woensdag 9 december 2009

Some time ago I became the proud owner of a TAIG CNC mill. As you can see in the next pic, it has quite an oversized motor to drive the spindle: Even though the z-axis stage has no problem lifting the weight of this motor, there were several reasons why I wanted to have the option to put on another one:

1. Tool rotational speed
While you can change the spindle rotation rate by repositioning the belt, the tool still rotates quite fast at the highest reduction ratio. For milling low melting point materials like PMMA, this can be a problem. The new motor is a DC motor used in servo systems, it generates a torque even at very low speeds.

2. Vibrations and noise
The original motor is pretty quiet, but still generates a bit more vibration than desirable for late night milling in a 4th floor small appartment. :-)

3. Mains voltage
To operate the 110V motor from 230V, a bulky transformer is needed. It generates a hum that can be annoying and takes up valuable tablespace.

4. Oversized
I'll use the mill to make small parts, not to mill 2 inch slots in heavy steel. So I hardly ever need the power of the original motor. If I do at some point, I can always put it back on as needed.

5. Wear
Having less (off-centered) weight on the z-stage will help to prevent wear on its slideways, bearings and drive spindle.

So enough reasons to let the original motor aid in its own demise and use the TAIG to make a mount for the new one.

First a drawing was made in VCarvePro, and this was used to generate the toolpaths:


After simulating the actions of these toolpaths, this is an impression of what the part will look like: This is what it looks like right in the real world, just after milling:
After cleaning up the chips: Notice the tabs that can easily be added in VCarvePro: Without them the part would come loose on the last pass, which can cause all kinds of trouble.

After having removed the tabs by hand:
The finished part:
With the motor attached:
And on the mill:
At low speeds, the motor is almost noiseless and this allows one to enjoy just the sound of the steppers and the beautiful soft hiss of metal being cut.

woensdag 7 januari 2009

Hydrophobia...

No, don't worry, I haven't developed an intense fear of water. But the edges of my plates have. I've used Rain-Clear on them. It's originally used to make car windshields water-repellent to improve your visibility during rain. Instead of clinging to the surface, drops just run off the glass.

I coated one side of the plates completely and only a small border around the edges on the other side. Now during pouring the gelatin only sticks to the uncoated region, and the edges dry more evenly, resulting in very uniform coatings.

WARNING: It looks like this stuff really forms a chemical bond to the glass. It's probably a silane compound with a very hydrophobic group at the end. Even after cleaning many times, it's still on the plates. A good thing if you want to reuse the plates, but make sure you don't get the tiniest drop of the stuff on the region you want coated.

dinsdag 6 januari 2009

Holomania...

This weekend I was struck by holomania. It's a well known side effect of inhaling the sweet vapors of iso-propanol for a prolonged time.. ;-)

So I made a couple of plates.. Well, OK, a bit more than a couple... :-)


After exposing and developing nearly all of them, these two looked best:



Very satisfied once again!