El Machino

El Machino

Last night my husband asked if I was going to include his machine in our blog. As proud as he is of this machine, I can’t let another day pass without including it in our blog. Not to mention he has been working on it each evening when he gets home from work.

Kevin’s Fadal CNC Mill Machine was delivered May 8th, 2009, and it’s been a work in progress since then. We only have single phase power on our property and the machine requires three phase. The city and PG&E each wanted their piece of the pie if we were to run three phase out here from the nearest three phase power pole, and to do so was about half the cost of the machine itself. Alternatively we opted for a phase converter which is a fraction of the cost, and we can take it with us if we ever move. So, once we got the phase converter ordered and delivered it waited in the shop for a few weeks while Kevin thought out and gathered all the wiring materials he needed to get the phase converter installed wired and sending power to the machine. Glad he knows what he’s doing!

Last weekend Kevin’s folks joined us for lunch, and his dad helped him level the machine. Following that my mom helped him get the phase converter mounted, and then he was pretty much on his own. Every night after work this week, Kevin has been out in his shop drilling holes, making brackets, and running conduit from the phase converter into the attic and across the ceiling, over to his machine. He is a perfectionist when it comes to machining and mechanical work, so everything is very methodically in place with brackets (definitely not a perfectionist when it comes to keeping his pick-up tidy or putting laundry in the basket - haha!).

Last night we shopped for the last of his wire, and he’s been out there all day today. I was able to help him a bit, but he has 6 wires running through a one inch conduit, so it took a lot of patience and him running back and forth from the attic to the phase converter, pulling when I wasn’t strong enough on my end. I rather enjoy sweeping around his shop and cleaning up after him so he can stay focused. I’m just not up to speed with all this electrical stuff, but I’m good moral support…??

I came in the house for a moment to get some water and I hear an odd sound coming from the shop. It’s his machine! Running!!!! So of course I bolt outside with the camera, and try to capture a few shots of the machine running. Only trouble is the spindle spins so fast that the camera doesn’t really capture it. I’ll have to break out the video camera here shortly and give that a whirl. The photos above are from May when the machine was delivered. I will post the new photos I have shortly.

So now I sit here listening to the machine running across the yard, and I can’t wait to get back out there and share in his excitement! This has been a dream for Kevin, and I’m so glad we’re able to make it a reality.