Dixie Duke - A machine in the making.

[Chaoticone]

Yeah, what he said. And tell them we need our Dixie Duke.    They have to see it looks to good to be delayed.

Brett

[Sam]

HAHA! Hard to do when their waving cash in front of my eyes. I'll take all I can get right now.
Your correct Rich, it always takes longer than what was planned. Especially since the CNC mill took a bullet to the head. That REALLY put a damper on my project. Everything can still be done on the manual mill, but at a much greater expense of time. Discouraging to say the least.

[Sam]

Just another update. Slow progress. More boring reading and additional pics on my site. I think I'm gonna go with a drilled and tapped table instead of a T-slot. At least I can see it taking shape now. Kind of like a fetus in the womb.      

[Tweakie.CNC]

You certainly have done a lot of machining on that part - it's looking good.

Tweakie.

[Dan13]

Good progress Sam. It's so rewarding to see the parts getting shape after all the hard work.

Keep up the good work.

Daniel

[Sam]

Thanks for the compliments guys.
Yeah, I had allot more time than I had anticipated in that swiss cheese block. Manually peck drilling 2.5" (63.5mm) deep with a small bit and counter-boring 64 holes was quiet a chore. 'Fun' went out the window on that one. Roughly 16 hours in total on that part.
I got started on the table today. It's only surface ground so far, with one pocket cut in the bottom. Hopefully I will finish that part up tomorrow. It's got two 28" (711mm) long slots for the linear rail that I will have to take my time on to get right, and lots of mounting holes, so I will be lucky if I do get it done I suppose. Here's a pic of progress so far.

[Sam]

Got the table 98% completed. All that's left is drilling/tapping some mounting holes in the top surface for vices and fixtures and such, and the end surfaces for the motor and screw mounts. I did manage to slap it all together and give it a test slide. Everything is really nice and smooth, and feels very solid. I'm a happy camper so far. Next up will be the column, or the cabinet its all going to sit on. I haven't finished with the design of the cabinet, so most likely will start on the column. HERE is a crude video of it sliding.

[Dan13]

Looks fun playing with the table...

Daniel

[Overloaded]

VERY nice work Sam...this stout little beast should perform well.
A good compromise on size, the mobility is a plus too.
RC

[Sam]

Thanks RC. Definitely had to be mobile. Pretty much every machine and work table I have is on casters, and I don't see how I would get by without them, now. There a really good feature to have in a crowded shop.