New Z Slide Going In! #12 - Winter Park, FL

[Gerald D]

At the bottom of the board, the cut path makes 2 left turns, at the top it makes 2 right turns.

One of the left turns is from X to Y while the other is from Y to X. Therefore, each of those 4 turns is unique.

If it is not looseness, then it could be plain flex - something bending to take load. How far is your cutting bit sticking out of the collet? (Keep that as short as possible or use a thicker bit)

[bradm]

The GCode is obviously fine.

I think Gerald was implying that you should check whether something mechanical anywhere on the machine is loose, from the perspective of the collet. You're tugging on the collet not to check just the collet, but everything. For example, does the Gantry run vertically relative to that photo, and has a little play developed in the X axis motor / gear at the bottom of the picture?

(Added text a few minutes later): Wait a sec, both the photo of your leg, and the GCode indicate that the overshoot is on the Y axis. So that would mean play on the Y Motor, the Y idler, or side-to-side on the Z plate / rollers.

[sailfl]

Gerald,

You know your machine. I went back out and checkd for anything that might be loose. Yes, the Y car moved even with power.

My question is this. How tight do you make the Fixed A and Slotted B bolts for the motor plates. I loosened up Slotted B and the Y car didn't move.

Playing with the motors to retune and adjusting the springs, I might not have checked that things were set up right. Doesn't there need to be a little play in the Slotted B bolt even with the plastic washers?

Once I fixed the Y car, I ran the file again and the cut looks good in all directions.

I have also tested my Milwaukee router runout and it is not good. Mine is 0.003.

I have learned a good lesson. When the machine is not cutting right, first check to see if there is some thing loose!

[sailfl]

Today, I made a part for my washer. It is a basic machine. I recently had to replace the waste water hose because a mouse ate through it. The washer is outside on my back porch. He must have taken the part I had to replace.

The part is in white in the picture. I milled it out of PVC board. I though I would need glue but it fits on tight. I am still learning so it took me a few tries to get it right but it works.

[sailfl]

Zero Touch Plate

Today I changed the setting in Ports and Pins and got my Zero Touch Plate working. Beside the Shuttle Pro, Zero Touch Plate and the Laser make setting up the machine for a cut so easy.

My version is different than what I have seen others doing. I do not use any input on a Mach screen to monitor my Touch Plate. Yes, you will see the inputs on the Diagnoistic page but I use an LED. I use a button on the Shuttle Pro to activate the macro that drives the router to the touch plate.

I have an LED as part of the circuit. Before I run the macro, I touch the plate to the bit or router. If the LED turns Blue, that is the color I am using, I know that I will not drive the bit through the touch plate. Currently I have an alligator clip that attaches to the small wire that is above the LED in the picture. I will most likely use the red wire and replace the alligator clip and cut the black and other wire.

[jhiggins7]

Nils,

Nice design. I love the LED idea.

Regards,
John

[Gerald D]

A good innovative streak you have there Nils! (including the "washer")

Our local language use:
washer: exclusively used under a screw head or nut
washing machine: for washing textiles - laundry equipment
dishwasher: kitchen equipment

[sailfl]

John,

Thanks

Gerald,

I didn't really think it up as you know, I just made a slight modification that worked for me. I wanted some thing that would allow me to use the touch plate with out having to be at the computer to operate the touch plate macro. But reading the thread about a external switch and the touch plate has made me realize I have to have a way to stop the routine if I accidently hit the button on the shuttle pro during a job run. I will need to do some additional testing and experimenting.

My next project, since I don't have a lot of light in my garage, is to add a small bank of LEDs to provide some light on the cutting area. You got to love the bright LEDs and the low power requirements.

I still have a problem with chatter on the X, Y area of the cut but I am waiting to do a write up until Sean has an opportunity to run the same cut file.

[sailfl]

Today, I cut my first job for a paying client. It is nice to get that check.

[bradyaero]

Right on! A few bucks coming in feels good! I did my first job yesterday... sweated a few bullets as the material was quite expensive!

[domino11]

Nils, what did you cut for the customer?

[sailfl]

I cut a simple shape out of a piece of PVC board that was 1/4" x 4' x 8'. It took me more time to be sure I was cutting it right than it took to cut it. The material was supplied by the cutomer and so was the file that I needed to cut. They were going to pick it up but being the first client, I was happy to deliver it.

[Gerald D]

This is always the best news!

For the guys who havn't been in the "materials cutting" business before, it is the beginning of a path to creating a client base.

[javeria]

Nils did you take any pics to put in the showroom section.

[sailfl]

Irfan,

I am sorry I did not and I wanted to but my camera needed to be sent back to Nikon to get some warranty work done on it.

[domino11]

Congratulations on your first Job Nils!

[sailfl]

My thread is getting down in the list so I thought I would post some fish I have been working on.

Plywood just to test how they look. The last is solid surface material and it is going to be used as a Trivet.

[sailfl]

Fish in 1/2" Cork

[Alan_c]

Interested to hear how you machined that "soft" material without distortion?

[sailfl]

Alan,

It wasn't that hard. I called Onsrud to see what bit to use. They told me that they have never cut cork but they suggested a 63-000 series bit. I happened to have a 63-775.

