3 Axis Foam Cutting Mill

3 - Axis Foam Cutting Mill - Part 9

Home Cooked Nylon Sliders

Here's some Aluminum angle stock that I've had for a few years now that's appeared in other spots on this site. It's sturdy, easy to work with, very true and it was free...

I cut the lengths by hand with a miter box to ensure that the ends were square. I've got so much time wrapped-up in this thing that I'm not going to start letting it look sloppy now.

I even went so far as to sand off all the crud and grim that's built-up on the surface to make them shiny, as they appear now.

This is a standard 1/2" thick nylon cutting board that I've liberated from my wife's kitchen. She has 2 like this, and 2 hardwood boards and a back-up melamine clad unit incase all the others somehow become defective.

One would think that she'd be glad to see the end of this unit, but it turned out to be a protracted bloody extraction, where eventually I assured her I was just going to take measurements and I'd get my own.

I feel like such a heel when I have to lie, but such are the sacrifices that are made in the name of progress.

This is most cool stuff to work with, I thought that MDF was nice. Even if I didn't have a use for these blocks I'd cut, I think it would be enjoyable just to keep running the cutting board through the bandsaw.

As with the Rod Mounts, I cut a 9th block as a spare, should some tragedy befall a production unit.

One interesting issue that arose was that I couldn't come-up with a quick and easy way to mark the nylon.

It can't be scribed, ink won't stick, I thought of using the soldering iron, but respect the iron to much to lower it for such base purposes.

Eventually I set-up a series of marks on the vise on the drill press, and just fed the pieces through and was satisfied that all the pieces were more uniform than if I'd measured and marked each hole. The slots were cut out on the bandsaw by eye-balling to the 5/32nds holds on either side of the 15/32nds holes drilled in the center.

I used the 15/32nds on the drill press as it has a wonky spindle ever since I tried using it as a mill with a cross-slide vice. These blocks have to be as close to a perfect fit as I can get. Too loose will yield a grossly inaccurate machine, too tight and the steppers won't feed the leadscrews...

This worked like a charm, and yielded a perfect 1/2" diameter hole that glides like a dream along the rod.

It's truly a marvel that something as tough as this nylon is can yield so nicely to a metal bit.

Beyond getting some more washers the test fit is most impressive.

I've since smoothed over the marital ruffles which probably weren't as intense as I'd initially thought, at least enough that I've called Sandy out to the shop a number of times to impress her with my progress and innovation.

She is back to pretending to be interested with such generalized reassurances like "that's nice" and "good for you"... so things are back to normal.

This is a gratuitous shot of the nylon sliders mounted in position. I could blather on and on about the juxtaposition of man's struggle with physical laws and spiritual ideology, and how this machine is a metaphor of how we advance as a species.

But since I just wanted to flush out enough text that a needless picture looked like it fit by it's supporting narrative, we'll move on.

The base plate for the Visa Embosser, er' I mean Z-Axis, is being clamped into place as I prepare to mark off for the holes that will hold the assembly together.

It's not obvious from this shot but the Plate is out of square by about an 1/8 of an inch over it's 8" height. No worries a couple of flat washers will set it true.

This is going so well, and even just being clamped together, it moves like a precision machine, whether I push from the center or a corner it is rigid and aligned unlike anything I've built before.

Yes, friends it really shouldn't be so surprising, as when you're a master craftsman like me, I guess it just falls into place... yeah right, read on...

There was something about the picture above that bugged me, and I was trying to figure out what it was. I started to measure for the holes, and it struck me like a static discharge off a door knob.

There's not enough clearance between the Y-Axis and the X-table... and the damn table isn't even mounted yet.

I'd calculated 4" of clearance and designed around that premise. The problem is I allowed 4" between the rods and forgotten to make allowances for the Aluminum channels and for the 3/4" table.

If I do nothing I can mill an inch an 7/16ths thick foam, which will be a real hassle as foam typically comes in 2" boards.

So again, I find my smug demeanor deflated, as I have to either move the lower rod upwards a inch (which sucks furiously, as the Y-Axis will never be as parallel as it is now and that will introduce issues of binding). Or I may just drop the lower rod entirely and hope that the cutter doesn't deflect the sliders on the upper rod to the point of binding due to the leveraging effect of the now excessive height it has to travel with no lower support...

Master craftsman, my ass... I knew this was going too well...

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