Time to Clamp Down
Low profile CNC vise
Today I spent most of the day laying out, milling and assembling this CNC machine vise/clamp. It is low profile to stay out of the way of machining actions. The rest of the day was spent publishing it in my The Hobbyist’s Machine Shop web page and several other links including here.
Some times making the parts that make the parts is required. This was one of those times.
Columbus Day
Its Columbus Day (the real date) and its been a busy weekend so far the The Hobbyist’s Machine Shop. (My playroom 🙂
I broke two more of the tiny mill bits on the heat sink milling for the HB2 . I am going to have to stop doing that. It is really a “dumb me” problem. The last one was because I did not have the part I was milling suitably (meaning rigidly) attached to the bed of the mill. It came loose whilst milling. Poo!
So now I am taking the time out to build the correct clamping system to hold the heat sink blanks. It is a project I wanted and needed to do anyway, but the lesson is I should have done it first. It’s just a reminder that the set-up is everything.
The clamp can and will be used for holding other projects on the mill so it will be a great addition to the tool box. It will be a larger version of the clamping system I used to make the A3 locomotive wheels. That clamp is just a tiny bit too small so I resorted to a less than satisfactory clamping method. It worked… for awhile. 🙁
The new clamp will take advantage of the machined plate (with all the threaded holes) that I made for the Taig. Then I will not have any clamping gadgets sticking up in the way of milling. Of course I will post some pictures in a about a week when I have got it working.
This weekend I also ordered all the nuts and bolts for assembly of the HB2. I went with stainless for most bolts but had to select “oil black” metric sockets heads to mount the linear rails. (Not available in… Continue reading
Not Makin’ It
After working in my shop on a successful project I sometimes ask myself if I could make a bunch of this or that and sell them for a profit. It’s fun to think about a running a little cottage industry. I bet any reader of this blog has thought the same thing about something they enjoy doing and making.
I have published many times my thought that most of the hobbies I do involving manufacturing are not because it is the least expensive way to make something. Usually it is the only way. The onsies and twosies items hobbyists make are more like expensive prototypes than mass production.
Examining all the costs and time involved, I have satisfied myself that most people including myself won’t pay for all the costs of something that can clearly be mass produced at a lower cost. The perceived value must be greater than the cost to produce plus reasonnable profit.
What we call “original art” falls into that category. There is an emotional value with original art that makes it worth owning at higher than mass production price. A plain wooden mass produced box can probably be imported to the USA, completely built for $0.99 and after hand carving, painting or finishing at a cost of $10.00, can be sold for $25.00 at a boutique. Making the box from scratch, one at a time may have a COST to produce of over $25.00. If you are an artist with talent, the same box may be worth $250.00 to someone.
So the options are to become very good and fast at duplication or provide something special that has far more value than the cost of the time and material. I think it takes a little of both. Actually, getting paid well to make prototypes… Continue reading
New Article
I wrote a new article and posted it in the “Articles” column to the right. It is titled What Goes Around. It has to do with rotary tools and my selection options for the power head on the HB2 system.
Getting a BIT Anxious
I received the tiny 3/32 inch milling bits from Bits and Bits last night. Normal machine suppliers do not stock these small size end mills. I bought two. They are solid carbide double flute flat bottom. They also have a 3/4 inch cutting length which I needed to cut the 0.505 inch overall cutting depth on the heat sinks. Most small bits only have about 3X their diameter for their OCL (Overall Cutting Length). The holder diameter is 1/8 inch.
I am figuring a 0.001chip load and will spin them at 10K RPM. That will give me a 20 IPM feed, I only need the small bits to do the fin cuts. But, I dislike tool changes on small projects so I will see if I can do the entire job with these bits. I will be using mist cooling so the tool life in aluminum should be great. Looks like about 90 minutes per side.
I have a trip scheduled next week so this will probably be put off for awhile. (It IS a hobby after all…) 🙂