[QuinnSjoblom]

Aluminum angle is often not very square, so you should check it.

ok, thanks. Ill check it out. Anywhere im using a bracket, there is also a gusset laying across the 2 perpendicular pieces of the extrude, so squareness will be adjusted by the gusset when its bolted on, then i will bolt the bracket on afterwards. If needed i will give some adjustment to the bracket by clamping and bending it to get it perfectly square. Hopefully its at least close to begin with.

Im still trying to work out the best method for fixing my mdf patterns to the aluminum plate for flush trimming. In many cases, i can bolt the mdf pattern to the aluminum using holes in the part, but some of my parts have no holes in them and i would prefer to not add holes just for the purpose of attaching the pattern. What would be another good way to attach the pattern to the plate? Only thing i can think of is contact cement, then pry the pattern off and clean the aluminum with acetone. Have you ever tried it that way? Even the parts with bolt holes will be tricky using bolts. I will have to counter bore the pattern to allow the bolt head to sit flush and not interfere with the routerbase/table. Any other ideas for fixing pattern to plate?

[louieatienza]

ok, thanks. Ill check it out. Anywhere im using a bracket, there is also a gusset laying across the 2 perpendicular pieces of the extrude, so squareness will be adjusted by the gusset when its bolted on, then i will bolt the bracket on afterwards. If needed i will give some adjustment to the bracket by clamping and bending it to get it perfectly square. Hopefully its at least close to begin with.

Im still trying to work out the best method for fixing my mdf patterns to the aluminum plate for flush trimming. In many cases, i can bolt the mdf pattern to the aluminum using holes in the part, but some of my parts have no holes in them and i would prefer to not add holes just for the purpose of attaching the pattern. What would be another good way to attach the pattern to the plate? Only thing i can think of is contact cement, then pry the pattern off and clean the aluminum with acetone. Have you ever tried it that way? Even the parts with bolt holes will be tricky using bolts. I will have to counter bore the pattern to allow the bolt head to sit flush and not interfere with the routerbase/table. Any other ideas for fixing pattern to plate?

I can't think for the life of me what part you can possibly have on the machine that has absolutely no holes of any kind?! Many times, you can clamp one side while you're flush trimming the other, then move the clamps one by one. You need 3 clamps to do this without moving the pattern.

This is another reason why you'd want to use a pattern bit with the bearing on top, not a flush trim bit with the bearing on the bottom, regardless of whether you freehand cut or mount on a table. With the pattern bit, the work is below the template if handheld, or above the template if table mounted. The bolts aren't in the way, as long as they don't protrude the pattern. With the flush trim bit, you're riding on the work, where the bolts are. You don't need bolts; sheet rock screws and washers will hold the parts well enough.

[QuinnSjoblom]

I can't think for the life of me what part you can possibly have on the machine that has absolutely no holes of any kind?! Many times, you can clamp one side while you're flush trimming the other, then move the clamps one by one. You need 3 clamps to do this without moving the pattern.

This is another reason why you'd want to use a pattern bit with the bearing on top, not a flush trim bit with the bearing on the bottom, regardless of whether you freehand cut or mount on a table. With the pattern bit, the work is below the template if handheld, or above the template if table mounted. The bolts aren't in the way, as long as they don't protrude the pattern. With the flush trim bit, you're riding on the work, where the bolts are. You don't need bolts; sheet rock screws and washers will hold the parts well enough.

My templates will also have the holes drilled in them on the cnc so i can chase through them to position the holes on the part, so anywhere there's a hole in the aluminum, there's also a hole in the template, so screwing into the template with drywall screws doesnt work. The plan is to start with drilling the holes (through template into aluminum), then use nuts and bolts to secure template to part with counter bored holes in template for bolt to sit down flush. I will be using a top bearing pattern bit with the router or router table on the template face, but it doesnt eliminate the need for setting bolts down below flush. I guess i could leave some of the holes out of the template so i could secure it with screws through the aluminum, but i would have to start by hand measuring and drilling those holes in the aluminum without the template. As for the parts without holes, theres only a couple. They have holes drilled and tapped into the edge to be bolted perpendicular in between 2 plates and have a large hole through the middle for the ballscrew to pass through. Also too small to clamp one side at a time. Ill experiment with the contact cement to see if it holds well enough. Its not the crappy 3m kind or roll on, its high quality stuff we buy in large tanks to use with a spray gun. Holds pretty well. Ive used it in the past for securing 2 aluminum parts together for chasing holes through.

