More than enough to mill a 7-litre block..

[Steve Cassani]

Oracle unveil $1 million milling machine | Stuff.co.nz

[joyridin']

Actually, for that large of a machine, that is pretty cheap. Most large machining centers that are not even 5 axis are well within that range.

I have a customer that put 7 of them on their floor in the past year. Each machine was $1 mil and that didn't include the 15 foot deep concrete pad it sits on or anything else. The mining business has been good.

[Steve Cassani]

joyridin' replies, "...the 15 foot deep concrete pad it sits on..."

Is that how the builder remedies the risk a machine settings might going awry as the site settles, following construction? When you work on this scale, both unimaginably finite-the machine settings-and extraorinarily large-the machine, does the first step involve selecting a site that can be expected to be stable over the life of the equipment? And with a favorable site under title, does the constrction call for beams sunk through the slab and into bed rock?

Obviously I am fascinated by construction practices and the engineering precepts they implement. You may regret having scratched this itch as I can go on and on...

[joyridin']

This was not a new site. Is has been a machine shop for probably 30 years or more.

There were no beams sunk into bedrock. They basically dig a pit and completely line it with anti-vibration material. They build the reinforced erector set using roughly 3/4" and 1" rebar. The cement is poured creating a free floating block of cement is essence. The machine is mounted on this pad. For the most part, it works well unless they are machining something that is really pounding. You can generally stand on the pad, then step off, and feel a difference in your feet. I used to work at a company where we had a very large CMM installed in the floor so you could drive the forklift on and off. It had a 30' x 30' x 20' deep piece of granite as the base. The CMM was mounted on the granite.

[Steve Cassani]

Thanks Joyridin'