Slobato,
PM me and I will send you the drawings prepared for cutting and bending.

Nice job! I'll have to get motivated and keep up

Tim

Somebody in Johannesburg that just got him MechMate running was contacted to do a job....will not mention names Brad...:D ..but he is still fine tuning his MM...so he asked me if I am interested. I like one off's and said yes. This lady wanted it from CHERRY and I quoted her on this expensive stuff.
Size 1700mm x 200mm.
As she want's it tomorrow I had to sacrifise my rum and coke tonight and had to work. Tomorrow I will cut it free and give it a cote of sealer at the back.

Attachment 11499

Captain Morgan or DR. Chris Barnard se hoes Moetie ( RED Hart Rum)?

Captain Morgan or Bacardi for sure! :)

Both wrong.. I am a MONTEGO man ...Only drink that medicine ( RED HART ) when I have money..:o

Skip the RED HART gives to much of a head ache next morning.

Red Heart is the only dop endorsed by the Heart Foundation. The Coke is good for the worms.

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How long did it take Kobus and at what speed?It looks Nice. Jan, I salute a Captain Morgan but if funds allow a Appleton Estate does the trick.:D

Total time about 45 minutes cutting time with 2 tool changes.
First cut outline with 6.35mm straight cutter 8mm deep.
Then Pocket (rough cut ) with same 1/4inch cutter.
It looked RIGHT, so I did not change to 3mm straight cutter.
Then did the 45 deg bevels with 12mm 90 deg cutter on the lines.
Removed cutter and back to 1/4 inch to cut free this morning.

Anybody had any experience with this type of thicknesser ?

Attachment 11561


This CT-381 15" planer provides a cutting capacity of up to 15" width by a thickness of 6". This machine is designed and manufactured to provide outstanding planning performance. The machine frame is precision machined from extra-heavy cast iron for maximum rigidity. The 15" x 20" bed is built of heavy, rib-reinforced, precision ground cast iron. The spiral in-feed roller and the smooth out-feed roller are 2" in diameter and are driven by heavy gears for a positive and powerful feeding effect. A 2HP motor is recommended for light and medium duty planning jobs.

The blades become blunt quickly, so you need a sharpener as well. Due to the pressure of the rollers, it has a nasty habit of gouging the end of the plank. Why don't you rather consider the Metabo or Electra Blum. Might be a bit more expensive, but they are much better engineered and you have a planer as well.

Thank's Jan, but why would this machine make the blades to go blunt quicker ? Is this not a matter of the blade type that will give you longer sharper life ?

Sharpener... no problem...I have one to do these size blades.
My old small machine also liked to take a bite at the end. Will do some tests before I decide to buy it.

I can get this machine at a soft price...and even if it is not PERFECT it will be much better than the one I am using now.

As far as rigidity goes I would say this is a step or three above the Metabo or Electra Bekum. Its also not as rigid as a Wadkin or Felder but then the price is probably much cheaper. Depth of cut may be a bit less than the heavier boys but if treated properly will give good service. Snipe can be virtually eliminated if you take the time to set up the feed rollers properly (same thing applies to bigger more expensive machines) and I dont see you machining beams to build a log cabin any time soon...:D

Another 'RUSHED' job. People always want it yesterday...although they had this idea last month / year already.

Customer wanted vinyl stickers on some sort of substrate. I have the vinyl cutter to do it, but why not have something special I said.

This done on African Rosewood. Note the little block of wood at the top. The 2 holes corresponds to the hanger holes at the back...to ease installation.

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Kobus, at school many moons ago the rule was that you only take of 1mm at a time,that way if you have a plank that has some cross grain it doesn`t rip pieces out of the wood.It is how you treat it that matters ( some cobra floor wax also works).

Not a word about motorbikes for months now - Kobus has really fallen hard. :(:D

Luckily not FALLING off the bike physically..still riding every day. I use the motorbike to get back home throught traffic quicker so that I can start up old BBB and make some dust...to FEED my addiction:p

Kobus,
Any news on the violin? :)

Heath, I did another pre run on some scrap wood on Saturday. The original violin I did was not 100 % on size...that is according to my violin expert....
So I have to re-set some dimentions and until I am happy with the setup I will not cut it using my imported wood.
Maybe tomorrow I will give it another go....really would like to finish this PROPER violin now.

Today I set my new thicknesser up...infeed, outfeed rollers etc. Now that it is setup 100% I can plane a piece of wood to try my violin.

Hi Heath,

We are back on track. Did 2 test runs on my cheap plywood and then put my Slovakia Spruce on the table.

Some more scraping and finishing. Will see if I get time tomorrow ( Public Holiday) to do the back in Maple.

Attachment 11664

Nice job, what was the stepover for the final pass?

Tim

Kobus, Very Nice! Hope it meets with the experts approval! :) Cannot wait to see the finished instrument.

Tim....I did the rough cut with 1/4 inch and stepover of 40%
Final pass was with my 3mm ballnose at 10% stepover.
On the spruce it left a little bit of FLUFF that was easily removed with the scraper.
I am sure the Maple will give a better finish.

Hi Heath, I am all fired up and would like to see it finished as well. Now that it is on the measurements for a 4/4 size violin and using the correct wood, I am sure he will not fault my attempt....let's see when I take it to him for final tuning.

Managed to do the PURFLIN around the edges....

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Looks good! How thick is it?

Thanks Gerald. The thickness varies in different positions, but the outer edge is 5mm.

But could you do so nice a job by hand? I know I could not. :) Nicely done Kobus. The finshed instrument will be great.

Heath, I am sure I cannot do it like the old masters or the purist violin builder today that don't believe in using any power tools.
But what the heck....we live in a new age and if technology is available I say USE IT.
There is still a lot of HAND work to do to get it together as a final product....the MechMate is just one link in the chain.;)

I am so glad I have Vectric Aspire... look at the free monthly project....
Watch this space...just need to find a clock Insert like this in South Africa.

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Kobus- very very beautiful

Cape Watchmakers are our traditional supplier of clock parts:
http://www.capewatch.co.za/precision...sert-movements

There should be somebody similar near you

Thank's Gerald.
I have Googled and found one place in Atlasville, but they don't have the 160mm units.
Still searching !

Kobus, the new master, violin maker, clock maker, ..... :)

My name is Kobus and I have a problem. Addiction is not easy when you are having FUN.
Tonight I played with the STL unwrapping feature in Aspire,,,,,,,,WOW... I like...I need more...:eek:

Kobus dit lyk baie goed , sien jou volgende naweek.

My wife bought a SUZUKI and a MECHMATE sticker and stuck it on the back of her Renault .....she said that if those stickers are on her car, I will attend to some minor issues.....Well it worked and I replaced the LONG fanbelt, changed a front headlight bulb, adjusted the handbrake and the back wiper blade.:p

After that it was time to attend to MY NEEDS....as I was away the weekend and showed serious withdrawal symptoms

Played with the 3D unwrapping function of Aspire....

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Very very happy chappie..:D

nice!

Is that YOU kobus!