Ape's metalshop Oy

01/06/2018

Eggs, wine, sausages and machining.
Yes, good.

Last year we made short video called "Machinist's coffee break" in cooperation with a fellow company Camcut. The video seemed to be a fresh add to the stiff world of industrial manufacturing, and to this date it has reached over million views on Youtube.

After the days first coffee break comes of course lunch time! Time to misuse the machining tools again and see if a 7500kg cnc-machine can replace your everyday kitchen equipment.

🍳🍳🍳

Cooking lunch the machinist way Download Camcut the Machinist App for Free at Google Play or App Store. http://www.camcut.fi/app_en.html

10/02/2018

An unique set of wheels for a Panhead Harley. 21" and 16". The rear end was fitted with the original combination of sprocket and brake drum. The design is made for this set only.

02/02/2018

It is time for Petrol Circus at Helsinki again! We are there the whole weekend talking about machining and manufacturing for all you enthusiasts. See you at the fair!

01/12/2017

Finland is celebrating one hundred years of independence. Here's a little something we made for the party!

Production by Camcut!
Machining and shooting the video is done here at Ape's metalshop.

Yaaay Finland! 🇫🇮️

01/12/2017

In the celebration of Finland's 100 years of independence, the jolly guys at Camcut had an idea of this miniature replica of Finland machined out of solid steel.

It is 450 x 220mm piece and 30mm thick. Material is Uddeholm Stavax ESR, a stainless steel used in the mold making industry.

A video from the machining can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDrbravowl8

05/10/2017

Oh the happy times at the workshop! Some weeks ago a new machine came in. Well - actually it is over 20 years old, but new to us and a very welcome addition to the workforce.

Bridgeport VMC560/22

When buying an old machine like this, it is just like buying a old used car. Old, well kept quality machine is almost every time a safe buy, and even if it has a lot of years and mileage, you can still feel the well made quality. Then, buy a cheap machine - new or old - and from the first moment on you can feel why it is cheap.

This old Bridgeport came directly from use, so in theory it was plug 'n' play... but that's theory. In practice all the setups between workshops are different from each other. The adjustments will be made according all the variables every time new machine comes to use. When talking about a cnc-milling machine, biggest one is making the postprocessor. That one translates the data from the CAM-software to a proper G-code that the milling machine understands. Building the postprocessor is like coding. A lot of commands, ifs, buts and whens. Nothing impossible, but needs a sh*tload of focus, thinking and troubleshooting. In this case I took a generic Fanuc postprocessor and modified it to proper form. I changed the Heidenhain control to take in just a raw g-code instead of the Heidenhains own language.

Before the postprocessor build, the data transfer between the computer and milling machine is an important step as well. Sounds easy, but when you have +20 year old machine and modern computer, it can be a bit challenging task to get them understand each other.

And with those two major steps, at the same time machine parameters are usually in a need of some adjustment. These parameters define how the milling machine behaves when you use it - in every aspect you can and can't imagine.

In a microscopic small workshop like this one - DIY is the name of the game, so all this is done by our own group of skilled technicians. That group of one individual is actually the same that handles the social network, and is writing this update at the moment. And the same guy will use that machine later on as well. Pretty convenient!

Overall to get the machine in use, it took around 40 hours of work, which is not too bad, but quite amount of work for a plug'n'play.

Here's couple pictures from the first machined parts with the Bridgeport.

24/09/2017

APUMIES HAUSSA!
A PAIR OF HELPING HANDS NEEDED!

ENGLISH TRANSLATION COMING LATER!
But this time first with the native language.

Tämän yrityksen perustamisesta on nyt kulunut noin neljä vuotta ja tähän asti toimintaa on suoritettu pääasiassa yhden miehen voimin. Nyt viimein on vastaan tullut tilanne jossa yhdeltä mieheltä kädet loppuvat kesken.

Etsinnässä on apumies pajalle!

