What Did You Do Today 2026

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

Still plugging away at the Carvera Air cnc mill. I have redesigned the con rods that I’ve previously machined and they are waiting in the wings to be made.  They are now split big end rods with bronze bearings.  I’ve been held back waiting for the delivery of materials and (quite frankly) lethargy on my part!  I have, though, spent a serious amount of time working at the design in Alibre Atom and Fusion 360 (for the G-code).  Each iteration throws up some sort of obstacle and I find that I’m in need of a fixture plate to hold the blank material.  That’s all designed and G-coded, just waiting for me to get out to the workshop and get a move on.

While pondering on work-holding in general, I thought that a low profile vice would be a nice addition to my arsenal and, as luck would have it Makera make a rather natty one, but it only fits the New Makera Z1 and Z1 pro, which have different work table hole spacing from the Carvera Air  I fired off an email to Makera support and swiftly got a reply, confirming the vice won’t fit Straight into my mill.  A period of head scratching ensued and a series of “conversations” with a Google bot later, I have decided to make a sub-table to fit to the Carvera Air, with a set of pre-drilled and tapped holes (circled red, below) by which the Z1 vice can be attached and located with suitably placed dowel pins.

At last – what I did today!  It took 7½ hours to print, but I 3D printed the sub table in grey PETG filament.  If I say so myself, it looks reasonable.  The dowel holes aren’t there yet – I’m awaiting Makera’s confirmation of their exact coordinates – so I’ll add those to the final version before cutting any metal.  The sub plate will be 8mm thick, so I won’t be losing much headroom and I can claw some of that back, if necessary, by removing the stock spoil board.

Here’s a photo of said sub-plate:

Doesn’t look too bad, does it?  The camera doesn’t lie, but it certainly can flatter!

John

 

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