Werowance builds a webster

[werowance]

Last night I got the 3 pieces glued together and with just a little sanding here and there it fit well in the bottom of the can. so with that success I went back in and started the print of the identicle top plate pieces. I hope get it sanded and glued together tonight and will then use it as a template to cut a piece of sheet aluminum to make "skin" for the top. I used to have some really cool on / off swtiches. kinda like the ones you used to see on scify movies with the flip of cover and the red light on them. I hope I can find one would look good as the on of switch for this.

 

[werowance]

some more progress on the insert for the ignition can. the aluminum skin is rough right now but I will try to polish it more. it was scrap and looked like it had been drug down a gravel road for 5 miles then thrown in the back of a construction truck and hauled around for 5 years before I got it.

I also ran out of filament - or at least the chip says I am out even though there is at least 50 feet or more on the roll, but it wont let me use it. wonder if I can use it as weedeater string? anyway I cant print the stilts or legs for the 2 inserts and I ordered more filament last week but wont get it for at least 2 more weeks so I think I will pick up some wood dowels and just cut them to length and center drill a pilot hole for the screws.

 

[awake]

I have to say, I am not impressed with this chip-limited-filament thing. It would be one thing if it were a Stratysys - then you're in Ferrari territory and expect to pay accordingly for parts. But a Davinci?? A nice enough printer, but nothing out of the ordinary in terms of features, and as you say, the jr. is quite small. And on top of that proprietary filament AND software (IIRC), so you have no flexibility to choose or tune.

CFLBob, I find that I use my 3d printer quite a lot, for a wide variety of things. The Creality's are generally seen as very good value for the money. OTOH, if you like building things, it is not at all hard to build one, and someone who can make a model ic engine can definitely make a 3d printer that will perform extremely well. A lot of the freely available plans on the internet are based on having access to a 3d printer to make parts for the printer - this is the "reprap" philosophy, after all - but I decided to go a different direction and see if I could make a well-functioning printer solely from wood, with no 3d printed parts. Below is a model showing most of the parts - apparently I don't have any pictures with me, but can take one this evening if there is any interest. Total cost to build was around $150.

 

[CFLBob]

CFLBob, I find that I use my 3d printer quite a lot, for a wide variety of things. The Creality's are generally seen as very good value for the money. OTOH, if you like building things, it is not at all hard to build one, and someone who can make a model ic engine can definitely make a 3d printer that will perform extremely well.

I've been thinking about making one for a while. I CNC converted my Grizzly and Sherline milling machines, and added the motors and electronics to a CNC-ready Sherline lathe so I've done similar stuff. I've looked at the Reprap sites and thought it really doesn't look too hard. That's when a guy I was talking with said, "you can by the Creality Ender 3 and have a printer cheaper than you can buy good parts for." I see today they're asking $232 for the printer and two spools of filament. That does lower the bar pretty close to what I could do it for.

 

[awake]

Yes, you won't actually save much by making one yourself, unless you just happen to have some of the parts lying around. Costliest items were the stepper motors and the linear rods, as I recall. The $150 I quoted above depended on using "eBay specials" - and waiting for the subsequent shipping from the far east. I did include some "extras" that were not strictly necessary, such as a "full graphic" display / SD card slot / rotary knob input, and an inductance sensor for setting the z-height, but that sort of thing only added a few dollars. On the other hand, the $150 does not include buying a power supply, as I have access to all the ATX power supplies I can use.

With the benefit of experience and hindsight, there are a number of things I would improve if I were to do it over. In particular, my head mount and part-cooling fan is clunky, and I'd like to improve the bed mount and adjustment. But rather than re-do this one, my plan is eventually to build a larger capacity (400x400mm rather than the 300x300 of the current printer), fully enclosed, CoreXY style printer. I've worked up a design, and this one will use some printed parts, now that I have a 3d printer - some, but not as many as is often seen. I've gathered a lot of the parts for it, but just haven't found the time to put it ahead of other projects.

Sigh ... unfortunately my employer is not at all understanding of the priority of hobbies ...

 

[CFLBob]

Sigh ... unfortunately my employer is not at all understanding of the priority of hobbies ...

I understand.

I refer to being able to work on what I want when I want as "retiree privilege." It includes going to cheap matinees when my wife and I are maybe two of 10 in the theater and going shopping when the stores are the emptiest.

 

[awake]

I'm still about 8-10 years away from that privilege ... but it is starting to feel like it is not far off!

 

[werowance]

this makes me think about my cnc router I built - its awefull and uses a dremel for the cutting head. but steppers, lead screws, linier bearings etc. it is actually built from plans I purchased and is made from wood mostly. I havnt used it in several years because it jams up a lot and then ruins whatever I have worked on for hours. It was built before I had a lathe and mill. I probably should revisit it and machine the parts in aluminum, maybe I could get it working better.

and on the note of cnc routers, if I was looking for a nice easy way of making say a brass name plate for my Webster with my name and year built, what would you all recommend for engraving or etching?

letter / number punches and I do not play well with each other and looks a mess when I try those.