Ai että mihin hommiin sitä ihmistä sitten haetaan?
Hommat alkavat cnc-koneistajan perushommista. Alkuun duuni on käytännössä kappaleenvaihtoa valmiiksi tehdyillä setupeilla. Käytännössä alkuun riittävät hienosti perustiedot, ja -taidot. Tästä edetään osaamisen mukaan oma-aloitteisempaan työskentelyyn tekijän osaamisen mukaan. Tässä on siis mahdollisuus yhtälailla niin oppisopimuksella työelämään tähtäävällä kuin jokusen vuoden töissäkin olleelle tekijälle. Avainasemassa ei ole missään nimessä koulutuksen nimike, vaan ehdottomasti tärkeimpänä on asenne ja suhtauminen työn tekemiseen sekä uuden oppimiseen.

Saatat ehkä kuvasta huomata että yksi nuori kokelas onkin jo koulutuksessa, m***a harmillisesti kotimainen lainsäädäntö estää kyseisen yksilön palkkaamisen vielä jokusen vuoden. Jos tunnet jonkun lain puitteissa hyväksyttävän, ja mahdollisesti potenttiaalisen kaverin, niin vinkkaathan hänelle ihmeessä kommenteihin alapuolelle.

03/09/2017

Here's how a true machinist prepares for a coffee break. 🍏☕

The video is a production of Camcut and we got to be part of it by doing the machining and filming.

We had some problems in the beginning, since Walter Tools catalogue didn't have the feeds and speeds when machining an apple. But with their Walter GPS, end we got pretty close by a good guess of the tensile strength and surface hardness. 😉

The clamping of the apple is done by using a standard size UACF (universal apple clamping fixture).

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TJA5vokRpE

Peeling an Apple with CNC Mill

29/08/2017

The machining process step-by-step for a unique set of wheels fitted under a 1969 GAZ Chaika.

The center pieces are machined out of single piece of EN AW-6082 aluminium. The rims are bolted from the backside. The wheels are still missing the center caps to hide the bolts and give them a finished, clean look.

Design and 3D-modeling is made by Antti Eskeli.

Owner of the car is Klaus Uimonen.

15/08/2017

One of the biggest individual machining jobs I've done so far. Four of these 20" three-piece-wheels, with a lot of 3D-surfaces, was somewhat on the time consuming side of the spectrum. And physically they fitted pretty tightly on the old 3-axis machine, leaving a 0.4mm clearance on the Y-axis movement.

Design and modeling was made by Antti Eskeli.
These were fitted under a GAZ Chaika -69 owned by Klaus Uimonen.

More pictures from the machining coming later!
I'll just leave this here as a teaser.

12/08/2017

Adapter piece for a rear handbrake caliper for stuntriding. The bike is Honda CBR1000RR with a stock brake disc. Owner of the bike is a finnish stuntrider Joona Vatanen. The adapter was made for the start of season 2017.

Check out Joona from his Facebook-page:
https://www.facebook.com/Joonavatanenfreestyle/

09/08/2017

There has been a quiet season on social media, since we have been busy doing some real work at the workshop. And yes, I did say WE. During the last couple months I've had the privilege of having a set of helping hands at the shop. That's the pair you can see in the picture, Harjoitus-Jarno.

The company has been around now for 3-4 years (depending how you look at it), and during this time I have been doing this alone. When the year 2017 started, I set the theme for the year to be "a pair of helping hands". I didn't have any idea of how, when or who, but stumbling on the details is usually just in the way of proceeding anyhow.

Biggest problem in finding a good worker is the task itself: finding the proper individual for the job. Especially in a microscopic small company like this. Hiring the wrong guy can crash the whole firm, which would be an unpleasant end result. Luckily Harjoitus-Jarno was not the wrong guy, but pretty much the opposite. Sharp, calm, interested about what he is doing and has the right attitude for working. I got to taste what it is to have someone at the workshop and keep things running while I'm running around arranging this and that, collecting tools, delivering finished pieces and all that daily shuffle. And oh boy, it felt good. Really good.

But since the schools are starting again, and this was a summer job during the holidays, Jarno is heading back to studies. And from here on I am again on my own. But that will not be permanent. Because the next big step will be "full time set of helping hands." I just need to find the right guy for the job.