Shop Talk
During Summer 2026, a coworker/classmate and myself negotiated with the school and external vendors to secure a $16,000 Hydmech S-20NG Horizontal Bandsaw (Kalamazoo is a popular trade name) as well as a $100,000 Laguna Smartshop 4’x4’ CBX 3KW Laser Cutter. My classmate dealt with the internal logistics/politics with the school for funding, I negotiated the external procurement. I quoted $26,000 for the Bandsaw and negotiated down to $16,000. On the other hand, using the discontinuation of the smaller laser 3’x4’ cutter to my advantage, I locked the final sale price to about $23,000 less than the machine we ultimately purchased.
Through my rolodex of contacts, I was also able to secure rigging with a renowned northeastern company for about $3,550, far less than the company that Stevens has contracted previously. Since we were only able to place the laser in our garage, which was a flood zone, I also fabricated risers from Schedule 40 pipe and machinery grout.
Tool Turret on the Robodrill was throwing tools violently. Discovered that the Turret Axis was bouncing against the guide rails whilst conducting periodical maintenance. Z-Axis home was found to be about 9.9588mm off the recommended home position. Keep Relay K0010# bit 7 and Parameter 1815 bit 4 were modified to allow for proper rehoming. Following rehoming procedure, the tool turret ran much smoother.
Fanuc Robodrill a-D14SiB5 ADV. Modified DDR-TSiB rotary table for three-jaw chuck. Calibrated 1000+ lines of 8-bit parameters, activated G43.4 (Tool Center Point Control, coordinates, and settings for A-Axis Operations. Modified and created machine simulation models as well as Post Processor editing.