[ger21]

Hot glue is another option.

[wizard]

Taking proper care is key to using power tools with metal. For example i have used a router in conjunction with metal burrs to square up or machine to a line steel tubing. Frankly using a router in conjunction with a fence feels safer than trying to hand hold a die grinder. Using such tools to work precisely to a layput line makes it possible for a lowend shop to do high quality work.

Have you guys ever used hand held routers to cut aluminum? It sounds a bit precarious to me. Just saying. Not saying it's safe or unsafe, but it's something I would be way more concerned about than what kind of saw blade is used in a chop saw.

I don't think what I suggested is unsafe, even if not the best blade to use. I have only lost teeth (from the blade, not mine) once, and as I said, this was because the piece came loose while it was being cut. Probably because I was trying to cut something too narrow, and as such didn't have it clamped down and wasn't able to hang onto it. So yeah, that was a mistake I made, and I recommend to others not to do that. Safety glasses are a good idea for any work with power tools. There is a greater risk of accidentally chopping a finger off than to be hit with flying teeth when cutting aluminum in my opinion. But if buying a new blade specifically for cutting aluminum, then your advice is definitely valid.

Standard legal disclaimer: I don't recommend following my example and will in no way be held liable, for negligence, bad advice, gross negligence, or by any other method of legal reasoning.

There, now I'M safe, even if the OP isn't.

[louieatienza]

My templates will also have the holes drilled in them on the cnc so i can chase through them to position the holes on the part, so anywhere there's a hole in the aluminum, there's also a hole in the template, so screwing into the template with drywall screws doesnt work. The plan is to start with drilling the holes (through template into aluminum), then use nuts and bolts to secure template to part with counter bored holes in template for bolt to sit down flush. I will be using a top bearing pattern bit with the router or router table on the template face, but it doesnt eliminate the need for setting bolts down below flush. I guess i could leave some of the holes out of the template so i could secure it with screws through the aluminum, but i would have to start by hand measuring and drilling those holes in the aluminum without the template. As for the parts without holes, theres only a couple. They have holes drilled and tapped into the edge to be bolted perpendicular in between 2 plates and have a large hole through the middle for the ballscrew to pass through. Also too small to clamp one side at a time. Ill experiment with the contact cement to see if it holds well enough. Its not the crappy 3m kind or roll on, its high quality stuff we buy in large tanks to use with a spray gun. Holds pretty well. Ive used it in the past for securing 2 aluminum parts together for chasing holes through.

You can just make an extra template, with the holes large enough to clear the bolt heads... Or you can just countersink the holes and use flat head machine screws; you can get them in inch or metric.

[QuinnSjoblom]

Hot glue is another option.

good idea. ill try that too. A lot less mess and clean up afterwards vs contact cement.

[ger21]

My templates will also have the holes drilled in them on the cnc so i can chase through them to position the holes on the part, so anywhere there's a hole in the aluminum, there's also a hole in the template, so screwing into the template with drywall screws doesnt work.

What I'd probably do, is clamp the template to the plate, and drill two holes through them both. Then tap the aluminum, and bolt the template from the top. I prefer a bottom bearing bit, in a router mounted in a table. I like to think bottom bearing bits are a lot safer. Some parts of my machine are baltic birch plywood bonded to aluminum, and I'll trim the aluminum flush this way.

[QuinnSjoblom]

What I'd probably do, is clamp the template to the plate, and drill two holes through them both. Then tap the aluminum, and bolt the template from the top. I prefer a bottom bearing bit, in a router mounted in a table. I like to think bottom bearing bits are a lot safer. Some parts of my machine are baltic birch plywood bonded to aluminum, and I'll trim the aluminum flush this way.

That would work too. I would just have to start with smaller tapped holes in the aluminum that would later get drilled out to their larger final size. Multiple templates is also an option like mentioned earlier. We can zip out a full 4x8 sheet full of templates pretty quick and mdf is cheap so no problem there. I can start with just a profile template with at least 2 holes in to bolt to tapped holes in the plate, then have a second template with all final hole sizes to chase through.

