[walter]

They are working together to make a new kind of telescope mirror, using epoxy instead of glass, which will make the mirrors lighter in weight and cheaper in cost. The mirrors are made by spin-casting the epoxy, which just means spinning it in a dish until the liquid is hard. "Lo and behold, the natural surface of a spun liquid is a parabola, and that's the ideal surface for a telescope mirror," Richardson explained.

Wow, pretty incredible!

Speaking of mirrors...

[Geof]

Wow, pretty incredible!

Speaking of mirrors...

Spinning mirrors....http://www.astro.ubc.ca/LMT/lzt/index.html

Not at all related to the thread but as relevant as some of the puns that have passed in the night(s).

[lgalla]

Walter WOW are those pictures an ESP you poured?Maybe you should get into the Hubble program.If it is your pour,how about an ESP picture of you with the cool glasses?
Here is another bedtime epoxy story from me.The edited version to fit your screen.
Leaving work,start truck,RAT TAT Boom %^&*Exhaust pipe ahead of catylitic gone.Not being a buss person,solution:epoxy,glass cloth ,aluinium powder for heat dissapation.Wrap E/A/G on pipe.Start engine for 5 minutes for rapid cure.Result,no buss for me.3 years later decided maybe time for new pipes.Muffler guys quote"what the hell you got on the pipes"
Larry

[Switcher]

Wow, pretty incredible!

Speaking of mirrors...

Walter,

Nice work!

Did you add any type of dye? How long to cure?




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[walter]

Heh! Larry.. I'd love to see the picture of that muffler. Good story.

I think the total EQ machine without spending a fortune is entirely possible. We need to work out the logistics, mixing, de gassing. There are problems of course but I'm not too concerned. Steel reinforcements will take care of the rigidity..

But..It would be nice to get rid of all the entrapped air. Air gun and hot water will not work on larger pours.

The picture showed my 1/8" ESP pour, I forgot the overflow rule and had to do it again..

Switcher,
The pigment is called carbon black, it floats in the air like a cigarette smoke!



Thick pours went pretty fast (couple hours), the 1/8" seem to take forever.. May take 24h.

I'm totally new to this, making mistakes as usual and having some fun.

[lgalla]

Geof
"Not at all related to the thread but as relevant as some of the puns that have passed in the night(s)."
Reply With Quote
Geof it is related as epoxy has been bashed from whom as I considered the experts to be unbeleivable specs.If one had read in detail the first 20 posts and links in detail we would not be over 800 posts now.The mirror applications only reinforces epoxyies capabilities.I feel singled out as the pun guy,but the puns result from guys not researching the first posts.I have used these materials in an unrelated purpose and have tried to make use in machinery design.I am trying to help without giving out trade seckrets.You wanta cutitup,fine,more puns to follow.Can't take a joke?
L Gallio

[lgalla]

Walter,Walter,Walter,Good to see some sucess.The over fill rule only applies if accuracy is necessary all the way to the ends or the plate,otherwise,say filling a channel frame is OK without over flowing.Keep up the good work.Punless nite for me.I will try to be or not to be serious.
The ESP is flat to .003 the earth is flat to .003 or 8"/mile.
Larry gallio

[walter]

You know.. I think I really needed these 70 pages to get me through this.

The mechanics of a machine frame is one thing, but gluing sand structures is a whole another level of sophistication. The Ratios, Theory of Compaction, all the info contained on these pages is priceless.
You simply cannot build a machine without analyzing it.

I'm extremely grateful to those that participated so far, the discussions opened my eyes to issues that I had never before considered.

I hope you guys will continue to provide your support/expertise. It's simply the beginning of much more to come, and we will need some help.

Thanks for reading.
Cheers!

[Zumba]

Hey Walter, is your 1/8" ESP pure epoxy/carbon black? No aggregate? Very sweet indeed. How hard is the surface after curing?

Also, I noticed these sweet ground bars with 60mm hole spacing drilled and tapped in one of your pics. What material is that? Did you do the grinding yourself? If so, you must have access to pretty big machine...

Thanks for the posts!

[walter]

Thanks!

It's pure 1/8" epoxy, not hard at all. Should be 1/16" I guess...

I removed it from the mold and almost destroyed the surface- it's still wet.

But the bottom looks rock solid (picture coming up).

For those just joining us- here's the video showing Low Viscosity Epoxy in action.

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SLrPuyREO6E"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SLrPuyREO6E" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

btw,
the material with 60mm holes is mic6 cast aluminum. I'm building a Y/X "linear stage" which will be incorporated into a larger system.
.

[brunog]

Walter,

Beautiful work! Nice pictures!

Congratulations

Bruno

[walter]

New pics.

The top is gone (still wet) but the rest is ok.

It's the first of many tests and I will continue to work on this throughout the year. I need another plate, with lower epoxy content, and then maybe a reinforced beam of some sort...Will see.

So far, I'm pleased.

Is it possible to make all EQ machine? Definitely.

Is it possible to get that perfect level for your rails? Absolutely!
.

[walter]

Thanks Bruno!

I appreciate all the help, you guys are awesome.

[romihs]

Walter,

Really good job you did there!

I like the black finish! It beats the clear epoxy look...

Keep up the good work!

Regards

Sandi

[fyffe555]

Just a thought but has any of the movers and shakers in this excellent thread asked Harlow how he's doing it? http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24879

[lgalla]

Walter Good stuff.
Trying to make an ESP from the thin slow 635 will take forever to cure without heat.The 635 is for thick castings.Did you try a heat gun or torch?Acctually the torch is not for heating but for air release.It makes a low pressure area for a second pulling the bubbles.TT epoxy or table top epoxy is much better for the task.Torching of heat gun is a must for an ESP!!!
Even without filler a raw epoxy mix has tons of air you cannot see and if not dealt with will expand and ruin the plate.Mix a small amount and exhale CO2 from your breath.You will see tiny bubbles surfacing.
There is tons of info on Google search table top epoxy.
Larry

[lgalla]

Fyffe555
Check post#63and#85.Help was offered from a small company but did not go any further.
Larry

[walter]

Thanks Sandi. I hope you guys will continue the testing, we have a long way to go..

Larry,
Good info. I'll use that next time.
Time to go back a few hundred posts and read all the de gassing articles.

Cheers!

[speed33317]

Here are pics of my castings

10% Epoxy by volume ratio, granite paver base dust-fines-coarse mix

10% Epoxy by volume ratio, quartz filter sand, clean all fine

Mixture was rammed into mold.

They measure 3.5 X 5 by .750

I will use this to cast my lathe bed. Most likely using the filter sand.

I have ordered the material to build the spindle.

Machined to a A2-4 spindle. With ABEC7 matched bearings, ebay score
ground ball screws , 3phase motor and VFD ,all ebay scores.

Finally going to get use all my ebay parts I couldnt get rid of :-)

I had bid on a Mirac for $4,000 , i think I will end up with much
more machine and probably save $1000 or more off that price
building something myself.

[Switcher]

Have you guys done any destructive test (hammer blows), to see what kind of abuse that stuff can handle?

Also what kinda weight, does it have?


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