#151
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Congratulations on your new and good looking machine, good work.
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#152
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Well has been a little while between posts. I shaved the spoil board off and that was enough to make me want a dust foot. So made my version off many here. 6mm lexon and a couple of magnets and a little vinyl.
http://youtu.be/hQWC4gbbPVw just a little clip of machining the Lexon and then one of the foot in action. Very happy with the outcome. http://youtu.be/TJpQvzny5Ao I am having a little problem with heat in the control box so that will be the next on the list. I have a fan in the box but i think I will add one to push some fresh air in. |
#153
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Looks like its working great. How's the vinyl shield working for you? How far below the shoe do you have it hanging? does it come close to interfering with the cuts? Like the yellow stickers (+Y-), an orientation reminder.
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#154
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Tom I have two layers of vinyl. It is only light weight stuff and to start with I just had the longer strip on and with the suction I have it just all sucked up and never kept its shape. so in the end I have one layer 40mm long with no slits cut in it and then the outer layer 75mm long with slits cut about every 20mm. The bottom plate is held on by magnets like many do, But I only had 4 10mm ones on hand so was concerned it may not hold with deep cuts but all is well (so far)
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#155
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Cool, thanks for sharing.
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#156
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Congrats on #116. I remember when I completed mine, a hundred machines before you. Let the dust fly.
Mines more of a hobby machine, buts makes some nice side cash when you need it. My wife still complains about it and the rest of my wood shop, but she doesn't hesitate to ask me to do a project or volunteer my services. Good Luck and have fun. Mike #16 |
#157
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Boy Mike did you nail the wife factor there.....Mine is the exact same.
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#158
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Well Just a little up date have managed to get the vac hold down up and running. It is just like most of the ones done here and on shopbot forum. A couple of light house motors and some PVC plumbing. I divided my table up into 9 sections with gate vales to shut down the unused portions. I use silicon sealer in-between the zones to restrict leakage. I have yet to fit up a gauge as yet so can not tell you any values yet but it seems to work just fine so far.
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#159
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Wow, awesome, that looks cool. More details please, aiming to add vacuum to mine once I am used to it cutting stuff.
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#160
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Nice looking work, my friend.
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#161
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Nice ! What kind of thick sheet material is that between the top of your support board and the bottom, of your vac zones ?
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#162
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Thats a lot of valves
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#163
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Excellent looking vac table arrangement. Congrats.
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#164
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Fox that is just MDF with a coat of sealer paint over it.
Ken yes there are 10 valves 9 for the zones and one on a quick dump. I only have 2 LH7123-13 vac motors in the system so wanted to be able to shut down as much of the un used portion as possible. When I went looking for the slide valves my local water and pumping supplier had a book price of $43.5o a valve. ShitSo I told him that this is just a hobby I would work on a different plan. Oh let me work on a price for you... He came back with $325 for all of the all class 18 PVC Fittings pipe (80mm main, 50mm branches), elbows, T's, and slide vales at $$11.75 a piece. |
#165
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It is a beautiful setup.
Do you think the quick dump valve is necessary? My understanding is it is used to be able to quickly cycle sheets on the machine without constantly cycling the vac on/off... The lighthouse motors won't hold a vac when shut off, they bleed off almost instantaneously. Not being critical, just an observation for someone who may follow your lead, but only cut 1 or two sheets a week. |
#166
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Bleed-off is like an alternative "vacuum Off " without switching on & off the motors too often which is not a good thing for the motors.
I only have 1 zone, with an open end bleed-off pipe I just throw a close-cell sponge (from packaging anything which can be a good gasket) over it when I want to close the bleed off ; I cover the unpopulated plenum with floor vinyl carpet. If I want to ensure better air tightness, I just tape the mat to the plenum & the workpiece. my piping cost me less then US33. I spend the saving on vacuum gauge (US5~20, can't remember exact number, its bee too long). so that I will know if I have enough suction power which I think its more important. BTW, the vinyl floor carpet is great for covering your spoil board to keep off dust & dirt when not in use. Last edited by KenC; Tue 01 July 2014 at 00:04.. |
#167
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You are saying the same thing I said, Ken.
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#168
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Darren I know what you mean, with the lighthouse motors as soon as you kill the power the vac is gone. just that my power switch is at the other end of the shop and it should be much quicker to pull a valve right there at the table swap sheets and go again.
Ken hadn't given idea of damage to the motors with constant cycling on and off any thought but you are probably correct. I wish I had this up and running 2 weeks ago, I did 15 sheets in the day. clamps and hold tab were a pain. So when I got the order for 360 205mm 12mm ply circles I made the time to get the vac working. The circle work starts tomorrow so will give a report on how my system works |
#169
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Word of caution: please note with the lighthouse motors you need some bleeding on your vacuum or they will burn up themselves up over time. If you do not have enough leak ( if you created a "perfect" sealed system ), you could use a sintered bronze air blow off for the purpose of a controlled leak. See the shopbot forum or the lighthouse guys for info.
Lighthouse on this matter: Quote:
Last edited by Fox; Tue 01 July 2014 at 10:04.. |
#170
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I snapped my first bit off yesterday, I was running in plastic, single flute all was cutting well no melting or anything just while cutting a 20mm grove chip removal was a problem. I was manually blowing chips away with compressed air, got distracted and as quick as that snap. So a quick steel from the milling machine and a dirty install I now have air on my Mate.
2014-07-01 16.33.12.jpg Now for the vacuum hold down I cut 8 sheets of 12mm marine ply yesterday, 2 passes 1 at 11mm and them 1 at 1mm at 2500mm/min with 3/8 up cut spiral. I could not be happier with how things worked. Never lost a piece, quick change over, no clamps or screws to worry about. Just need to redesign my dust extraction, it just couldn't keep up with the chip load. 2014-07-02 10.34.42.jpg 2014-07-02 17.44.33.jpg |
#171
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Love it.
Great job. |
#172
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For a hobby there are not many weeks that the Mate does not get started for some reason. One day I may even get paid for some of them.
However I just wanted to pass on a new attachment that I added today. I HATE sanding at the best of times so when I surfaced some new laminated tops for work benches at the local woodworkers club I set out to find a way to sand with the Mate. Well I took a Triton RO sanding attachment for a 4in grinder added a spigot and no more hand sanding on large flat surfaces for me anymore. https://youtu.be/E8CBDUr8mEk |
#173
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Cool!
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#174
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Wow, it's been over a year since your last post. Any other examples for inspiration? I like the sanding attachment. How much pressure did you apply to keep the stress of the bearings?
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#175
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Pete hard to tell exactly about pressure but very little just enough to get the random orbital part of the sander to work. After the 30 minute run time to sand the top a checked and there was now heat in the bearings of sander or spindle.
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#176
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A selection of the jobs put to the Mechmate over the past year.
A few trophies signage flat and 3 dimensional flat pack furniture Some work in polyurethane (scale model of Gallipoli) a little two sided carving. And even some glass etching. http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...15427&stc=1&d= http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...60281445806028 http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1445806028 http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1445806028 http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1445806028 http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1445806353 http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1445806353 http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1445806353 http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1445806353 http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1445806353 |
#177
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As someone who has a keen interest in world war 1, I find the Gallipoli cutting very impressive. Is the elevation of the terrain to scale?
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#178
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DB it is all to scale. I just downloaded the data from the US GeoService. There is a whole lot of info on the vectric site running through how and where to get the data and convert it to tool paths.
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#179
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Well impressed.
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#180
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Great work!!!
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