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  1. #81
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    New Drag Knife!

    I freed up a couple hours today to build a drag knife. Made from scrap around the shop, it sure beats the price tag on the commercial version. Special thanks to Brian Oltrogge at Grunblau Design Studio for the dxf geometry. Finally I can slot cardboard tubing without making fuzz. My router won't go high enough with my fourth axis fixture on top of the table to use it though. I'm going to have to come up with a custom holder for it that attaches to the router mount.

    Almost forgot to mention.....New Z works way better than the old one. It went though the aluminum like a hot knife through butter, no vibration except slight on the ramp downs on the holding tabs. I suspect some of that is normal with a single flute bit.
    Attachment 248104Attachment 248106Attachment 248124

  2. #82
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    499

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    Very nice knife, Dev! How does the blade holder fit into the shaft? Are there plans or a thread somewhere with the details?

    Haven't used one of these, but it has the wheels turning...

    What are the limits on right or acute angles on thin material? Is adhesive needed?
    "72.6 per cent of all statistics are made up on the spot." - Steven Wright

  3. #83
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    Quote Originally Posted by revwarguy View Post
    Very nice knife, Dev! How does the blade holder fit into the shaft? Are there plans or a thread somewhere with the details?
    Thanks!

    I probably should have showed the parts before assembly. The blade holder has a step cut into it to give a shoulder on one side. The part it fits into is a circular plate with a rectangular pocket with slight offset from center. The blade holder is then a tight press fit into the plate. The plate is then press fit into the delrin cylinder and smalley spring ring is installed into a snap ring groove to hold it captive. That all gets assembled last after the bearings are in. On this version, the blade section is fixed, and the post is the rotating part.

    The bearings are just skate bearings, one pressed in from the top, the other from the bottom with an internal boss in between to keep them from touching. Then I use a 5/16" carriage bolt with the dome head turned off leaving only the small square section. Slid in from the bottom and screw the post on with a bit of lock tight.

    I may make another where the excess straight section on the top part of the blade holder is omitted making the whole thing shorter. The overall length of this thing is a deal breaker with my fourth axis height. With my new blockhead router mount though, I think I can just slide the router up a bit. One unforseen benefit to going with a mount that supports the full bore of the router over just a couple of rings.

    The thread I used for inspiration for this was here: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...build-log.html but you'll have to go near the end of the thread to find it.

  4. #84
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    I made some big knurled knobs for the blockhead router clamp. No more wrench needed. Kinda crazy looking. Noticing that when you need a wood machine to be rigid enough for machining metal, it starts looking bulky in sort of a cool way. The oversize knobs add to that effect. I have a feeling that my next wood machine build will look very interesting. These upgrades are a test bed for my next machine.
    Attachment 248320Attachment 248322

  5. #85
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    Quote Originally Posted by revwarguy View Post
    What are the limits on right or acute angles on thin material? Is adhesive needed?
    That has to do with the thickness of the material and the blade offset used. If you use a smaller blade offset and do thin material 1/16" radius should be possible. Thicker material and larger blade offset would be ~ 1/8" radius. The blade offset is determined by you when you do the CAD file. The tip of the blade is not on the centerline to allow for material thickness, so you can tailor that for whatever you need. I'm going to make two of these, one for thick and one for thin material. I'll take photos next time.

    Not sure what you mean by adhesive....Like for work holding, or assembly of drag knife?

  6. #86
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    A few people requested close up photos of my X gantry bearing mounts. These replace the bent aluminum flat bar that is not strong enough to hold the gantry to the rails. Note that I had to clearance them slightly to not rub on the rail. Also, these are cut at 45 degree angle, if I were to do them again I would use 30 degrees.

    Attachment 250196Attachment 250198

  7. #87
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    71

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    Very nice work! What did you use for the end plates on you gantry?
    Mike Kearns
    noveltysigncarver.com

  8. #88
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    The end plates are 1/4" steel plate. They attach to the gantry beam with 3/8" bolts. The gantry beam has knife edge thread inserts in the ends of the beam to accept the bolts. You can really crank them down tight.

  9. #89
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Milling steel

    Milled some steel on the Solsylva today. Materials for another pipe based machine. Went just fine, no issues. Learned to use pockets on the pipe mounting holes so I can align everything after it is loosely bolted together.

  10. #90
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    Made some parts for a customers space shot project on the Solsylva. The motor tube is 6" diameter. Motor is "Q" class.

  11. #91
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Posts
    88

    Re: New Drag Knife!

