I've been approved to return to work. I start back tomorrow. Some of you already know it
but I've been out because of lower back pain since January 12th of this year. It
seems like I've been out much longer. They're already wanting to know if I can pull
12 hours tomorrow and Friday, that's a scary thought for the first day back.

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Grateful11

great news, and what do you do that would require 12 hours your first day back?

I set-up, program and operate a very large CNC Horizontal Milling Machine for a
major Railroad. It seems that the guy that works behind me on 2nd shift sunburned
his feet so bad that his Dr. took him off his feet until sometime next week. I didn't
know about this until today. They've been working a boatload of overtime on this
machine ever since I've been out.

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Grateful11

Quote
Grateful11
I set-up, program and operate a very large CNC Horizontal Milling Machine for a
major Railroad.

I have to admit that I've never heard of that job, but I hope tomorrow goes well! Good luck, and I hope you're feeling well enough to have a beer at the end of the day!

-Tofer
p.s. (or you choice of beverage)

Quote
Grateful11
I set-up, program and operate a very large CNC Horizontal Milling Machine ...

Hi, remember those G and M codes? I had to write some code for a diamond turning machine to make some parabolic and elliptical mirrors a while back... and I had to babysit the guy who operated the machine. I have never seen such a machine before, but in about 3-4 hours I figured out more than the guy who run it for the last 3-4 years. Glad that stuff is over now.

we have some amazing CNC machines at work. I'll bet your dwarf ours though.

RR parts are usually made to order aren't they?

Sounds like you missed work. Congratulations.

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Da Good Life

Damn guys... when I get my mill/drill retrofit with stepper motors, ball screws, and a controller.. I'm looking you up for programming help! I took some college courses, but that was 10 years ago, on a Bridgeport Boss 8 control... the "hobby" control I'm building (well, collecting parts TO build) is probably more powerful than the BOSS 8...

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Paul F.
-----
A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
----
Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
--

--

--
Eureka, CA

Thanks everyone. I do miss it in a way. It seems like I spend more time with the
guys at work than I do my family sometimes. Many of them are like brothers to
me. I've been there 18 years. Most Railroad parts are made to order and and one
of a kind. The facility I work designs, builds and repairs the large equipment
that repairs the rail and roadbeds where the rail sits upon. I used to do G and M codes
in the past and the control I use still has some M codes for spindle on, off, coolant
and etc. The control I program uses Conversational Programming, it's a
Heidenhain very popular in Europe but not here. The machine has 118" of travel
in 'X', 40" in 'Y' and 60" in 'Z'. The control I program is very similar to this one:

[www.heidenhain.com]

It's fun to write a program and actually watch something come out like the top
photo. Linking all the angles and radius's together could be difficult but having
a control like the Heidenhain really makes it easy.

The part on the bottom was about 16ft. long and weighed about 3 tons.

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Grateful11

man, how do I get that "time off" thing for my wife, the stay at home mom, who has had sciatic pain since last September...

(shhhhhhhh, if you say it too loud, Hillary will probably try to make a law that we'll all pay for...)

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---------------


In the words of DharmaDog: "it may or may not be utter horse@#$%&, but it shouldn't be dismissed simply because it doesn't agree with your opinion."

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Trying is the first step to failure. -- Homer Simpson

Grateful11;

I sure miss the few times I ran the schools Mori-Seiki SL1 lathe...
Put in a piece of 3" aluminum stock, close the door, push "start"... watch coolant fly, the spindle runs up to 3000 rpm, the tool head rushes in so quick your bung hole puckers until you realize it really ISN'T going to slam into the chuck going 100ipm..
Then the "aluminum gravel" starts flying off the workpiece..
Out comes a finish turned part... about a minute after pushing start.

I know my little mill/drill conversion will NEVER do that...
But I still want to turn out parts with less manual handle cranking...

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Paul F.
-----
A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
----
Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
--

--

--
Eureka, CA

Quote
Paul F.
Grateful11;

I sure miss the few times I ran the schools Mori-Seiki SL1 lathe...
Put in a piece of 3" aluminum stock, close the door, push "start"... watch coolant fly, the spindle runs up to 3000 rpm, the tool head rushes in so quick your bung hole puckers until you realize it really ISN'T going to slam into the chuck going 100ipm..
Then the "aluminum gravel" starts flying off the workpiece..
Out comes a finish turned part... about a minute after pushing start.

I know my little mill/drill conversion will NEVER do that...
But I still want to turn out parts with less manual handle cranking...

I recall many, many hints (in the near past) about your detailed "hand cranking," Paul F . . . or was that something else . . .

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Bill
Flagler Beach, FL 32136

Carpe Vino!

Fermentation may have been a greater discovery than fire.
— David Rains Wallace

Quote
elmo3
man, how do I get that "time off" thing for my wife, the stay at home mom, who has had sciatic pain since last September...

(shhhhhhhh, if you say it too loud, Hillary will probably try to make a law that we'll all pay for...)

Being a hourly paid Railroad employee I'm also a "card carrying" Union Member.
In our Contract I can get 6 months off with job protection, I draw off of my
Retirement, which is not connected to Social Security. The Railroad also carries a
supplemental insurance policy that pays a decent amount but together with what
I draw from Railroad Retirement it's still not as much as I would make if I were
working. It's been a tight 5 months around here. If you have enough years in you
can qualify for up to a year and half off. I pay a big chunk of money into my
retirement account with every paycheck I get. I also fall under FELA and not
Workers Comp., in other words if one gets hurts on the job the company is Liable
and not Workers Comp. One of the problems with all this is the railroad gets to
decide whether you're capable of doing your job and gets to decide whether you
can come back to work or not. I know of several people, management and
hourly, that have not been allowed to come back to work due to injuries on or off
the job. It's a very lengthy and complicated process.

BTW: As it stands now I can retire at age 60 with 30 years service. I will draw a
certain amount and my wife will draw about half that amount even if she hasn't
worked for the railroad. Our retirement money is heavily invested and has a
huge surplus at this time, about 19 billion. The Feds have tried numerous times
to dissolve it to pad-up in SS but have failed at every attempt. Too bad SS didn't
invest years ago. I believe hourly employess retiring now are drawing about
$3K/month total it is based on the last 5 years that have worked, I believe. One
other thing, I do pay into Medicare like everyone else.

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Grateful11