DIY Pin Badge

[SignManTas]

Wal I love these too. Well done again and thanks for Sharing.



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[A_Camera]

Wal, these are very nice and inspiring. What is it you fill them with and how deep are you milling them?

[Wal]

Hi,

I use cold enamel - like this:

http://brightenamels.co.uk/documents...e%20(2016).pdf

It's good stuff, but can be tricky to mix in small quantities, ie. 0.1gm colour + 1.9gm resin +1gm hardener. Too much/too little of one or the other and it doesn't set properly..!

If I'm using >0.8mm cutters I'll cut to a depth of 0.75mm, anything under that I'll keep to around 0.5mm - in both cases it's probably too deep, but I get paranoid about belt sanding through the epoxy..!

Wal.

[Boyan Silyavski]

Did you check the job request for aluminum badge?

[Wal]

Boyan - yep, I followed up on that but the job went no further (with me).

Okay, last of the badge posts - as no doubt you get the idea. This one was made as a commission - a birthday present, I think... Two nicknames, two badges that can be worn or displayed together in a plinth. Smallest cuts here were with a 0.2mm - I could have got away with a 0.3mm, but the two I had both broke on the job and I had to re-program using the 0.2mm (which also eventually broke). Heh, I can see why people don't do these for a living - once you've taken materials/tools etc. into account, along with what this kind of job is 'worth' to the buyer, well, you're looking at less than minimum wage for this... but I guess as long as you're making on other work it's still enjoyable to do - trouble is you need to give 'em away at the end..!

Has anyone got any tips for micro-diameter end-mills - I tend to cut slow and shallow, but am I better off going slower and cutting deeper, or do the same rules not apply at this scale..? I avoid using air with the small stuff and have found that covering the plate and then the channels being cut with WD40 tends to work better - sure, you'll need to remove the build up of tiny chips every once in a while, but they're so small they tend to float about and get pushed out of the way by the cutter. Here's a vid cutting the intermediate details with a 0.8mm cutter:



Anyway, some pics - check out how the thin bit at the bottom of the second 'b' has survived - I didn't think it would make it past the 'clean-up with the old toothbrush' stage, but somehow it did... pretty cool.



BTW, the best method for getting rid of air bubbles in the epoxy at this scale is, hands down, no bull, a waft of a blow-torch over the surface as was suggested on a previous post here. I didn't realise it would be so effective - they disappear instantly..!

Wal.

[SignManTas]

Awesome .


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[Wal]

Evening all,

I made a few more of those brass Hi-Fi badges this weekend and thought I'd hot-glue my loupe onto the lens on my phone, you know, just to see. Slo-mo results below. The quality isn't super, so probably not worth wasting 3 minutes of your life on this, but I thought it at least entry-level interesting...



Cut using a 1mm, 2 flute carbide end-mill
DOC = 0.5mm
SPINDLE = 16K
Feed = 2.5mm/sec

[A_Camera]

Cool to watch. Mixing the arts of photography/video and CNC. I like it.

[the great waldo]

You'll have to pardon the French here...

I've been wanting to make myself a couple of badges for a while. Picked up some brooch backs off ebay and had a bash at making over the last few days. Results are good, I'm getting to grips a bit with the epoxy and polishing techniques, but it can still be a bit hit and miss.

Here's one I made - 3 tools: 2mm pocket, 1mm pocket and then a 0.5mm profile. Would have been nice to experiment with Fusion 360's REST machining feature here, but I'm not confident enough to switch to using it and in fairness, until I've worked out which parameters I can 'ignore' in 360 the Vectric software is a LOT more user friendly...

Attachment 21251 Attachment 21255 Attachment 21254 Attachment 21252 Attachment 21253 Attachment 21250

From 3D viz through to final badge. Of course, it's massively inefficient to make a load of badges this way, but as a one off the quality is great and it's always excellent to be able to make your own stuff..!

Wal.

Hi Wal

Will you be doing a Derek and Clive commemorative badge any time soon. Here is a link to one of my pre cnc guitars. Dremel Scalpel and piercing saw. I am still trying to get my head around all this cnc stuff, no valves in my control box.
http://www.tschuschenkapelle.at/images/Slideshow/4.jpg
By the way which cam software are you using? and where do you get your cutters.
Cheers from snow free Vienna

Andrew

[the great waldo]

Hi Wal
If you warm any laquer or epoxy it gets much runnier, the hardening process is also more thorough. But don't heat the epoxy until you've mixed it. I know an archery bow maker here who left her epoxy cans on a heating box she used to cure the resin and didn't notice until her bows started delaminating at a world champinship in South Africa. She had to fly out with replacement bows, expensive mistake!
cheers
Andrw