Bed for 6040 CNC?

[Steve355]

On Steve355 Said:

one thing I do need to work out, is how to paint aluminium to a professional standard.

 

 

Have you considered anodising? Easy to DIY with very professional results.

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

That’s an interesting idea Andy. I hadn’t thought about that. I’ve toyed with the idea of electroplating before but never got around to it. I don’t know much about anodising- I’ll look it up.

[Andy_GParticipant @andy_g]

FWIW: This is how I do it – I recommend watching the Mark Presling video referenced as he explains it very well.

 

Anodising Process

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

Thanks Andy I will take a look at that 👍

 

I’ve been doing some tests on dowel pins and hole sizes. These are 8mm dowel pins. The holes, start at 8mm and increase by 1 thou as the holes go back. At 3 thou I get a tiny bit of play. At 2 thou there’s no discernible play but the dowel pins will be  tricky to get out if and when I want to do that. Any thoughts ? (Apart from about not mixing my units)

 

 

[Steve355]

On Steve355 Said:

At 3 thou I get a tiny bit of play. At 2 thou there’s no discernible play but the dowel pins will be  tricky to get out if and when I want to do that. Any thoughts ?

2.5 thou? 😀

(or 0.06mm, say).

I would err on the side of keeping them ‘snug. You could always warm the bed up to get them out if they’re a bit tight.

 

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Closing a drill chuck or ER collet onto them should make them easier to pull out if they are a bit tight. You can also file/grind a small flat so there is no suction to hold them in.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

You can also file/grind a small flat so there is no suction to hold them in.

Or drill a small hole all the way through the plate to let air in underneath.

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

So I used my new locator pins to align a lump of aluminium which will be a fixture as discussed previously. However, on inspection afterwards it’s 50 thou out or so in X and Y directions. I think I have an edge locating problem.

I tried to use a traditional rotating edge finder. However, I discovered that when my spindle says it is running at 1200 rpm, in fact it is running at several thousand rpm. My edge finder experienced a RUD. There’s no way to slow the spindle down to suitable rpms.

I looked online for an electronic edge finder but they all seem to require a 20mm collet and the biggest I have is 12 mm.

I improvised using a Z axis electronic probe, but it’s far from ideal.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

 

 

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

What collets are you using? can you get a 1/2″ as that is what I use for my electronic one.

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

It’s ER20, and I think I have a 1/2” collet. I certainly have a 13mm one. Which edge finder do you have?

Pic of dead one below. They don’t like going at 8000rpm.

Plus also jig, now accurate to a couple of thou, which is as good I think I’ll get it without a decent edge finder.

 

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I’ve a similar one to your first photo, only needs 5000rpm to do that!

This is the electronic one I use. Just enter 2.54mm when you touch the edge.

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

Looks great , and reduced price too –  4” long is quite a lot – but some bits I’m using are surely 3”. I’ll measure up in the morning and check I have the Z for it.

Thanks Jason.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Just be aware that there is no give if you overdo the jogging unlike the spring or probe types.

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

I have an MPG handheld jog dial thing set to 1 thou per division. I’m getting used to being careful!

[Steve355Participant @steve355]

Update…

I got the led edge finder and it is working very well. Naturally the first thing I did with it was hit go to zero and immediately crash it. But it still seems to work pretty accurately. Great product.

To improve my setup, I need better chip removal and cooling. Despite having dismissed Andy’s suggestion of IPA due to the flammable nature of it, it has so many positives it’s probably worth a go, if it really does use 5ml per hour. I could test it outside.

Is there a commercial system that people use, or any Chinese parts that are known to be good?

thanks

Steve

[Author]

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