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Messages - Sam

821
General Mach Discussion / Re: Help with a Mill
« on: June 18, 2008, 09:28:17 PM »
Sounds to me like you've got a ricket problem. By any chance do you live in Canada? Rickets are bad up there this time of year. Soon as you turn your back...WHAMMO !!! they do some dastardly deed.

822
Your a glutton for punishment. My smooth talking was stretched to it's limit on your last project. It's nothing short of a miracle you still even have a router. Or a cheese board. Or even a wife. Your gonna need somebody like Johnnie Cochran, or Robert Shapiro before it's all said and done.

823
At first glance I thought you were making a time machine. Looks like a job well done.

824
General Mach Discussion / Re: 3 dimmensional trim path
« on: May 23, 2008, 01:48:56 PM »
Quote
what would roughly be involved in programming a 3d path

Or, as I like to say it.... "I have a cat. It needs to be skinned......"  ;D
Seriously, if you've never touched a cnc machine before, going straight into 3d profiles is jumping into the deep end. Not trying to dissuade you by any means, but it can be a rather involved process. You will need a cam software package as zarzul stated. You will need time to learn the cam software. The learning curve on most software is very steep. The price is usually just as steep. If your fluent in 3DS Max, there is a free cam plugin called CNC Toolkit that might be worth a look. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNC_Toolkit It's been in development for long time, so it's sure to have drawbacks, but its free. The simple answer to your question is....

1. Time (lots of it)
2. Money (lots of it)

If you have both of these, this is an excellent place for answers to any questions that might (will) arise during the long journey.

825
General Mach Discussion / Re: Surface grinding?
« on: May 14, 2008, 11:56:43 PM »
Maybe try to get in touch with Keithorr (Ed) and he might be able to point you in the right direction.
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,6024.0.html
http://www.keithorrblowpipes.com/contact.htm

826
I will give you my $0.02, since you asked. Take it with a grain of salt.
Quote
  Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about using 2 pieces of 2" square tubing with4 inches in between them  for the acme screw in the center
Good= Can be done cheaply.
Bad= Can be unstable.

I guess it all boils down to how much you want to invest, and what kind of tolerances your trying to achieve. My router http://sinistersam.com/mill/router.html is made the "cheap" way. 2X2 extruded aluminum tubing with a span of around 50". Kind of like the one in the picture. I have found out that without proper support, you will get a bit of flex when cutting forces are applied. Not a sideways or vertical flex, but rather a front/back tilt flex. Leaning back in a recliner comes to mind. Its not very much, but its enough to not build another one that way. If your using linear rod without a center support, I would guess you will get some flex anyhow. Linear ways are a better choice for a multitude of reasons, but are costly. A solid gantry like rceebuilder's http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,6766.0.html would be my idea of a good solid gantry. Werther or not you need one that rigid, is up to you. Even with the amount of flex I have with a 50 inch gantry, I would not hesitate to tackle any woodworking project that comes to mind. Engraving detailed patterns in aluminum is really where it rears its ugly demon head. Good luck!

827
All those pics of Hoods machines, and I get stuck pondering over the brick pavers for the road. Hehehe. We don't see stuff like that around here. Looks nice. Machines as well.

828
I see you got your keyboard fixed. What is the span of the gantry?

829
General Mach Discussion / Re: gcode
« on: May 03, 2008, 08:06:18 PM »
Eagle has cam functionality. How functional it really is I do not know.

830
put your phrase inside quotes.......  "a axis"