Setting up Shop Questions - from an NZ learner

[joco-nz]

Some more trial and error and a much improved design. Still some improvements to make but definitely getting there. I have some 5mm felt to use as the soft part of the wiper. You might see (they are hard to spot in this photo) the small holes on the key faces. They are for M3 screws to hold the clamps for the felt pads.

 

[joco-nz]

After a range of prototypes and mucking about with printer heating problems I have a working print for ways wipers on the AL320G. A bit of felt cut to size, clamped in place and oiled up and it seems to work well. Unfortunately I didnt have any black filament, so its GREEN Jimmy! You might well ask, why make this? Did you really need it? Well [a] cose I could and cose I could. :thumbup:

I little more refinement on the V cutout (it could do with moving 0.5mm to 0.8mm to the left) could be done but its not critical at the moment.

 

[Roboguy]

Nice work James!

 

[RonGinger]

Why not put the felt between the first bracket and the lathe bed? That would eliminate the square blocks and the screws.

It is nice to see 3D printing used to make a useful part.

 

[joco-nz]

Why not put the felt between the first bracket and the lathe bed? That would eliminate the square blocks and the screws.

It is nice to see 3D printing used to make a useful part.

That is a possibility and worth considering. The main drawback is if I need to remove the holder to put the following-steady in place (thats the mounting holes used by this bracket) I would have to then reposition the felt. This design has it a little more self contained. Not sure yet how often i wil need to affix said steady.

If the steady is going to get a lot of use then I will need to revisit this deaign. A key design goal was to avoid drilling into the saddle.

Cheers,
J.

 

[joco-nz]

The next stage in the workshop setup is underway, fabrication of a stand for my BF20L mill/drill unit. The plan is still a little fluid as I grabble with balancing getting a rigid design while trying to maximise floor space usage.

#1: the plans, but another variation is already being pondered where I revert to spans around the lower legs and reduce the angle bracing at the top and accept I can't store the band saw under the table but get more rigid legs as a result.


#2: All the steel parts that are not up for revision (basically the legs and top) cleaned and cut ready for welding


#3: The main runners of the top with the ends capped. Not a bad effort if I do say so myself 8) They almost look bought.


More pics as I progress with the build and refine the design.

Cheers,
J.

 

[rodw]

If it helps, my bandsaw sits beside the mill and the mill table travels over it. Just an idea.

 

[joco-nz]

If it helps, my bandsaw sits beside the mill and the mill table travels over it. Just an idea.

So having the legs on my design closer in with some overhang of the table?
You have a pic hanging around of what you mean Rod?

I did have a variant where the legs basically formed 500mm sided square with around 250mm overhand each side.



J.

 

[joco-nz]

Carrying on with the mill stand build ...

Got the top all tacked then welded and the legs all tacked into place. Starting to look like a stand now.

Centre supports for the mill to sit on all lined up and clamped in place.


Centres welded and ready tack up legs


Legs positioned and tacked in place.

 

[joco-nz]

Fully welded the legs up this morning and put the work on the ground this ... heck it LOOKS like a table/stand thing. :thumbup:

Next is doing the height adjustable feet. I might keep this approach a little simpler and easier than the lathe stand since it doesn't have so much weight on it (100KG less).

I'm still on the fence re the best way to brace the lets. Oh well, will have to make a decision today/tomorrow so I can get this finished. Well finished enough that I know need to the sheet metal for drip tray to complete things.

 

[joco-nz]

Worked on the Mill Stand's feet today using a variation of the approach used for the lathe stand.

Things went pretty well I think.

initial blanks


Nut welded in place and then later used as a tapping guide.


Tapped all the way through into the 6mm mounting plate.


Placed and ready for welding.


Example of the final feet. Not the best welding but it will hold enough for the forces in play.

 

[rodw]

There is no need to tap the plate as well when welding on a nut. The nut is engineered to hold what the bolt will hold. Rule of thumb is the thread does not need to be any thicker than the bolt diameter but in practice, 3 threads of engagement is all you need. Also consider this when tapping blind holes. Going deeper than required just risks breaking a tap.

 

[joco-nz]

There is no need to tap the plate as well when welding on a nut. The nut is engineered to hold what the bolt will hold. Rule of thumb is the thread does not need to be any thicker than the bolt diameter but in practice, 3 threads of engagement is all you need. Also consider this when tapping blind holes. Going deeper than required just risks breaking a tap.

Yeah I know. But I was having a bit of fun playing with the taps. :hDe:

 

[joco-nz]

So I have a nice bundle of ER32 collets, 20 in all but having them in their individual boxes is a bit fiddly. So after looking at the online costs for wooden trays which only held 18 units I thought about this 3d printer sitting there and crying out to be used. Hmmm ... little trays of 4 Collets, 5 of them and I have my 20 collets covered. I can also arrange them in my draws to suit better than a big single long one ala the wooden ones being sold.
First order of business was to mock up a design for a single collet and them move from there.

A hacked up version with minimal infill and high speed printing just to get it off the print bed fast. Visual inspection looked promising.


And it fits. Perhaps not as high as I would like, so next version will be 5mm taller which will hold a little more of the collet body while still having a good amount to grab a hold of. Got to love the ability to model and modify this sort of thing until you are completely happy with the result. :thumbup:
Then its on to making a version for holding four and mass producing a few of them.

 

[rodw]

Now try adding a keyway on the sides so you can clip them together. That would be very cool

 

[joco-nz]

Now try adding a keyway on the sides so you can clip them together. That would be very cool

Interesting idea Rod. I'll have a play with that.

 

[joco-nz]

I seem to have temporarily won my battle with my printer and managed to get a four collet tray printed. This took FOREVER to print as I put the fill density at 30%. :wall:

What an idiot, way more plastic than needed and way more print time than should have been necessary. oh:

However it workout pretty well and is SOLID. Some tweaks I did to account for extrusion variation and a better angle for the collet taper seems to have worked well resulting in a good fit.

See attached pic. It's very ORANGE. Not going to lose this tray in a hurry. ;D

 

[bazmak]

A simple male dovetail on 2 sides and female on 2 sides
will allow them all to interlock.Perhaps mould any
future ones.Is there enough meat to machine the ones you have made
If you look to the horizon how far can you go with a modular tool
holding system ? Drills ,collets reamers end mills etc add infinitum
Perhaps a wooden frame fixed to a wall on an angle etc,etc etc

 

[Roboguy]

Very professional looking James!

 

[joco-nz]

A couple more pics. I'm still doing simple trays as they are designed to live inside drawers and as the drawers have a rubber lining I really don't need to link the blocks together as friction is more than enough to stop them moving about.

Shows the general concept in the drawer.


Shows a 6 collet version.


The plan is to have 2 lots of 4 blocks and 2 six blocks (in orange). This gives me storage for the 20 metric collets I have. The single "purple" 4 block will be used for a few imperial collets I plan to get.

Cheers,
James.