Show and Tell - let us know what you're doing!

[JAZZCNC]

After seeing Jaz throw out the gauntlet, I missed this 1st time round so will add my contribution.

Very nice work you done there well done.. . . But you can only be in the Aztec gang if you built your own machine so your still not coming in...

[ngwagwa]

I have been machining moulds for making fishing lures. I am well impressed with the improvement after fitting digital stepper drivers and moving to UCCNC.







These tools still scare me though.

[JAZZCNC]

I have been machining moulds for making fishing lures. I am well impressed with the improvement after fitting digital stepper drivers and moving to UCCNC.

These tools still scare me though.

You are going a bit too slow and the tool stick out is way too far. You'll get an even better finish if you lower the stickout and up the feed.

[ngwagwa]

You are going a bit too slow and the tool stick out is way too far. You'll get an even better finish if you lower the stickout and up the feed.

The cutter is a 2mm extended neck ball nose and the 4mm shank is flush with the collet. I have to use a 20mm long tool as the next size down (10mm) is too short. As for the feed rate I run them at the recommended 210mm/min but in this case as the slot is only 2.059 wide I prefer to reduce the feed

[JAZZCNC]

The cutter is a 2mm extended neck ball nose and the 4mm shank is flush with the collet. I have to use a 20mm long tool as the next size down (10mm) is too short. As for the feed rate I run them at the recommended 210mm/min but in this case as the slot is only 2.059 wide I prefer to reduce the feed

OK I understand with the shank but if all it's doing is the finish pass like what your showing then you could easily go well past the recommended feed rate as the WOC/DOC is so tiny. There is hardly any tool pressure on it so it's not likely to break.!
Regards the Slot then I'd Cam that up as a separate feature because what's the point of slowing the whole job just for that one area where you need to be careful.?

Recommendations are ok but you have to assess to each job and I can see that your slowing the job down and probably getting a worse finish because of it due to running too slow. Will be worth you experimenting with Feeds and slightly different strategies for areas like slots etc.

[ngwagwa]

OK I understand with the shank but if all it's doing is the finish pass like what your showing then you could easily go well past the recommended feed rate as the WOC/DOC is so tiny. There is hardly any tool pressure on it so it's not likely to break.!
Regards the Slot then I'd Cam that up as a separate feature because what's the point of slowing the whole job just for that one area where you need to be careful.?

Recommendations are ok but you have to assess to each job and I can see that your slowing the job down and probably getting a worse finish because of it due to running too slow. Will be worth you experimenting with Feeds and slightly different strategies for areas like slots etc.

The video is actually the roughing cut and at the speeds and feeds I am using I get a good enough finish that I don't bother with a finishing cut.

The reason I am machining the slot and the blend radius is in places the radius is too deep to cut with a standard cutter. What I do is cut as close to the slot as I can with a standard cutter then finish the blend radius while I am cutting the slot.

I have been quite suprised how much these extended cutters will bend before they snap.

[Kitwn]

Rather than continue hi-jacking Joe's thread I thought this belonged here:
Thanks to Jazzcnc sending me the g-code I can now apply for membership of the Aztec Club. The result is 400mm in diameter cut on 12mm MDF, I used to 60 degree cutter option that Dean sent me. It took just shy of 4 hours to cut. The cooling water for the spindle got to about 40C but no hotter. The whole machine was happy to run continuously for that long without any problems.
Now I know that it works so well I might try some more attractive timber.

[JAZZCNC]

Welcome to the club...

That's excellent quality for MDF, you must have better MDF down under but I suppose it's much drier.!

You can see why it's a good test of the machine.!! . . . You should see the mess a badly setup machine does of it.!!

[Kitwn]

Thanks, Mate! I still want to do the square and circle tests, but that will have to be tomorrow.

[Kitwn]

After proving the machine could do a decent jon of the calendar I tried a much simpler but more telling test of it's basic geometry. I cut a 150mm disc and a 150.4mm circular hole out of 6mm MDF to see if the disc would rotate in the hole. Does it cut circles or ovals?

The disc was a close fit in the hole and rotates 360 degrees with a little variation of stiffness as it goes. My digital calipers claim the disc diameter varies between 149.8 and 150.2mm. Not the height of modern engineering but certainly acceptable for this low budget machine and adequate for my wood-cutting needs.

Accuracy could probably be improved by looking at areas where stifness could be improved and spending some time repeating the alignment procedure from last week with some finer shim material. For now I just want to get on with making stuff with it!

Kit