How to advance me and my SO's rape/CNC kink? : sex
There are a few dozen project ideas to consider.You can always ask, buy, borrow, build, or steal.I have a list of projects I want to tackle in my shop.There is a whole other section filled with more ambitious projects below the easier ones.We have a page of model engine projects.
You can align things on your mill table with the help of fixture plates.If you put your vises and fixtures on subplates with a matching grid, you can drop them on the table and have them be very close to each other.
Don't fire up the spindle to a very highrpm, for example, because you'll want to be very careful with this technique.It looks like a real time saver.
There are some great tips here.Aside from aligning the part in the chuck with the ball bearing, the use of circular pieces instead of a dovetail on the QCTP is also quite interesting.It looks like he keeps the indicator on a permanent holder on the back of the lathe.
Put the U-shaped key in the vise jaws, tighten the jaws and press the key against the top T-slot edge.Nothing could be simpler or faster.
He said he made the edges of the T-Square to match the table.It seems like a good idea to get a vise or other item lined up quickly.He said he would use a piece of a square bar if he had to do it again.
I've seen someone suggest putting pegs in the table slots to line things up.I got an email from someone who had used the round pegs on the vise or T-Square and said it worked great, but it doesn't seem like it would be as accurate.
He calls it a perp edge.He lines it up with a square and then checks it with an indicator.It looks easy to make.I would like to know if this would work for lining up my vises on the mill table.
Another way to mate the T-Slots with the table is to install a key on the bottom of the vise.I liked the description of how to install a key on the base of a milling machine vise so that it will always be at the table.
If the vise does not have a key slot in the base, install a tight fitting key in one of the table's T slots.Attach the vise to the key.The table slot corresponds to the keyway in the base of the vise.There is a key in this slot.
The vise will always be reinstalled in the same position even if you have to adjust the jaw.
If you don't want to modify the vise, you could make a tramming fixture that you attach to the jaws.As the vise is being bolted down, the fixture would mate with the T-slot precisely.
The method is for dead nuts accuray and repeatability.You should make a subplate.There are drill holes for hold down bolts through the keyways.The vise should be set roughly in the setting.Take a look at the locations of the vise keys.If you want to make the slots long enough for the keys, you must remove the vise and mill the deep slots.When the melt protrudes above the slot, slap a parrallel down on it and chill it.You now have a set of keys that will set the vise to plumb even if the keyways don't match.The keys can go with the vise if you remove it.Keep track of which key is which.It is really hard and works well.If you remove a vise and the mounting hole is exposed, you can jam an old Christmas candle down the opening and cut it off.It seals it from chips but is easy to dig out and lubricate the screw when you replace it.
It is nicely made, isn't it?Lifting the vise off the thing will allow you to swing it out of the way.It seems like a shelf behind the mill would be a good place to keep a bunch of vises, rotary tables, and other goodies.
The product is called a "Mill Vise Caddy" and costs $339.
A coolant collar is very useful.It provides a convenient way for the nozzles to track the activity of the mill in a more elegant and permanent way than the magnetic versions that are available.Once the nozzles are lined up, they will do the right thing.There are many reports that the darned things can help cool down your bearings, which seems like a thoughtful thing to be doing as well.
I have started a notebook with pictures of different systems.
Someday I will give my lathe a tune up.I want to check the runout, adjust the preload on the bearings, check headstock and tailstock alignments, and generally give it some time.
I think I need to build a QCTP holder with an indicator because I have been seeing it for a long time.I saw another one and thought I would do a little article here so I have all the details in one place.The lathe tuneup and indicating in the 4-jaw chuck can be done with one of these.
If you don't have a dovetail cutter, it's not hard.You might consider this fellow's approach of just milling the dovetails as separate parts.
The Flapper design is for dialing in irregular shapes or square stock in the 4-jaw.
I was staring at the indicator holder that fits onto the height gage I got off eBay.These can be used to increase the accuracy of the height gage.The seller discount_machine has them for $8.95.
If you want one, do an eBay search for "HEIGHT GAGE INDICATOR".They only have them in their store, so you may have to watch out.
I put this together with the knurler holder so I could reuse it if I wanted to.
I found this gorgeous spindle bar support system on the Chaski board and I really liked it.
The different sized bushings are held in the spindle by their o-rings.The basic style is very nice and a good idea to prevent the bar from whipping as it spins, but I would like a little more positive locking action.I need to add this to my wish list.
Mach 3 can display the feed from the camera that was inserted in the R8 collet.
According to S_J_H, he can find a corner within 0.0005′′ for sharp edges.It was pretty close.He said that the punch marks looked like craters.
Centre cam is a piece of software that handles camera feeds for machinework. I think it has more optical comparator functions than Mach does.
If you want to permanently mount the camera, Evan suggests an interesting idea.The camera should be mounted to focus on an angle, and a laser pointed at another angle.To focus the camera on the same point, you need to know where the laser is centered.I like the idea of having a camera and a laser in the same house.It would be great to have a custom button in Mach 3 that puts these at the right height so they are focused on the center of the spindle.I think a laser pointer would be ideal to line up stock before firing up a program that will separate the part from the chips.
If you face the laser and video straight down, you can program the offset from the center into Mach 3.As it becomes independent, this is a better idea.The table would center on the laser/video center if you hit the button.You could jog as you please and hit the button again to offset where the video had taken you.That would be cool!
Here is a laser cross hairs mounted on a machine.
Greolt used a button on Mach 3 to compensate for the offset from the spindle.
This gets more clever.The code he added to Mach 3 deals with the fact that the laser cross hairs are offset.
The laser is turned on and off by the target.The machine is zeroed at the lasers current position so that it can be offset from the spindle.The offset of the laser can be entered with the X and Y DROs.
