On the name of this version, I would like an African animal name. One of the lesser known animals. The "Ratel" (Afrikaans for honey badger) appeals to me as an animal - it is short legged, heavy set and tough :) but the word ratel is going to be pronounced rattle and we don't want that!! "Badger" might do, but that is not African enough. (In English, "ratel" it is accented on the first syllable, and the "a" is pronounced as in "father.")

If you were into the Gods, I would think Visnu as Visnu has multiple arms and that would imply both power and speed.

I looked on Google for animal names in Africa, but alas, google is very Americanized.

Would a crocodile or alligator be good ? it represents power and the ability to take a bite out of wood ?

Dave

Visnu is Asian, not African - besides, those multiple arms could imply 5-axis. Let's not go there! Crocs have no finesse - they are completely unpredictable and not to be trusted. Lion is too obvious. Rhino might have worked, except it can confuse with the software. Zebra has nice geometric patterns. . . . . .

I like the idea of animal names and think they ought to be some kind of aggressive meateater with lots of teeth. That creates the impression that it will zoom through any project you throw at it.

If you start charging for downloads, business might actually pick up. A friend at work said his neighbor put an ad in the paper for free kittens but didn't get a single call. The next week she changed the ad to say $10 and got rid of all of them in a couple of days.

I have decided on "Mamba"

"Humans are actually their predators, rather than their prey" this hit a chord - don't let the machine rule you - you rule the machine.

So does that mean I can I design you a new logo for the machine to go next to the MechMate name? Like an add-on. I will offer up my design services for you Gerald - and darn happy to do it. Sean

Sean, we are having enough problems getting just the word MechMate put on there! But a small optional logo that adds to the original, would be great - thanks! Don't let it distract you from your builds though! :)

Gerald,

So as of right now the drawings are all up to date and ready to go?

Thanks for the hard work,
Greg

Greg, I believe it is a "buildable" set of drawings where are the parts will fit together. In some areas there are some small details missing (eg. list of screws to fit the cable chains). But nobody will be wasting time or money by getting started with a build on this set.

Gerald,
Everything prints fine for me. Looking over the plans tonight. :) Thanks again.

Hi Heath - see what troubles you caused when you started this thread exactly a month ago? :)

Actually, what triggerered the revision was Donald pulling out of supplying sets of lasered parts. That gave me the window to fiddle with the cable chain designs a bit. But then the capped rail also became a realistic possibility if the cars were lifted by 4mm each. And the grind skate came on top of that . . .

Gerald,
The revisions are great! :D I was just about to order the laser cut parts when you mentioned the new set. I didnt mean to start a panic for the new drawings. :)

On checking, remember its late here, I noticed the following:

10 40 432 b b is the bend drawing for the spider plate. It shows the old 4 roller version and all other drawings seem to show the right 6 roller version?

10 20 000 a b shows both capped rail and ground rail options. The capped rail option looks like it is not the same width between rail tip to rail tip. Is this an optical illusion, if not then how does the ycar handle the two widths? :confused:

Its late, more looking tomorrow.

Hope your flu is better Gerald. :)

Gerald,
Ok one more before bed. :)

M1 20 100 A A calls up M1 20 141 T but I cannot find it in any of the files. :confused: Ah, is this were the ground rail verses Vcap rail differences are made up? The thin nut does look different for the two options, but are the differences shown on M1 20 141 T?

Well done Heath, you spotted an error that Alan missed! (Alan, the job offer is withdrawn). :)

Yes, I had meant to make a drawing sheet for that thin nut. There were a few things I had wanted to say, but I think I ended up saying them on the forum instead - see from this post onwards, regarding contact with the seal.

But, folk here havn't really discussed it, that bit behind the wheel is critical - that is where you adjust whether your machine shakes or cuts square! You should be spending a couple of hours behind the wheels to get everything just right. Who will start the new thread? :)

Oops Heath, I didn't see that you had double posted. Your first post . . .

The bending of the spider will not be affected by whether there are 6 or 4 holes. It wasn't essential to add that small detail to that view. Folk will find lots of these types of "errors". If I did add the detail, I would not have changed the revision level, because the description of the revision would be meaningless. Imagine what sheet 10 00 000 A would look like if all the changes are shown all the way through to the highest assembly? Solid modelling 3D CAD solves this issue to give the right visual, but no better info for the guy on the shop floor.

Handling of Y-Car widths we have touched on - the spacing behind the wheel gets it all right.

The flu is still here, which ties me to the computer more, which actually got the drawing set out! :)

did a search for Mamba art and this is what I found.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Blackmamba.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BlackMambaSS1.jpg

Gerald. Dwg 10 10 247 the dimensioned hole for prox is 1.83 and the noted dimension called in the notes is 1.81. Fyi if you haven't noticed it yet. Sean

Sean, that type of difference in dimensions shows I don't have a feel for inches and whether the second decimal is relevant when marking out drilled holes like this. I guess I should have rounded that down to 1.8", but I mostly rely on AutoCad to give the inches. Will mark it for revision, thanks.

Gerald,
Dimensionally, you will never see that in layout. Heck, that's about a scribe line thickness - your machine and adjustability is much smarter than that:) I just noticed it for continuity. Personally, I prefer mm...it's easier to get right in the shop! Explaining 1/32" of an inch or .01mm...decimal WAY easier.

Basic spreadsheet for expansion . . . .
 

Nils of Florida has very kindly typed all the drawing numbers, processes, rev levels and descriptions in a blank excel spreadsheet, for further use by everyone. I typically add supplier names, costs, material lists to such a spreadsheet and then sort by supplier name, or process, etc. Invaluable for determining shopping list, tools list and areas of risk.

Thanks Nils

Hi, I saw this tread when I was searching for 3D drawings available. At the moment I'm busy with converting all DXF drawings into Solidworks format (Gerald, I hope you don't have problems with that) so I (and others if I'm allowed to share) can visualize the MechMate.