The sleeping beauty

Discussion in 'CNC machining projects' started by TRYPHON974, Jul 23, 2020.

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  1. Petee716

    Petee716 Gold Banner Member

    I have a commercial sign shop so I have the good hobby-fortune of a lot of miscellaneous materials and substrates laying around. One of them is a very aggressive 2-sided tape used for hemming banners in lieu of sewing. Bare lumber has to be clamped or screwed but anything smooth including MDF holds fast. I try to keep it out of the toolpath. A tiny part on something like your 1/8" aluminum would be a stretch though. I'd probably leave tabs on it. They came out nice!


    Pete
     
  2. TRYPHON974

    TRYPHON974 Copper

    Years ago I bought a little jointer/planer. A friend borrowed it, when he gave it back, it wasn't running anymore and some parts were missing. I quickly fixed the trouble with the switch, it was then the perfect opportunity to start the cnc and redo a part for the worm screw. I was tweaking the part when he called to say he just found the exact clone of the jointer in a dumpster, no need to fabricate anything, I could simply scavenge parts on this one. That's what I did but I may restore the clone, as you can see in the pictures it is a pretty good shape for a dumped machine ... could be an interesting challenge.
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  3. TRYPHON974

    TRYPHON974 Copper

    I figured making trolley tokens could be a good exercise, it includes pocketing, contouring and engraving. I wanted to test some limits and better understand the chip load/depth of cut etc. for the aluminum. I broke three bits... but sometimes you've to break something to learn something. I found that 0.040" depth, 20"/min and 15000 rpm was a good starting point for a 1/8 one flute bit.
    I made multiple passes and it cut perfectly, the intended diameter was 1.21" and to my surprise I was in half a thousand. To be honest that's the limit of what I can measure with the micrometer I have.
    As for the pocketing, my goal was to get a surface with a good enough finish that it doesn't need sanding. I used a finish pass for the bottom, 0.008" depth, 35"/min but it didn't work. The surface is not wavy and the light tool marks don't bother me but I get some more unaesthetic marks where the tool enters and leaves. I'm working with cambam and mach3,the key seems to use a tangential trajectory but I can't figure how to program it when you've multiple pockets in one run considering that the starting point is crucial. I've to do some more homework :)

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  4. TRYPHON974

    TRYPHON974 Copper

    Do you glue Dibond (plastic against plastic)? I did some test with ca glue and epoxy.CA glue seems to make a light bond, should be OK for light duty charges. Epoxy in the other end was not adhering, maybe a problem of shelf life. Any advice ?
     
  5. Petee716

    Petee716 Gold Banner Member

    I've never tried to glue it. I've never needed to do anything structural with it, I generally just make 2D sign faces with it by either applying vinyl or routing into the face. The core is polyethylene so that might be a starting point to find the best adhesive.
    I don't own any but there are a number of router bits made especially for bending different angles in Di-bond. They are designed to cut a groove with beveled sides at a prescribed depth of cut and a flat bottom of "land" that allows for clearance but maintains reasonable integrity when folded.
    image.jpeg .
    One could produce similar results by using a combination of tools.
    I know that's more than you asked for but this has me thinking about expanding my market...

    Pete
     
  6. TRYPHON974

    TRYPHON974 Copper

    Thanks for the reply, I will take a look at the router bits. I've been given some discarded acm panels and I'm looking for a way to use them.
     
  7. TRYPHON974

    TRYPHON974 Copper

    Engraving aluminum is no challenge for the cnc so I tried steel engraving. It worked. This is a knife I made with a friend years ago, no forging just stock removal. I'd like to step up and machine some steel, I'm sure the CNC is beef enough. The weak link is the spindle IMO, not sure if the bearings could handle that kind of side load. I've watched a lot of Winston Moy's videos, I'm amazed to see how he manages to push the limits of his Shapeoko, truly inspiring. I continue practicing on the trolley tokens theme. The idea was to "emphasize" the marks the bit leaves on the surface.
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  8. TRYPHON974

    TRYPHON974 Copper

    I finished the knife. The blank was processed by stock removal years ago but didn't make it to the end. It's engraved on both sides. Quite happy with the handles, didn't have time to fuss around with a wooden inlay but the bare aluminum was lacking of charm, needed some texture. No riveting, it's glued, less than optimal but my deadline is Thursday , I'll come back later to fix some issues.

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  9. TRYPHON974

    TRYPHON974 Copper

    I've been commissioned to make some butcher blocks out of slabs. The slabs were very rough cut and the clamping was a bit tedious but I managed to get it done. It's pretty satisfactory to see the bit revealing the "inside" of the wood. 1/4" bit , 20 000 rpm, 15 feet/min, 1/8" deep. The slab is 2 feet long.
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  10. Petee716

    Petee716 Gold Banner Member

    I'm anxious to see it cleaned up and rubbed!
     

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