The laser is to be turned off after zero.M7 turns it on.The mist coolant commands are being used to run the laser.Two buttons zero the X and Y.The laser offset distance is set by the two DROs.
My crazy idea is to combine them.I want a permanent mount that holds the web cam and integrated laser cross hairs.We might want a flip open lens protectors as well.I want it integrated so Mach 3 knows about the offset.You can use a camera comparator and laser cross hairs if you want to do more precise work.
The lock nut will apply pressure to the top of the head.It makes tramming the head more precise.It might help hold the head in place a little better.The head can be pushed either way.
A simple project is what this should be.I need to take a circular plate and drill two sets of holes.The first circle will be the same as the one used to mount the backplate on the lathe.The circle that holds the faux cam loks into the back plate is what I want.
There will be 4 holes outside the chucks in the second bolt circle.The assembly will be bolted down using the T-Slot system.A similar project was done by another person.
I need to build a tool for my lathe and work on other projects to gain experience with it.Both needs were filled nicely by this one.
There are a couple of designs in the thread.One is elegant and the other is easy to build.
I went to visit Home Model Engine Machinist when I was surfing the web the other day because I wanted to find something new to fixate on.The board is focused on building model engines.There are wonderful examples of craftsmanship at all levels, and while the site is mostly inhabited by manual machinists, there is a growing amount of information there too.The best thing about the site is that it values good camaraderie and won't tolerate the troll that gets too much air time at a lot of other sites.These are people you would love to have a beer with and talk to.If you have never been to HMEM, and you want to talk to a good audience about model engines, check it out.
I noticed a thread that had pictures of a really nice shopmade Z-axis indicator, so I wanted to show you what you can find without too much effort if you take the time to explore HMEM.Z-axis indicators are used to determine the Z position above the tool.When you manually change tools, this is usually done to capture the tool length offset or zero the Z.You can read more about this in our article series.One way to approach the problem is to deal with tool lengths.
The color case was hardened and ground so that the bottom of the case is one inch high.
The mechanism is simple: the angle ground piston moves the indicator in proportion to how much the tool is pressed down.
I want to build a 3D printer.The FFF printers are cheap and cool, but I love the High Resolution 3D Printers.They use a projector to shine light on a cure that is cured by the light.The Eiffel tower shows amazing results.They are less common than the FFF/Reprap style printers.The cost of the material is a tad higher.
My plan is to build a pair of custom Mauser rifles.We decided to work together after a friend of the family expressed interest.I will build two and give one to my son.I hope he will help out.The project is still on the Wish List page because I haven't gotten far.I tried to design a gun stock for the rifles in Rhino 3D.
This collet chuck is from the category of amazing stuff and was made by a fellow named j king.It uses a planetary gearset from a transmission to tighten the thread on the collet.The handwheel is better than the 5C chuck, but I still need to make a backplate for it.There is a sleeve pressed into the small gear and an O-ring to keep the handwheel from rattling.The threading for the 5C collet was necessary since the transmission gears are hardened.It is put in place.The beauty of it is amazing.
The parts.There is a little gear in the middle that is threaded for the 5C collet.
This is more of a fabrication project than a milling project, but it is metal and close to my heart.
I smoke a lot and use a commercial smoker.You can find my recipe site at WineandRecipeParty.com.
Faster tool changes due to better ejection and less fooling around to line up the drive pin of the R8.A couple of big dogs are used to drive the toolholder that is easy to see and line up compared to the small drive pin of an R8.
An automatic toolchanger could be created for the mill.If you provide a tray of tools in fixed positions on the table, a powered drawbar can act as a toolchanger.
My desire to run my mill at higher speeds using a belt drive was the biggest reason.It maxes out at 1600rpm out of the box.You can run it to 3000rpm with a bigger motor.That is still very slow when you are cutting aluminum.My copy of ME Pro wants to see 3900rpm on a 1/2′′ end mill with aluminum, and this jumps to 9200rpm with a 1/8′′ endmill that I might use for fine profiling.I don't want to talk about engraving.
I decided to buy one of these spindles from IH and build a whole new belt driven mill head around it because it was likely to be a better approach than modifying the gear head.I would be stranded without a working mill for a long time if I took the latter course.Building a separate head requires a box that is rigid and allows me to properly mount the bearings and motor, with a timing belt from one to the other.Dropping the quill would allow me to make everything more rigid and accurate, as well as simpler, since I would no longer have to use a quill.
I have always had a great interest in astronomy, and I read recent articles about the Antikythera Mechanism, which was an ancient orrery or simulator of motions of the heavenly bodies.The machine, which was constructed circa 80 BC, could represent the motions of most heavenly bodies using a clockwork consisting of 37 gears.It seems more interesting than just making a clock.
The only way to cut keyways is to rack the cross slide back and forth by hand.It would be great to have a shaper attachment that fits a QCTP.Evan Williams is designing a pneumatic unit for the purpose.
I ordered a left-handed Veeblefetzer off the web that I think could be used in a shaper attachment.
The round faceplate is being used as a dividing head to allow broaching an internal gear on a Wankel motor project.
A more complex version involves replicating the style of the commercial TP grinder.I'm tempted to work on a spindle.Should I ever decide to make a more ambitious spindle, it would be a good start.
Blanch, my baby Blanchard-style surface grinder, is in need of restoration.
There are different upgrades for the same HF Bender.This time it is using a pipe threader.There are many different ways to use the pipe threader to power a bender.
My all-time favorite project is a tubing bender.A Cal Poly student built a bender from scratch.He is a MechE student and he is doing a cool project.
I wish I could say I was adding this one to my project list, but it looks too ambitious for me at the moment.I might revisit someday when I have more time and experience.I enjoy reading the thread he wrote.
The drill press is useful, but I could use some help.There are a lot of ideas for souping it up.