 

[awake]

Out of curiosity, what plans did you use?

 

[CFLBob]

and on the note of cnc routers, if I was looking for a nice easy way of making say a brass name plate for my Webster with my name and year built, what would you all recommend for engraving or etching?

For engraving text, I use a freebie program called DeskEngrave. It's an old (Windows XP) program that still works for me. Takes either text you enter or a file and uses Windows fonts for the output. More info at http://www.machinistblog.com/deskengrave/ (just a random web search - I don't know the site)

For turning a jpeg into an engraving, I've used DeskProto, my CAM program. I can combine them both into one piece of work, but it takes a bit of calculating because the two programs don't talk. I use the file from DeskEngrave to do the text and DeskProto to do the figure.

For example, the lower receiver for an AR-15 I built.

 

[werowance]

Out of curiosity, what plans did you use?

back in I believe 2005 I bought the plans from hobbycnc.com which it appears is out of business. the plans were good but my bad craftsmanship is the problem with mine.

 

[awake]

Interesting. Do you recall what sort of bearing system it used?

 

[CFLBob]

HobbyCNC.com is still there. https://hobbycnc.com/

The router plans are still there, although it looks a bit different from the print you did there:
https://hobbycnc.com/product/diy-cnc-router-plans/

The guy who started it up retired, and sold the business to a customer who vowed to keep it the same.

 

[werowance]

Interesting. Do you recall what sort of bearing system it used?

they were linier bearings in a plastic cage that run back and fourth on ground w1 drill rod. the dremel up / down movement is nothing more than a piece of Plexiglas plastic riding in a slot on both sides. kind of like a wood cigar box that has a sliding lid instead of a folding lid.

 

[werowance]

HobbyCNC.com is still there. https://hobbycnc.com/

The router plans are still there, although it looks a bit different from the print you did there:
https://hobbycnc.com/product/diy-cnc-router-plans/

The guy who started it up retired, and sold the business to a customer who vowed to keep it the same.

well it sure is, yesterday when I tried to get there it kept failing this page cant be displayed. maybe my internet or something.

yes it sure is a whole different machine now. the linear bearings mine used were similar (cheaper built) to this picture. you just glued them in place in a hole drilled in the wood frame. the 2 long w1 drill rods were also glued into their wood frame. the main thing on mine is the up down sliding I guess its called tung and grove? like the picture of this old wood box with the sliding lid, imagine the lid sliding back and fourth with a dremel mounted to it. it just slides up and down in that frame that way.

I might get mine down off the shelf and blow the dust off of it this weekend and take some pictures. but I hope to have my ignition box done this weekend and put this project in the finished engines post area.

 

[awake]

Thanks! Sounds/looks like a pretty light weight design - probably not a matter of your building skills at all!

 

[CFLBob]

yes it sure is a whole different machine now. the linear bearings mine used were similar (cheaper built) to this picture. you just glued them in place in a hole drilled in the wood frame. the 2 long w1 drill rods were also glued into their wood frame. the main thing on mine is the up down sliding I guess its called tung and grove? like the picture of this old wood box with the sliding lid, imagine the lid sliding back and fourth with a dremel mounted to it. it just slides up and down in that frame that way.

Cool. Yeah, I can picture exactly what you mean. I would guess it would give you some side to side wobble as the wood wears, which the new design should take care of.

I have this bad habit of thinking that everything has to be as accurate as a machine tool. The sliding tongue and groove might be fine for woodworking. In wood, 1/32" is pretty tight tolerance except in a handful of places (miter joints on picture frames, dovetails and a few more) but 1/32 is a long way in terms of things like the Webster plans.

 

[werowance]

when I built this one I was pretty into etching and building my own circuit boards. photo resit developed then etched with ferric chloride. back then I was looking at getting away from photo resist and doing cnc routed circuit boards for speed and ease not to mention all that expensive ferric chloride and what a mess it makes. but it really never could do really small close traces and the results did not look professional so I went back to photo resist and ferric chloride.

then later I tried my hand at casting aluminum and used it to do some foam patterns. which my castings never were very usable so I decided that machining from solid stock was just easier for me. and here I am to today with my first running 4 stroke engine, a running vacume engine and a couple of running wobblers. or at least I assume the one I gave my nephew is still running. - and its all mostly because of this web site and the people on it.

 

[werowance]

finished up the battery ignition can. I ended up using hammer tone oiled bronze color paint in order to hide all the rust pits in the metal. it was very pitted after I sand blasted but the paint did a good job hiding the pits. then after I did a test run of the engine. in the video you will see the carb adapter fall off. I re lock tighted it and its doing fine now. later on in the day after a few runs and adjustments of the carb it was running nicely but then I noticed the 3 screws holding the head to the base and frame were coming loose and the head was kicking back and fourth with the cylinder. so I will lock tight those tonight.

I guess I can call this build complete and post it in the completed engines forum right?

 

[CFLBob]

Werowance, I've just got to add that your finishing skills - both getting the metal pretty and painting - are second to none. The can looks great, as does the metal I can see.

It sure looks done to me.