I tried a small cut with my shuttle pro and it machined very nice. Sharp edges and smooth. I rounded the edges when I cut it in solid surface and the edges are rounded in the cork.

So I set up my file and cut it. The router was at 15,000 and I think the feed rate was 30 but I think it could have been faster may be 70.

I am very pleased with the results. I think I am going to make the spine a little thicker to make it a little stiffer.

Looks good in cork. I bought the cork from McMaster Carr.

Trivet for hot plates.

Hope that helps.

[Gerald D]

Nice one Nils!

How did you hold the cork down?

[sailfl]

Gerald,

The 1/2" cork I bought comes in 1' x 3' sheets. The fish is 6" x 10.5". So I used wood clamps to hold the material outside of the edges of the fish. I am only cutting 1/8" of material on each path. On the last path, I hold down the fish with my fingers to prevent it from moving.

I nipped the edge of the protective rubber on the end of the clamp. I have to get better at placing the clamps but I also don't like to waste material.

I am also using 1/16" cork to put on the bottom of the solid surface fish. The 1/16" cork has an adhesive backing. I wanted to see if I could cut the fish out with the cork attached. To experiment, I attached a layer of cork to a piece of scrape 1/2" plywood and cut some circles and squares. They came out with a sharp clean cut also. The cork looked better than the plywood.

I also used a very sharp bit when I cut the cork.

I think with the right bits and right design you could cut a relief out of the material. It machines as nice as solid surface material.

Clamps look like these!

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...QCN&lpage=none

[Greg J]

Originally Posted by sailfl

On the last path, I hold down the fish with my fingers to prevent it from moving.[/URL]

Nils,

I've had good results with double sided carpet tape. Every local hardware store seems to carry it.

[Gerald D]

For the finger holding method, here is another tape that you should keep around.

[sailfl]

Okay you guys. I only hit my finger once.

I only need to hold it down just for the last part of the cut when it is close to being done.

I did discover that the bit had a bunch of gunk on it which I cleaned off with alcohol.

[Gerald D]

Yup, alcohol does clean off blood rather nicely.

Nils, it doesn't matter whether you use your fingers or not (they are yours), but please don't tell us! Rather tell us you used a scrap stick or something like that.

[sailfl]

Okay,

I willl make a stick that looks like my finger and use it. I can put some cork on it so it will be non slip.

[Alan_c]

The finger holding habit is a bad one which I think we are all guilty of so let me relay an experience I had some years ago.

While working on a Multicam I was cutting out large letters from 16mm MDF. The first test cut was at the back end of the machine and I wanted to pause the machine between cuts. Now for those unfamiliar with the Multicam, the pendant stores in a bracket at the home position and I was working at at X-max, Y-max. As it finished cutting the letter (which I had been holding down with my hands so that there would be no divot as it cuts loose) I moved my hands away from the cutter and started moving toward the pendant. the floor of the workshop at the time was painted with a fairly glossy floor paint and this combined with fine MDF dust caused me to slightly loose my footing, instinctivly I put my hands out to balance myself and ended up passing my left hand right through the cutter (still spinning at 18000 rpm with 1/2" router cutter). all I felt was the impact of the cutter hitting all my fingers one at a time, a bit like a drum roll. After uttering a suitable expletive, I placed my left hand under my right armpit and proceeded to shut the machine off. after allowing enough time for my heart to calm down to a mild panic I slowly tried to move each finger in turn while the hand was still buried in my armpit. Having satisfied myself that all digits still appeared to be attached and there were no bits on the floor I slowly brought my hand out to have a look. Thank goodness for TUV chip limiter design, all I had were relatively small cuts on both sides of all four fingers either side of the nail, not that that resulted in less blood. At that stage I was working alone in the workshop so with one hand wrapped in a towel to control the bleeding I shut the workshop down, switched everything off, set the alarm, locked up and drove myself home to attend to the wounds as we did not even have a first aid box then. No stitches were required and I was back at work on Monday with only band-aids on the fingers - VERY LUCKY!!!

Moral of the story: Use a stick to hold down parts if the cutter will come within 6" of your hand, make sure the floor is clean and clear of possible trip hazards, don't use glossy floor paint and most importantly, have a first aid box close at hand.

[sailfl]

Okay enough with the cutting of the fingers. It is serious business but my fingers are not that close to the cutting bit so lets move on.

I hope to start working on my dust collection with in the next two weeks. Harbor Freight has the 2HP dust collector on sale, I am waiting for them to get some in stock. I will be adding a Wynn filter and making modifications to make it a mini cyclone.

I also plan to buy a remote way of turning on the dust collector.

[Richards]

I've found that using a pneumatic nailer and driving a few 1-1/4" (32mm) brads through the material into the spoil board usually holds those 'fly-away' pieces. The brads leave a small enough hole that a little wood-putty covers the damage and a cutter can easily cut through a brad without ruining the cutter (when I've been careless in the positioning of the brads).

After having a run-in with my bandsaw and nearly cutting off a finger a few years ago, I don't take any chances anymore. The remaining numbness in that finger is a constant reminder that caution is better than stitches.