The various goings on in my workshop
Before I can concentrate on making the MF-TC for real, I needed to make my sash clamps. 12 of each of the main items were required as well as 24 of each side panel. Most of these were cut at the same time as the parts for the MF-TC, although ultimately I needed to buy…
Having settled on some designs, it was time to obtain some wood to turn into smaller pieces. On a trip to my local Selco, I bought 1220x2440mm sheets of 18mm plywood, 18mm moisture resistant MDF and 12mm plywood, as well as 4 x 3m lengths of 225x45mm rough sawn timber. I cut the end of…
A few years back I purchased some plans from Tim at Benchworks for a Multifunction Tool Cart or MF-TC and decided it was finally time I actually built one. Sketchup plans were included as part of the pack, and as I am 6’4″ tall, I decided to modify the plans slightly to make the work platform…
The next part of the articulating spacer was the brass wedges. First I cut a couple of pieces of bar stock then machined them to the correct width. then length. Next I drilled the holes for the stud. Drilled and tapped the holes in the end of the forked piece. Then setup for milling the…
This is the second part of the articulating spacer Here is the Fusion 360 drawing of the relevant part.This second piece is the rear plate that measures 10x100x16mm I did not take a full set of machining pictures for this one, as it is not a particularly complex part. The first operation was to square…
The articulating spacer for the SX2 is a design by Donald Bird that was posted on CNC Forums. The plans are all imperial, but this is a metric sized mill, so I converted all of the dimensions to metric and drew it up in Fusion 360.This first piece is the front mount plate that is…
Having finally decided on a layout for the plate in the control box, I decided it was time to drill and tap the holes for the motherboard and stepper drivers. The plate itself was previously used for something else, and so there are other extraneous holes dotted around the plate. 16 x M3 holes later,…
Next up were one of the bearing mounts, 3 of these are required as well. Here is the model of the mount. First I cut about a 60mm piece from a bar of 2 1/2″ (63.5mm) x 3/8″ (9.25mm) flat bar, this originally came from ebay seller diamondengineeringsupplies at a cost of £14.76 for an…
I finally decided to start making the mechanical parts for my CNC conversion. This is a drawing showing various stages of axis mount evolution in exploded form. The ones nearest the middle are the ones that I am actually going to build, starting with the stepper mounts. I have decided to go with 60mm square…
Back in January 2014 I bought a Vertex 6″ rotary table that came complete with a set of dividing plates, now whilst these are very useful, and I have already used them to make a 40 tooth gear for my lathe, you need to keep your wits about you and ensure that you are not…