Quote Originally Posted by Boyan Silyavski View Post
any idea of the force needed to tighten the wire for radiation cutting? i think its less than 1 kg in mass, if weight is used. i cut now using 0.16mm wire and a small spring, for sure less than 1kg pull.


I see the benefit of the big aluminum profile and 20 size rail, as that was my initial design, using 3060 profile. But that's more for industrial use where somebody will work for you and will not take care of the machine. Doing it for myself, i think 2040 is enough. Still have not bought either yet. And have a day or 2 to think it over. Price wise will be just a bit more expensive.


By the way cages could be printed from Delrin, so they will be ok for the job. I have read reports on a printer after 1500h was perfectly fine
I'll see if I can figure it out, it's more than you think as with a manual one you are normally pressing down on to templates which tenshions it further. The larger the block your cutting the more tension you need or the slower you have to go. It's a combanation of having the right temperature, the right tenshion and the right cutting speed so as to get a clean cut and not too much burn back

At a guess I would say mine is probably 2-3kg tension but I'm cutting relatively slow and and not too hot.

The cost saving is minimal on the Ali, I know what I would do..

I see less of a problem with the printed cages than I do with the balls them self. If using steel ball on Ali you don't need to be a materials scientist to know which will be the winner!