I think I'm gonna order my machine specific laptop today. Is there a preferred operating system for uccnc with uc100? Also 32 vs 64 bit? I see a lot of windows 7 laptops for about 200 bucks so was just gonna order one of those unless another version of windows is prefered.

[ger21]

Windows 7 x64 should be fine. I don't see any reason to run a 32 bit OS any more. Windows 10 is fine as well.

[QuinnSjoblom]

Received my 1/2 aluminum plate. 3 pieces 12x20. Very good thickness tolerance throughout and perfectly flat along length, but a slight bow in width. About a half mm across 12". For most of my parts it won't matter since it will easily pull flat when bolting to extrude, but still would rather try and flatten it. I've tried laying 2 plates together with them bowing outwards from each other with a 1/2" x 2" strip of mdf in the center and clamping outside edges together which puts a quarter inch bow along the 12" in each piece, but it springs right back when letting off. If I keep going progressively thicker with the spacer in between, will I eventually get results? Like I said, it won't matter for most of my parts, but I at least need a nice flat y plate. If straightening won't work, I'll just have to fork out for tooling plate or something for that one piece.

So will my method eventually flatten it if I keep bending it more and more? Should I try adding heat? Leaving it for longer period? Any other methods?

[ger21]

I think at some point you'll get a bend in it, but you'll never get it flat.

[QuinnSjoblom]

I think at some point you'll get a bend in it, but you'll never get it flat.

Ok, I'll keep experimenting but will most likely buy a chunk of nicer plate just for that one piece. I'm a bit short on aluminum anyway after changing my inner gussets from 1/4 to 1/2 anyway. Y plate is 10" X 16" so shouldn't be too ridiculous for a chunk that size. I'm also considering going up to 3/4" for that piece.

[QuinnSjoblom]

Tried out my 20 dollar non ferrous blade. I'm debating not even using a flush trim. Amazingly clean cut for a 20 dollar blade. Cut a lot easier than some woods I work with

[QuinnSjoblom]

Received the extrude and 1/4" plate. Very impressed with the extrude. Better than I had hoped for. Laying Any 2 of my 1000mm pieces together, there's only a couple instances where I can barely slip a sheet of paper in between. I would say maximum 5 thousandths flatness tolerance. Profile dimensions are all within a few hundredths of a mm. Cuts are all very nice and square.

My 1/4" plate came much flatter than my 1/2". Should work really nice as the foundation for linear rails.

Gerry was right about the aluminum angle. Some of it is square, some isnt. So ill start by using the square portions and then try to tweak the rest, possibly use shims here and there if needed, but like I mentioned before, squareness of my assemblies will rely on gussets when bolting everything together. Adding corner bracket afterwards definitely wouldn't pull it out of square.

[NIC 77]

Tried out my 20 dollar non ferrous blade. I'm debating not even using a flush trim. Amazingly clean cut for a 20 dollar blade. Cut a lot easier than some woods I work with

Hmmm, perhaps I should get one. The finish I get is not very good, but I do clean it up on my mill.

[QuinnSjoblom]

Hmmm, perhaps I should get one. The finish I get is not very good, but I do clean it up on my mill.

Found it on ebay. Brand is tomax.

[QuinnSjoblom]

Cut out the first part. The process of rough cutting oversized and flush trimming with the template worked beautifully. Surface finish on the edges looks awesome. Very accurate nice looking parts. Hoping to have most of my parts done this weekend and bolt the main structure together.

[louieatienza]

Cut out the first part. The process of rough cutting oversized and flush trimming with the template worked beautifully. Surface finish on the edges looks awesome. Very accurate nice looking parts. Hoping to have most of my parts done this weekend and bolt the main structure together.

PICS PICS PICS

[QuinnSjoblom]

PICS PICS PICS

kind of surprised the mdf template is holding up. totally covered in wd40 and oil, but not swelling at all or falling apart. The second part came out identical to the first even after the template got a good soaking on the edge. Stacking the 2 parts together, they are perfectly flush to each other. I have a bunch of other parts rough cut as well. Should have a good portion done tomorrow.