DIVIDING PLATE ..DIY ..Help...!!

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Hi All !
There are many ways to make dividing plate
Thanks for your comments and thanks for sharing !!

I just finished a dividing plate
A 40 and 35 hole plate
The 35 hole plate had 1 hole in the wrong position, I fixed it by pressing a small pin and re-drilling.
On the 40 and 35 plate there are 2 holes from which when changing the position between I can cut the 35 and 70 tooth gear
I will finish it and cut the gear and will inform the result

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I think G-code would be the least to pose a problem. Hand coding the drill program should be straight forward enough.
There are lots of obstacles and challenges more serious than the G-code. :cool:
The goal is to put effectively a center punch equivalent into a steel disk. Then use a drill press and a centering sharpened drill or centering drill followed by a reamer. And I would make sure the motor is well mounted so the cut is repeated.
 
The goal is to put effectively a center punch equivalent into a steel disk. Then use a drill press and a centering sharpened drill or centering drill followed by a reamer. And I would make sure the motor is well mounted so the cut is repeated.
Yes, I assumed that. Drilling 4 or 6 mm plunger holes would possibly not work anyway.
Easy to overestimate the accuracy of those printers. Dividing a distance into a number of steps, does not automatically ensure the steps beeing equal.
In the example, PCB milling of a very simple single sided board, it is sufficient if features are somewhat in the right spot. For through hole components location errors of 0.1 mm will probably never cause any issue.
If a maximum deviation of +-0.1 mm is required over a distance of 150 or 200 mm it is an entire different story.

Even with a small drill quite some pressure is required to drill steel.
A good oportunity for the printer to help the drill to wander, cause deviations. (Worst case the Z-axis of the printer starts loosing steps)



Greetings Timo
 
Yes, I assumed that. Drilling 4 or 6 mm plunger holes would possibly not work anyway.
Easy to overestimate the accuracy of those printers. Dividing a distance into a number of steps, does not automatically ensure the steps beeing equal.
In the example, PCB milling of a very simple single sided board, it is sufficient if features are somewhat in the right spot. For through hole components location errors of 0.1 mm will probably never cause any issue.
If a maximum deviation of +-0.1 mm is required over a distance of 150 or 200 mm it is an entire different story.

Even with a small drill quite some pressure is required to drill steel.
A good oportunity for the printer to help the drill to wander, cause deviations. (Worst case the Z-axis of the printer starts loosing steps)



Greetings Timo
What is the accuracy of home 3D printers? - Quora

Answer: Generally, most modern consumer-grade 3D printers are capable of producing models with an accuracy of around 0.1mm to 0.2mm, which is sufficient for most hobbyist and prototyping purposes.

About steel. I wouldn't use a twist drill but a center drill with a totally different style point. Stiffness is an issue, and the drill tip configuration makes a big difference. Stiffness of the mount for the drill is something the person modifying his printer needs to consider. a belt drive for example over a chuck mounted to a toy DC brush motor would be my choice. or a bushing bearing(s) with the motor just providing torque. Depth of cut need only be what one would expect from a center punch. And a center punch could be use to deepen the one produced by the 3D printer.
 
Yes, I assumed that. Drilling 4 or 6 mm plunger holes would possibly not work anyway.
Easy to overestimate the accuracy of those printers. Dividing a distance into a number of steps, does not automatically ensure the steps beeing equal.
In the example, PCB milling of a very simple single sided board, it is sufficient if features are somewhat in the right spot. For through hole components location errors of 0.1 mm will probably never cause any issue.
If a maximum deviation of +-0.1 mm is required over a distance of 150 or 200 mm it is an entire different story.

Even with a small drill quite some pressure is required to drill steel.
A good oportunity for the printer to help the drill to wander, cause deviations. (Worst case the Z-axis of the printer starts loosing steps)



Greetings Timo
Don't like the drill idea that go with something you can do with a small gage solid copper wire taped to the printing head or better yet clipped to it. Then place the steel disk in a shallow tinfoil pan like for a pie. Obviously some centering feature such as a printed pin or pins.
Electro chemical etch with a small battery charger using salt water to carry the charge between the steel and the tip of the wire. (shaped with a file to be pointy). Since the divot as a center punch is the goal the tip of the wire can not touch the steel but be as close as you dare. The closer the less time and nicer shaped divot. You like do not even need to move the water. Cutting rate, current draw will decrease with the gap between the copper and the steel. The shape will favor an equal gap.
 

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Don't like the drill idea that go with something you can do with a small gage solid copper wire taped to the printing head or better yet clipped to it. Then place the steel disk in a shallow tinfoil pan like for a pie. Obviously some centering feature such as a printed pin or pins.
Electro chemical etch with a small battery charger using salt water to carry the charge between the steel and the tip of the wire. (shaped with a file to be pointy). Since the divot as a center punch is the goal the tip of the wire can not touch the steel but be as close as you dare. The closer the less time and nicer shaped divot. You like do not even need to move the water. Cutting rate, current draw will decrease with
I think there is no point in trying to abuse a cheap stock 3d printer mechanic for any precision machining. (of any type). That is why I will not engage in these kind of experiments for sure. :cool:
( I admit I was foolish enough to try; in hindsight a total waste of time :) (besides some lessons learned) )
I remain skeptical. If we both agree on the 0.1 mm positioning accuracy, then we are on the same page concering the positioning.
When on a shoe string budget 3d printer style electronics can be probably a good starting point.
It starts from 14$ with a cheap GRBL controller.

Greetings Timo
 
I think there is no point in trying to abuse a cheap stock 3d printer mechanic for any precision machining. (of any type). That is why I will not engage in these kind of experiments for sure. :cool:
( I admit I was foolish enough to try; in hindsight a total waste of time :) (besides some lessons learned) )
I remain skeptical. If we both agree on the 0.1 mm positioning accuracy, then we are on the same page concering the positioning.
When on a shoe string budget 3d printer style electronics can be probably a good starting point.
It starts from 14$ with a cheap GRBL controller.

Greetings Timo
One simple test if you have one plate already. Use the 3D printer to make a duplicate. We do know that holes are smaller because the plastic has some width and spreads out but if it is uniform around a hole then a drill will ream the hole to the correct dimension. This is a common practice. Dowel pins can be used to check actuary.
 
One simple test if you have one plate already. Use the 3D printer to make a duplicate. We do know that holes are smaller because the plastic has some width and spreads out but if it is uniform around a hole then a drill will ream the hole to the correct dimension. This is a common practice. Dowel pins can be used to check actuary.
The Greeks craftsmen created accurate patterns of holes with the simple use of a protractor. We have trigonometry calculators. Do you have a flat parking lot like a a church that isn't used for a few days. distance between two marks is twice the radius time the sine of half the angle. (180 / number) Calculator will provide a number. Now put the disk with a scribed circle at the center of the circle to be drawn on the surface and set a protractor to that distance. Complete a circle of protractor curves crossing the circle. Divide the error by the number of points. and adjust the protractor. Pick a new color and repeat. You can use a string pulled tight or a stick. So a 2 inch radius on the disk and a 3 ft radius increases the accuracy by 0.0555. A 3 yard radius by 0.0185, and a 6 yard radius by 0.00926. Bigger the better. So a mark on the pavement accuracy of 0.03 1/32 using a pencil protractor is possible. Drafting protractor would cut that in half. Same is true for the circle. The finer the circle the better. Rub out the marks on the pavement and start over with the next set of holes.
 
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