machine
HB2 Stepper Heat Sinks in the Rough
HB2 Stepper heat-sinks CNC rough milled
These are the four spacer/heat-sinks I am milling for the HB2 router. All four heat-sinks are rough milled on both sides. I flipped two so both sides could be seen.
Total run time so far is about 1.5 hours each. So with setup and clean up and taking pictures, this is about a full days milling work.
I also spent as few extra hours in the morning with RhinoCad making some last minute adjustments for the final runs. Mostly to make sure I don’t get any of the early versions mixed in with the final edits. I was also to reduce some of the run time through better tuning.
The fin cutting is going to take about 4 hours per side, so there is at least four full days of work left to do.
Finished the Flip Side
I was able to run the Taig CNC today to finish cut the motor side of my trial heat-sink. It has a few flaws here and there but fairly minor. They were caused by broken milling bits and having to start over several times.
Actually this is “good enough” for actual use if that term is acceptable. It is perfectly functional and ready for use.
I have four more to make so I will be well practiced by the time I do the last one. The time on this side to cut all the fins and a finish pass on the inside took almost five hours.
That doesn’t include the 1/4″ end mill time for cutting the center recess and the big hole. That is about 60 minutes more to do both sides.
The fact is it takes a LOOONG day to make one of these. OK for personal use but hardly worth doing for production. That is the time cost in making what is a fully machined prototype (or five). For volume production this would be best be a casting and then the only machining would be to set the desired inside thickness and create the flat heat sink contact area which is seen on this side.
All the fins on both sides have been cut using only one 3/32″ 2 flute solid carbide end mill. Looking at its cutting end and how it was performing when this side was done, I would say it still has a lot of linear feet left to travel.
BTW, the Taig mill is performing wonderfully spinning for many continuous hours at 10,600 RPM at the spindle; Which I must add, doesn’t even get warm.
Bad Air
The blue compressed air system shown on the right is the Kobalt system I purchased at Lowes in January of this year. There is another posting in this blog when I made the purchase. It was the replacement for a very old compressor that was blowing oil. That compressor is show in the previous post.
I had some bad luck with this new machine. A few months ago the pressure switch failed and it wouldn’t let the compressor restart at the low pressure point. I disassembled the switch which was made from pot metal. The diaphragm plate had warped and was leaking air. Some work with a file flattened the plate and let the gasket seal the chamber again.
This picture is the Killer. These are parts of the reed style discharge valves from inside the compressor itself. The heavy metal at the left is the back-up plate and the object to the right is the reed valves. Only the middle two valves on my machine had ports behind them. The outside two were dummies. You can see the heat patterns are different between the inside and outside valves. Yep, that is a broken valve. The compressor stops pumping when that happens.
Readers here know I like to take things apart, especially my tools. I suspected this broken valve was the problem as I have worked with air conditioning compressors all my life and know the symptoms. I had to see for myself. I also discovered the cylinder wall is plastic and the piston is a flat plate with a rubber O-ring for a piston seal. No problem there. It seemed to work well enough. The intake valves are a different style reed valve.
I called the Lowes 800 number for warranty/repair information. I had a printed three year… Continue reading
North Texas Hobby Board (or Blog)
I sent emails to the posted contact persons for two (as they identify themselves) North Texas home machinist groups. Neither post that they have a web site, just a contact email. I offered to create a free message system (either a Blog or BBS) for North Texas home machinists to contact each other. I don’t intend to start another organization, just a common communication site, since they do not seem to have one. My involvement would be completely invisible other than top level administrator. The board activities would be controlled by others. In fact any group could have their own space if desired.
No feedback yet so it is as I suspected, probably old contact data or they are waiting for their next “meeting”. In any case, if you are located near Dallas (That includes Oklahoma or elsewhere) and would like to see a localized board for posting about home workshop activities let me know. Does anyone think a bigger “service” area should be included?
What I would like to see is a place where any creative hobby can be posted, metalworking, woodworking, boat building, quilting (huh!), etc.. A place to brag what you do or ask questions on how-to. Also a place to find out about something you need. Say a quilter is looking for someone local who could build a nice wooden storage case. Get the idea?
This Blog is too personal for this and TEDEX works well but is also too associated with my activities. I dislike commercial boards (Yahoo, etc.) as they are heavily marketing directed. Maybe people like the ads and the fact they are tracked.
The truth is the software is free and I have already paid for all the server cost in my other activities. Other than the time… Continue reading
Getting Together HB2
Making Progress
The parts are going together for the HB2 assembly. At last is is starting to look like a router machine. I like the yellow but no one else has to agree.
The biggest problem has been the bolt sizing. The shopping list wasn’t exactly correct but close enough. I am using Alan cap screws where possible and some Phillips head. Almost all the nuts are nylon lock type.
The rails are extreamly nice and should prove to be very accurate. More pictures as I get it closer to finish.
10/28 – Update from this mess!
Follow this link: HB2 Section #3