Lasercutters and 3D printers are overrated, We'll soon have three CNC machines though! Russel/Jakes and Nicks will be fantastic for heavy duty metal, mine will be perfect for large sheets of material..
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Thanks guys, I was thinking the leadscrew covers maybe a bit of a gimmick, then i realised they're probably quite useful particularly if you're anal about maintaining your equipment

angus: you haz a CnC project?
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<Patrician|Away> what does your robot do, sam
<bovril> it collects data about the surrounding environment, then discards it and drives into walls

Yursh, an M3 from Lumenlabs. Bought and paid for, just waiting for the lead time to run its course, they say Feb... Custom fabrication ftw...
http://lumenlab.com/d/micro
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Definitely not a gimmick after you have brushed out razor sharp swarf every 10 minutes - the more high-end you go, the more covers you see!

So we are at: 6 lathes, 2 CNC mills, 1 CNC router and one or two manual mills. That is pretty impressive, perhaps we should do a full catalogue for the new web site? Power tool show 'n tell story.

@ Angus: don't say 3D printing is rubbish - I just finished designing some printable antweight parts . Printers are not so great for large parts, but the little stuff is good value.

Didn't say it's rubbish you summed it up though, only really good for small parts like antweights. When combat robots are involved anyway! They're a fantastic technology. A machine show and tell sounds great! I love showing off >_>
/jaemus thread hijack
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ooh, cnc goodness for angus!

You guys are welcome to hijack my thread anytime, i would consider it an honour.

The parting tool; you said it was too small for your lathe? So it ought to be about right for mine

Anyway photos and such when it arrives!
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<Patrician|Away> what does your robot do, sam
<bovril> it collects data about the surrounding environment, then discards it and drives into walls

hijack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frIssODebKA
mill upgrades
acceleration on the axies went from 100 to 3800 on x, 2000 on y and 800 on Z.
Top speed is now 7.5 meters a minute, though there is a bit of oscillation there might do with some more tuning.

the new accelerations make it feel like the mill is breaking every time it stops, its just screaming along at 7 meters a minute then its stopped dead.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/general_metal_working_machines/118358-phenolic_basalt_head_our_hm45.html for the build thread
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Mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets

wow

kinda awesome
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<Patrician|Away> what does your robot do, sam
<bovril> it collects data about the surrounding environment, then discards it and drives into walls

I am slowly getting RepRap together. Then we can start breeding more for NSW.
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

Can the RepRap do tougher plastics nowadays? Last time I looked the only materials did not look strong enough for bots.

Perhaps we should take all this over to the Machining thread...

I wouldn't use it for anything above beetles but I am pretty impressed with whatever the machine I have is printed in. There is a few issue with accuracy but I reckon I can make some pretty good Ants out of it. I think the typical materials are ABS and PLA. Which is probably what you looked at back in the day but the thermoplastic pellets have been used pretty successfully in a few bots.

I was going to move the thread but not sure how to. I can split posts.... but dunno how to move them to machining thread.
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

Help! We need some moderator magic so Jaemus can have his thread back

@ Marto: have you looked at the Makerbot fabricator? I like the construction method and they seem to be evolving the design rapidly. The Thing-o-matic almost looks like something I would buy.

It's cool, im finding it interesting
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<Patrician|Away> what does your robot do, sam
<bovril> it collects data about the surrounding environment, then discards it and drives into walls

Yeh I have heard some good and some bad things. I think its a bit more out of the box solution than a reprap. But you can achieve better results with the reprap. I would think of the makerbot as a consumer solution and the reprap as a learning solution.

Steve
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Steven Martin
Twisted Constructions
http://www.botbitz.com

Lathe FINALLY arrived yesterday!



All good, ive already machined up a miniature lightsabre just to play with it and see how it works and eerily like Angus i've already broken a chinese parting off tool

Occupies my entire bench despite being so tiny

The chip tray was a bit bent up, likely from the two trips to NSW from VIC that it made, and one of the little handles was missing (i just use the one from the tailstock clamp and change it between that and the toolpost clamp) but otherwise all good, and i got an 11pc crappy tool set and a follow rest and a steady rest cos of all the dicking around

Already have an MT2 drill chuck for the tailstock, now i just need a live centre and a 4 jaw chuck, oh and some stock! Have placed an order
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<Patrician|Away> what does your robot do, sam
<bovril> it collects data about the surrounding environment, then discards it and drives into walls