Abstracts: The concept of this project relates to a combined lathe, drilling and milling machine and in its generic aspect contemplates the provision of a metal working machine upon which a plurality of operations upon different pieces of work may be simultaneously carried on and which is so constructed that the machine will occupy a minimum of floor space at low investment. The Multimachine -- a complete machine shop in one tool entirely built from scrap material. An almost free metal lathe, drill and milling machine. The Multimachine is a concept of cost effective multi-purpose machine tool. It can be built with common hand tools, a drill and a few small welds. It could be built with just one or two broken vehicle engines, a piece of pipe, a few feet of steel bar, and a metal sheet. The expected conclusion/result of this project is: • Several operations on the same piece of work are accurately performed without re-chucking or re-adjusting the work in its holder. • To avoid the dependency on other machine tools to machine simple jobs • To perform several functions on single machine thus reducing the floor space requirement • To reduce the overall investment cost were the requirement of mass production is not there like repair shops in villages.
The multi-machine is an all-purpose open source machine tool that can be built at low cost by a semi-skilled mechanic with common hand tools, discarded parts of cars and trucks, using only common hand tools and no electricity. Their size can range from being small enough to fit in a closet to a hundred times that size. The multimachine can accurately perform all the functions of an entire machine shop by itself.
The multimachine was first developed as a personal project by Pat Delaney, then became an open source project organized through a Yahoo! group. The support group of 2,600 members that has grown up around its creation is made up of engineers, machinists and experimenters who have demonstrated that the machine works. As an open source machine tool that can be built at low cost on site, the Multimachine could have many uses in developing countries. The multi-machine group currently focuses on the humanitarian aspects of the multi-machine and the promulgation of the multi-machine concept as a means to create jobs and economic growth in developing countries.
The multi-machine was first introduced to a wider audience as a result of the 2006 Open Gift Guide article on the Make magazine website, which mentioned the multi-machine under the title "Multimachine - Open Source machine tool ".
Applications
As a general purpose machine tool that includes the functions of a milling machine, driller and lathe, the multi-machine can be used for many important projects for humanitarian and economic development in developing countries:
• Agriculture: Construction and repair of irrigation pumps and agricultural implements
• Water supply: Manufacture and repair of water pumps and drilling of water wells.
• Food Supply: Construction of steel rolling and bending machines to make efficient cooking stoves and other kitchen equipment
• Transportation: Anything from carriage axes to rebuilding the vehicle clutch, brake and other parts.
• Education: Building simple machines to fold and bend bars to make school furniture, providing "hands-on" training on multi-machines built by students who take them with them when they leave school.
• Job creation: A group of specialized but easy-to-build multimachines can be combined to form a small, very low-cost metal factory that could also serve as a trading school. Students can be taught a single skill on a specialized machine and be paid as a worker while learning other skills that could lead to other places.