SilverTriple's printing stuff...

[silvertriple]

After the first test, I wanted to do my first special part...
But before, as you have number for tools when you prepare the work, I went to makerworld and found a perfect storage for the tools to be used in a work...

(https://makerworld.com/en/models/1389826-carvera-air-cnc-6x-numbered-tool-bit-holder)

Next was to deal with some headhache : fixing a 300x200 fiber carbon plate on the CNC bed.
It's easy to position and do not pose any issues with the sensor for the Z probe. But fixing will require either custom made fixture or double face tape with strong tack. That's what I opted for. For the story, I consider doing a cut and some holes on this plate to fix it (the rear end of the Carvera Air can be opened to allow a cut on a long plate). At the end, double face tape is easy and convenient.


In the package, I did not find any drill bits (that something I'll have to supply). To overcome this, I considered a hole is a pocket and used for that a 2mm corn bit which will be also used for the countours. And I planned for the Chamfers before the outside countour... I already cut a fiber glass chassis at the fablab, but it was without the Carvera and using another software... But at the end it is not that different. I included tabs, but at the end they were useless since the double face was doing the job perfectly (I did add operations after the part was cut to remove the tabs).



I can say this is a success, hopefully the next work will be as successful...

[TravelinTravis]

Mmmm......Carbon fiber...yes please!

[silvertriple]

While I wanted to cut some aluminium, this was defered to later date due to an issue with Makera Cam and the step i'm trying to work with. I reported the issue and will wait for a resolution.

In the meantime, I decided to give a test ride to the 4th axis...


There is some instruction to follow precisely for the sample, otherwise you may rough cut the chuck. I paid attention when launching the gcode.


One thing to note, it's better to note where is the top side of the stock when using 4th axis, as if there is a power failure, it's probably better to be able to recover that position.
Anyway, after removing the mess after the rough cut here is what we have:


And then we proceed to the tool change and the finishing passes...


And here is the final result :


Overally the relief worked well. That's currently the only type of path supported by Makera Cam with the 4th axis. More may come, but no precision yet on their plans. I'm not fully sure yet what would be the best way to create gears, for examples. I'll have to find out...

[silvertriple]

The Laser module of the H2D is not thought to have a very heavy use.
My wife ordered some Aluminium red anodized tags on amazon, and she targets to use them to identify the covers for the poneys (there is two : Smartiz and Majesty, and their requirements in terms of covers are not the same, and there is about a dozen of covers per poney to cover all the seasons and weather). For me it is the occasion to test ride the laser with non Bambu Lab material.
First, I wanted to have an idea of the settings to use. I went to check on Xtool website (there is some parameters indicated for each and every material and type of processus), and it was apparently the same for Anodized aluminium, whatever the color of the material was. That makes it very easy then. In Bambu Suite, I just created a new material based on the black aluminium card material, and uploaded a picture of the material itself, and gave it a different name.
I also designed a small support as it will allow to set and forget the position once I do multiple in a row.

And the result is quite nice (here it is laser filling, I checked the laser line, the result is perfect as well). The jig allows to remove the need for orientation change, and I just have to position the element to mark on the material.

My wife is happy, I explained her how to use Bambu Suite and the H2D for this, and she will be able to do this by herself (as long as the machine is in laser configuration).

[Dadio]

That mill looks like a cool toy to play with .

[silvertriple]

That mill looks like a cool toy to play with .

It is, clearly... Expensive, though! On the other side, when working on the shafts for the Zerda, I clearly felt the need for such a toy...

The Carvera Air (and it is the same with the Carvera) relies on 1/8 shank bits. A collar is installed on the bit at a defined position to allow the tool changer or rapide tool changer to take the shank properly during tool change. I bought some drill bits on amazon to be able to work with some of my projects, and the default collar of those is not properly placed.


But Makera includes a tool for this... A part is used to remove bit collars.

It's not very long to remove all the previous bit collars...


And it's fairly easy to install the makera bit collars



I also installed an air pump (not without some adjustment as it was delivered with UK plug) next to the machine to feed the air assist, and that was the last thing absolutely required to work with metals...

[silvertriple]

I'm straight away saying one key thing : "Failing is learning"! This will take full sense later on this post, but it is key to understand my mindset working on those things...

Air assist is in place, it is time to experiment with Aluminium. Step down is 0.2mm, and harder material can be tackled with lower step down...


Had the material set, the paths defined, and the tools sorted


There is only thing to do which is to click run, and change tools when needed...








Next a bit of cleaning, because it's required (don't tell my wife I know how to use a vacuum, please )...




The finish is quite good... Now, I only dealt with a single face... Next is the bottom and the top of the parts where I need to drill and add threads
I first considered a printed part to hold the part...
But I was not really happy, so I decided to use the vice and the plate prepared in the fablab.

That said, I did not plan to use the vice this way, and when working out the lining of the vice anchor point, I did not took that point into account, so I have to input an offset to the work origin. I put 4 initially and it was a small mistake.

I over compensate the mistake on the second part, so the pod should be still centered, but I may have to review the rear part (or redo this parts better). I don't know yet, we'll see...


Anycase, I made those parts, and even with a half millimeter mistake (in total), I'm still very happy with the result... I'll work the data out so I can do better next times...

[silvertriple]

After a bit of search, I should have used the manual probe to set the origin of my work...

[silvertriple]

Yesterday, I did mistake. Decide I would redo the parts tonight once back from the office, but right this time...

The side definition was already good, so I just got it done again the same way.

Then came the bottom and top sides. I changed the way to set my work origin, using the X,Y,Z manual probe as showned in previous post...

The is one small thing to consider is that part need to be large enough to define the X and Y position. One part is not enough, but two is. With a small 3m pin in the rear holes to make sure they are set the same way and that's it. Once you defined the origin of the job, you just run the first part, then swap the parts, reset the origin (unless you are fully sure of the position, and in that case you can skip this) and run the job again for the second part before delaing with the second additional face...


And yes, threads are defined as well...



And in comparison to what I've done yesterday, you can see the difference by yourself. Note for self : don't do this mistake again