I was warned going into this that it was A. Not going to be easy, and B. Not going to be cheap.
I'm doing it anyway. But why?
If you're reading this, you're probably already following me on Instagram, and for that I say thanks! A tremendous part of why I'm doing this is because of the fantastic Instamachinist community, and the massive collective wealth of knowledge that flows from it.
If you're not familiar with my Instagram page, then I'm not even totally certain how you got here, but let me give you an abridged history of my life in manufacturing: After 7 years in automotive repair, I was lucky enough to discover CNC machining as a means of changing careers and expanding my possibilities. I started with DATRON (www.datron.com) as a Service Administrator back in February 2013. Thanks to a lot of enthusiasm, I made my way to a Service Technician, and then to an Application Engineering a few months later.
In my 7+ years at DATRON, I learned everything I know about manufacturing, programming, machining. I worked on all sorts of materials, meeting all sorts of interesting customers, and visiting places all over the globe. It is an experience that forever changed the course of my life, and was integral to my next step: starting with KERN Precision (www.kernprecision.com) as their East Coast Sales Manager. That brings me to today: now working with KERN for 5 months, and looking forward to what 2021 will bring.
But, that doesn't really get to the meat of it, does it?
My time in manufacturing has been enlightening in so many ways, but in the end, my experiences were always there to serve the customer. Subsequently, I rarely ever made anything for myself on a DATRON. So when the opportunity to own my DATRON came about, I jumped at it.
I will tell the entire history of this machine some other time, but for now, how it came to me: This M4 came from a former DATRON customer in New England, who had received it in the acquisition of a competitor. The M4 was very well suited to their application (detailed mold/die work), however, the operators never really grew fond of the DATRON control, and let the machine fall into a state of disrepair.
This came to a boiling point when one day, DATRON was approached by the customer in regards to taking the machine of their hands. The bad news for the customer, is that DATRON did not want it, and for good reason: built in 2002, the M4 was a "1st generation" DATRON, utilizing the earliest architecture of DATRON CNC control components. That's a long way of saying, it was obsolete. Even if DATRON took it back and rebuilt it from spare parts, it's service life from there on would be basically non-existent.
To make things worse: with the decision to unload the M4, the seller followed their company policy and disposed of the control PC. However, instead of throwing away just the PC, they chucked the entire operating terminal, which contained the spindle converter among other electronic necessities.
Even though this should have been a big red flag for me, I am apparently colorblind.
After a bit of back-and-forth over the price, the M4 came home in the back of a friend's pickup truck.
And this basically brings us to today: The M4 has been sitting in my garage for the past year, waiting for me to make the first move. But that time is now, and for anyone who's interested, I will be glad to share the story along the way.
If you read this, leave a comment below - I'm just curious to see who is going to hold me accountable. 😅