    Can you share the plans with this for me!?! Using drag knifes is one of the main reasons i wanted to build a cnc machine

  12. #92
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: New Drag Knife!

    Quote Originally Posted by jlowe1224 View Post
    Can you share the plans with this for me!?! Using drag knifes is one of the main reasons i wanted to build a cnc machine
    I don't have plans, Brian Oltrogge at Grunblau Design Studio shared his dxf geometry for the blade holder part and I just winged the rest with the materials I had on hand. You would need a CNC that can machine aluminum and a metal lathe to build my version. Brian's version can be built without the lathe.

    I think Brian's version is shown in his Grunblau Platform machine thread.

  13. #93
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Guitar Pedal Progress

    I figured I'd update this thread with an update on my guitar pedal machined on the Solsylva. Prototype is fully functional, I have two patents pending on it. Sound samples available here: https://soundcloud.com/mass-flux-instruments

    For anybody interested in updates, here's the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/massflux?fref=ts

  14. #94
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Posts
    1316

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    Those holes in the steel look good.

    What bits were used to mill the steel?

    What rpm on the router?

    Jason

  15. #95
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    For the steel, I just used a 1/4" four flute bit I got from McMaster about ten years ago. IIRC I used 12,000 RPM I tried to look it up in my tool database but it wasn't in there, then I remembered "winging it". On something like that I adjust the speed and feed based on how it behaves.

  16. #96

    Re: Broken Stepper Shaft :(

    Ouch, I have had lots of questionable engineering (if you can call it that) on the machines I build and I have never broke a stepper shaft. I use solid couplers (diy and purchased) but have considered using belts and pulleys to help with alignment issues. It is always something...

  17. #97
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: Broken Stepper Shaft :(

    Quote Originally Posted by grumpygeek View Post
    Ouch, I have had lots of questionable engineering (if you can call it that) on the machines I build and I have never broke a stepper shaft. I use solid couplers (diy and purchased) but have considered using belts and pulleys to help with alignment issues. It is always something...
    In retrospect, it was my fault because of a modification I made to get everything to line up correctly. I used a extension on the stepper shaft to extend the pulley so it would line up better, but I didn't use an extra bearing to support it. So when I tensioned the belt, it put a lot of axial loading on the shaft because of the longer lever. No problems with the new setup.

  18. #98
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    499

    Re: Guitar Pedal Progress

    Wow, Dev - the control goes from 5 to 16! Is that like Spinal Tap's amp going up to 11?


    Just kidding - it looks like a very nice job - how long does the job take - you using any fluid on it while cutting? How is the lettering done?
    "72.6 per cent of all statistics are made up on the spot." - Steven Wright

  19. #99
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: Guitar Pedal Progress

    Quote Originally Posted by revwarguy View Post
    Wow, Dev - the control goes from 5 to 16! Is that like Spinal Tap's amp going up to 11?


    Just kidding - it looks like a very nice job - how long deos the job take - you using any fluid on it while cutting? How is the lettering done?
    Thanks for the comments!

    It takes about one hour to do the engraving, much less than that to do the hole milling and profiling. I do it in two operations, mill it from the sheet, clean it up, then fixture it for the engraving. The fixture is just a piece of MDF that is pocketed for the sheet with a hole in the middle of it. The fixture has a copper pipe embedded for the auto zero function.

    The engraving is all done with the same bit for the whole job, just a $4.00 30 degree bit from drillman1 30 Degree Bits for Scoring or Engraving Sharp Point Narrow Tip Kyocera Tycom | eBay

    Just choosing different DOC's when you set up your file gives different effect. I did the lettering by setting the toolpaths to profile right on the lines rather than using an automatic carve algorithm.

    For cutting fluid, I just use isopropyl alcohol. If you haven't tried that, you are missing out. Amazing.

  20. #100
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    817

    Re: Devastator's Ongoing Solsylva Build

    I got a deal on a NEMA 17 harmonic drive because it was attached to a servo that the rear housing was broken and the encoder was smashed. I replaced the servo with a stepper and fit it to my caveman 4th axis. My 4th axis is single purpose. The sole use is to slot cardboard, fiberglass, and carbon fiber tubing.

    These harmonic drives are so smooth! I was concerned about the small size of NEMA 17, but with the harmonic drive on it, it has gobs of torque. I was looking for another one just now on ebay and realized how expensive they usually are. I got this one for $50. Just got lucky I guess.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails harmonic.jpg  

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