Jacobs Ladder---

[Harold Lee]

I can hardly wait Brian..... You've got the clamps on.... fire it up already!!!!

Harold

 

[Brian Rupnow]

i know it is too late now but you should try a roughing end mill, you would have been able to cut that slot in 2 passes.

i tried a roughing end mill for the first time about a month ago and man oh man do they cut
i had a 1/2" roughing end mill in my mill and took a cut .250" deep (in aluminum), the cutter was spinning 1800 rpm's and
as fast as i could crank the work into the cutter it just kept cutting.
the swarf was just flying.

just a thought.............all be it a late thought

chuck

Chuck---I don't think my little BusyBee mill has enough power to run a roughing cutter.

 

[chuck foster]

brian you will be surprised how well a smaller mill will handle a roughing cutter, i only have a sieg sx3 and it is just a small bench top mill.

this is the supplier i use for end mill's http://accusizetools.ca/
the 1/2" cutter i used is only $10.00

give it a try and i think you will be surprised how well they work in aluminum..................i have not tried one in steel yet.

chuck

 

[Brian Rupnow]

YES!!!! Old age and treachery triumph once again!!!! The balls go up, the balls roll down, all that remains to be done is a good video. Just when I thought I was all finished, the balls proceeded to roll down the ramp so damned fast that they "Jumped the track" at the bottom curve just like the freight train in the old movies. However, a bit of a retaining wall on the bottom curve, and all was well.----Video to foollow----After I've had my afternoon nap.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Well, there we have it guys. Another succesful, totally useless peice of mechanical wizardry. Its not terribly difficult to build, but it certainly does have "eye appeal" when operating. If anyone decides they would like to build one of these to run with an Elmer Verbourg sized engine, I recomend building it at 1/2 the scale of the drawings I posted. Did I learn anything new when building this?---Well, yes, I learned how difficult it must be for model train builders to build the links that run between wheels on the engine and get them to operate without binding and locking up. I learned that no matter how many times you clamp a ball track in place and roll balls down it to establish the correct angle, it can still surprise you after all the holes are tapped and things are bolted, not clamped into place. In hind sight, I think perhaps it would have worked better with steel balls instead of wooden balls, but the fact that it works as well as it does pleases me. Thanks guys, for looking and following my thread, and for your positive comments. Happy New Year-----Brian

 

[lee9966]

Looks good and works good, congratulations! My favorite part is the fact that it does nothing but look interesting.

Lee

 

[AussieJimG]

A great machine and much more difficult to make than I thought it would be when you first proposed it. It is a tribute to your imagination, ingenuity and persistence.

Thanks for the ride Brian and Happy 2012

Jim

 

[Ken I]

Well done - I'm a great fan of interesting things with no real purpose - like my head - a mine of useless information.

Ken

 

[archer3d]

An excellent job well done Brian. Your persistence to work through a project is admirable. thank you

archer3d

 

[Brian Rupnow]

Nothing new on the machinery itself, but I have been playing with my cameara today, to see why I get such beautiful still shots but such marginal results with videos. Finally resorted to "Restore Defaults" because it yielded such great results when I bought it new. This seems to have greatly improved the video function, so I may well have unknowingly changed a setting on the camera at some point while using it. At any rate, here is a much clearer video.----Brian

 

[swilliams]

Very nice Brian. I enjoyed seeing a project that went off the beaten track

Steve