. Below Joel is pictured doing that very thing. I think he was picking up on the fact that by this point I was close to never wanting to see the thing again. Yup, he was right, as soon as I saw it making chips I remembered why I wanted it and got fired up all over again.
Joel - I am not leaving until I see that mill cut something!
I will talk about experiences using the mill, and CNCing it in other posts.