Messages

41

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: 4th and 5th axis test

« on: July 20, 2010, 12:52:07 AM »

Oh, I should say that the 4th and 5th axis are the B/C axis of the Doughty Drive B/C head.  That said, let me know what you think and how you'd recommend making a jig for these puppies.

Barry

42

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / 4th and 5th axis test

« on: July 20, 2010, 12:34:45 AM »

Hey folks, I'm slowly ramping up my machine's axis.  I built these models to test the 4th and 5th axis, and am sure I'll have to build a jig to get both sides of the shapes.  However, how would you hold the stock in the jigs?  I'm a little lost on that part.



Barry

43

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: 'No Moon' Series

« on: May 29, 2010, 01:15:09 PM »

Agreed, just a clear varnish is best.  I bought all different stains mainly to see how they react.  I've made about six sets of these now and all were left untreated for the clients.

44

General Mach Discussion / Re: aluminum die making

« on: May 18, 2010, 11:25:13 PM »

Actually no, haven't started beyond modeling it.  I made the taper 3 degrees.  I'm gong to try an inner and outer taper to see what gives a better result.  I've only got one shop computer, and it's tied up right now lighting a scene;(

Barry

45

General Mach Discussion / aluminum die making

« on: May 09, 2010, 12:55:35 AM »

Hello, I'm about to cut my first piece of aluminum, and thought I'd ask some questions for you veterans.  The piece I'm going to cut is for a die stamp that will be used to emboss into leather, or heated and to wood burn a logo into metal.

The metal I'm using is 6061 aluminum, and would like to know a few things if you guys know it.  First off, what is the usual depth of this kind of die.  Then what kind of taper is used.  What angle taper, and also if you start from a prestine logo, (lets pretend it's the letter O), is the regular full size of the O, at the outside edge?  Or are we tapering to a thinner O on the outside of the die?  By outside, I mean the part that touches the leather fiirst when it's stamped in.  I hope that makes sense.

Lastly what kind of depth and feed rates do you recommend?  I've got a 2 HP machine, air cooled.  Is there a table for feed rates on metal?  I found them for wood, but haven't found them for metal.  Btw, my mill is running flawlessly so far, I freakng love it!

Barry

46

General Mach Discussion / Re: Proper Tool Changes

« on: May 02, 2010, 10:15:24 PM »

I'm only a beginner at milling, but I'll yell you my ghetto tool change technique.  My spindle is
manual, so I have to muscle each bit it.  However to guage the height of the bits I use a brass pipe with a flat end.  I've been keeping the length of each bit the same, regardless of their diameter by shoving the pipe on it like a sleeve when tightening the collet.  I don't think it's the most elegant solution, but it works.

47

General Mach Discussion / Re: Theseany good?!

« on: April 30, 2010, 05:29:56 AM »

Id go through the video tutorials for Mach 3.  There's excellent ones on first getting motion at all, then getting accurate motion.  Also don't forget to look at the manuals for this section. I found that invaluable when setting up my mill, especially for rotary axis.

Barry

48

General Mach Discussion / Re: my computer has no parallel port, please recommend PCI parallel port card

« on: April 30, 2010, 05:23:41 AM »

I'd try the smooth stepper before trying to ho the parallel port route.  I've been running my mill off a laptop with a smooth stepper for a while.    IMO, it's way easier to debug a smooth stepper setup than to get a couple of parallel ports recognized znd working inside of Mach.

49

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 4th Axis Round-up...

« on: April 29, 2010, 12:22:50 PM »

Thanks for the tips.  I've got some thinking to do.  I'm mainly an artist here, and some of that is over my head;)

Barry

50

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: 4th Axis Round-up...

« on: April 28, 2010, 03:50:58 PM »

Here is a 6 inch one from Shoptask:

http://www.shoptask.com/

It's only $499 too.  Still trying to decide.  I'd prefer to not create one myself;)

Barry