"One Perfect Part at a Time"

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Small But Mighty

If you read the special Article I wrote called Funding HB2 you know I am struggling with the cost of building a large first class CNC router, especially the long term consequences of a large investment. Like many hobbyist, I become very zealous in studying all the details before I leap. Actually that is a worthy trait for the hobbyist that has if nothing else, a lot of time.

What I decided is HB2 is not a machine for business. I discuss that option in the other article. HB1 is definitely too small for the work I want to attempt such as 3D Lithophanes. So is the Taig, but the Taig does provide a 5.5″x12″ working area. I can dabble there. My vision for HB2 has focused in on a working area between 18″x18″ and 24″x24″. Standard quarter and half sheet engraving material can be purchased in 12″x24″ and 24″x24″ sizes. That makes 18″x24″ sound real good as a target size.

That smaller footprint can help provide a very stable platform because of the shorter spans at a reasonable cost for materials. Also that sizes HB2 components so they can be machined on my existing machine shop tools.

The shorter spans reduce the need for high speed rapids and put the controls back into the realm of stepper motors. The best part is I think for me, that it can be built out-of-pocket with no long term finance or pressure to get return on investment. Hmm… a hobby perhaps?

ShopDog VAC

Bingo VACHere is a new use for the old, “man’s best friend”. I call it the Shopdog VAC. Here “Bingo” is busy cleaning up all the bits of aluminum “swarf” created by drilling and tapping 75 holes in an aluminum plate. The best part is he is very quite, so I don’t have to listen to the whine of the high powered electrical version. He does get in the way at times, being underfoot such as you see here. A good kick gets him started in a new direction though. His “poo” reflects sunlight out in the yard so it is easy to find and clean up. I have been thinking of recycling it but I can’t find a scrap yard that will take it. They keep telling me, “We don’t have to take that kind of sh.. from you!” Oh well…

🙂 Dan’l

P.S. Neither do you…

No dogs or humans were injured in the making of this story.

The Hole Picture

Holy AluminumI spent most of the day on Sunday getting the bulk of this project constructed. I’ll tell the hole story latter. For now lets say the project was really boring but I stayed with it. I took more pictures so there will be a thread to follow once I publish them. So for now many readers will recognise what this is for the rest of you be careful, it might be a set-up.

~ Dan’l

The “hole” job was finished last Saturday. See full story at The Hobbyist Machine Shop, first entry under Projects in the menu bar.

HB2 Ramblin’ Update

HB1 and TaigI have been spending some more time with my HB1 (Home Brew) engraving machine. I have been taking careful measurements of the movement of all the axis. In an earlier post I reported that there was a problem in the Z axis “dead-band”. As I have observed and measured yesterday, the backlash in the other two axis although not horrible are nothing to brag about either. This drives me to thinking about why I built the machine in the first place.

I was influenced by John Kleinbauer’s web site on building low cost CNC machines. I ordered and built his controller and bought a set of drawings. I was influenced by his concepts but not so much as to duplicate his designs. John is just a bit of a weird duck but he is sincere. Appearing public on the web is quite a challenge in time management. I believe the HB1 is every bit as accurate as John’s designs. I believe John has provided a path for a lot of folks to do more than as he calls it “spin motors”. His web site is a good place to check out low cost CNC.

That said, Having HB1 operational within a few hundred dollars budget is a great introduction to machine design and construction. It is a good operating machine but can not be used where 0.001″ accuracy is required. I won’t be carving jewelry designs, but that was never the intention. Simple wood carvings come out well.

The key to the new design for the HB2 is intention. Just what do I want the machine to be able to do for me? The wrong answer is “everything.” I have spent a lot of time deciding on “purpose”. I have invested in Vectric software as… Continue reading

More Fun With CNC

Steve and DanielleAnother carving done with a V bit on the CNC machine. It looks like the very old newspaper pictures that were screened before being printed. It is actually a very similar process. The Vectric software scans the picture for light and dark areas and that in turn sets the depth of the carving. Everything is adjustable by the user (me) so it takes some work to make it look just right.

That is only the computer part. The board is a piece of red oak and that needs some prep before carving. I sanded and applied two coats of shellac and sanded again. The board looks horrible after carving, so it takes more sanding and paint filling to get what you see here. Then a clear finish coat over everything.

The point is that I didn’t just push “GO” and out popped this print. There is a lot of work involved. But it is also a lot of fun to have a unique finished product at the end.

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