Rant: Bought a $600 4th axis and it's been sitting in a box for 8 months

I swear I had all these plans to do cool helical milling and engraving on round parts, but every time I think about setting it up I just get overwhelmed with the wiring and post processor config. Took me 2 weekends to even get the software to talk to it, and then I ran a test cut that nearly crashed the head. Anyone else drop serious cash on an accessory they barely use, or is it just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantl941mo agoMost Upvoted

Admit I thought people who bought expensive tools and never used them were just impulsive, but this hit home hard. I dropped $800 on a rotary table two years ago thinking I'd be doing all these cool indexing projects, and it's still in the original shipping box with the foam inserts. The wiring manual might as well be in another language, and I keep telling myself I'll get to it after the next build. How do you even force yourself to sit down and power through the setup without just putting it off again?

robinson.holly1mo agoMost Upvoted

Wiring manual? @grantl94, you got a WIRING manual with your rotary table? Mine didn't even come with a piece of paper, just a QR code that led to a dead link. I'd kill for a manual, even if it's in another language.

blair_green867d ago

Same energy as when I bought a nice soldering station thinking it would magically teach me to fix electronics. Wife asked why there's a soldering iron in the kitchen drawer next to the takeout chopsticks. Now I just stare at the wiring diagram on my phone while eating ramen pretending I'm about to learn something.