Blocklayer.com – feedback and ideas

This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 8 January 2022 at 17:08 by Clock polisher.

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8 January 2022 at 10:57 #579211
Steve355
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@steve355
Hi all

Disclaimer – I have no link to blocklayer.com…

… but I have used the calculators on that site for building a number of projects, specifically making a roof and a brick arch for my pizza oven in my back garden. Being a DIY moron it has been a great resource.

Recently I’ve been using the rpm / pulley calculator on there to try to work out the problems with my horizontal mill.

I got chatting with Greg, the chap who owns the site, and suggested to him that some machining based calculators may be useful for a large community of hobby machinists. I suggested a surface speed calculator – easy enough would be good. But there are plenty of these around. So I suggested a dividing plate template calculator (I recently bought a little dividing head which will need more plates) as I haven’t seen one elsewhere, and my son has a 3d printer. He knocked it up pretty much overnight and it looks great – see link.

**LINK**

So the questions – feedback on the dividing plate template – what does Greg need to do to make it really useful? – and what other machining calculators might be useful (ideally ones that aren’t ubiquitous)? I’m a beginner at machining so many of you are far better placed to make useful suggestions.

I thought for example a sine bar calculator might be good. Or some gear calculators. Tapers? If you browse around the site you can see the other calculators he has built in other domains.

thanks

Steve

Edited By Steve355 on 08/01/2022 11:02:04
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8 January 2022 at 10:57 #28506
Steve355
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@steve355
8 January 2022 at 11:21 #579214
Michael Gilligan
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@michaelgilligan61133
That’s very nicely done

Congratulations to Greg … and many thanks to you, Steve, for inspiring him

MichaelG.
8 January 2022 at 12:54 #579236
Bazyle
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@bazyle
Looks interesting.

I can't remember when I posted it on here but I found a 3D design on Thingiverse written in openscad that allows you to customise in the same way. Instant 3d printer file to import into the slicer. I printed a test piece for 73 (for metric conversion gears) as a ring to save time and plastic. Don't be frightened of openscad it is only simple entering the numbers into the list of parameters where it says.
8 January 2022 at 17:08 #579271
Clock polisher
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@clockpolisher
Good evening,

I have a small 3" tilting rotary table with a Unimat 3 chuck screwed onto it.

I've started to use this program to print out circles, a larger diameter than the chuck, with the required number of points on it for various clock parts, 7 and 9 etc.

I cut the circle out and make a hole in the middle, then fit it to the rotary table between the chuck and backplate.

Using an external datum point it is then easy to wind the table round to the correct place.

I've only done a couple up to now but as proof of concept it worked ok.

I too have no connection with the software.

regards,

David

Edited By Clock polisher on 08/01/2022 17:08:15
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