MRDucks2
Member
So after the last Indy chapter meeting and a rudimentary demo of the X-Carve with a J-Tech laser, the obvious question was asked of "are you going to be able to do pens?"
Doing single lines like names and such is easy, the harder part would be wrapping the surface of a blank. A "true" rotary axis can easily run $500-800 for a smaller CNC machine. There are those available for $150-200 that I may try. But my thought was, why not one driven by the movement of the machine itself rather than another servo motor.
The mechanical ones on the internet seemed as though they were both overbuilt for pens and would not necessary be easy to adapt for the small diameters. So, I set out on my own using what I had learned.
My prototype is redneck and too flimsy, but I wanted a proof of concept before getting a machinist involved.
Here is what we have achieved.
Learning a ton and in the end hope to have a quick, repeatable fixture people can build or buy for $100 or less. We shall see and I will keep you posted.
Oh, and burnt sassafras makes the shop smell good, but tastes pretty bitter.
Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app
Doing single lines like names and such is easy, the harder part would be wrapping the surface of a blank. A "true" rotary axis can easily run $500-800 for a smaller CNC machine. There are those available for $150-200 that I may try. But my thought was, why not one driven by the movement of the machine itself rather than another servo motor.
The mechanical ones on the internet seemed as though they were both overbuilt for pens and would not necessary be easy to adapt for the small diameters. So, I set out on my own using what I had learned.
My prototype is redneck and too flimsy, but I wanted a proof of concept before getting a machinist involved.
Here is what we have achieved.
Learning a ton and in the end hope to have a quick, repeatable fixture people can build or buy for $100 or less. We shall see and I will keep you posted.
Oh, and burnt sassafras makes the shop smell good, but tastes pretty bitter.
Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app
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