All 4 tall end plates are cut…more to follow
Here is one of the the new and improved Y-Axis plates and rails assembled with the newly cut supports added. The bottom hole on the supports will connect to the extrusion under the wasteboard. The other two supports are being cut now. This thing is solid as a rock.
That looks really good!
Can you make a new set of X end plates that allow for V-Wheels on both makerslides?
Keeping those aluminum chips contained is a real pain isn’t it!
I have already drawn up new plates just for that. I will be making those in the near future.
And as far as the aluminum chips…it goes everywhere…my wife asked where all the glitter came from…lol
For those that use V-Carve or Aspire and want to cut new plates, it is very simple to pull the original plates into v-carve to edit. Simply create a new file, set your material dimensions and use mm for the scale. Go to the PDF files of the drawings and import the PDF as vectors and the plates will be brought into the program at the correct scale. The PDF files are all located here:
The new endplates and X-axis rails are now installed. It is extremely solid; not a bit of flex in any direction. And for a size reference the wooden block in the last picture is a 6" x 6" x 3" hunk of walnut.
Can the old Z-axis even reach the spoil board now?
Nope
The 1/8" bit in the router gets to just under 1.25" from the board. This is temporary…more changes coming soon. Until then I’ll put a couple pieces of 3/4" MDF down as a temporary waste board.
So I must have missed a step. You made new Y axis end plates, did you also buy two more 1000mm rails?
I bought them when I was adding the steel bar in my Y-Axis (just in case I screwed it up ), so I used them to stiffen up the X-Axis.
Are you sure that’s cherry? I’ve never seen such white maple-looking cherry.
It’s just the lighting, it is cherry.
Right on. The things you are doing with metal are very inspiring. I’m almost to the point where I’m ready to try working with it myself.
I just jumped in…I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I am pleased with how well the X-Carve performs.
I rechecked the picture of the sign, and it might have been maple…it is gone, so I can’t check it. The maple and cherry are right next to each other in my shop…but I think you might be right.
Well, like you said, photos can be deceiving, but the color and grain both looked like maple to me. Good looking sign either way.
I also, haven’t done any carving and that’s another thing I hope to get to some day. I’m really looking forward to Inventables pushing out the v-carve function for Easel, since that’s what I use. I know there are a lot of cool things I could do, but I just keep so busy trying to keep up with orders I don’t really get to do much of the fun stuff.
I used the fingermaker program again this morning to cut the pieces to make a couple of small 6" x 4" boxes out of maple and purpleheart. Still need to clean them up a bit.
It’s a little snug, but after I clean it up it will be a good fit.
I need to play with the glue gap setting in fingermaker. That should make them an easier fit.
I’m about to start using that myself, so do let us know what settings work out for you.
If you figure it out, I would LOVE a tutorial for Fingermaker. I’ve downloaded the demo and it looks SUPER cool, but it’s interface is daunting.