Etched enclosures

[darron]

most people use printer of some sort. i haven't seen a hand-drawn etch here for years i don't think.

[electrosonic]

Stereo cab sim (condor cab inspired)  / mixer / headphone amp



Andrew.

[vigilante397]

Andrew, aside from looking remarkably cool, that looks remarkably useful. 

[vigilante397]

Well, bad news time. When I said that the artwork being engraved by my CNC would take forever, that turned out to be about 9 1/2 hours. I had been letting it run for a couple hours or so then letting it cool down for awhile, but I got impatient and let it run the last 5 hours without stopping. About an hour from completion, the X-axis stopped moving, and upon inspection I found that the threaded bearing that connected it to the leadscrew (i.e. the thing that controlled how much it moves in which direction) was completely stripped out I ordered the replacement part which should be here within a week, but I need the pedal tomorrow so I decided to finish it up as is. It has a couple rough spots because aside from taking forever, it also broke 4 milling bits Never doing anything like this ever again.

So here it it, Merlin (vale wizard)'s U-Boat analog sub-octave made off the fabulous PCB from TH-Custom. The knobs were supposed to be labelled "Octave" and "Tone", but the machine broke before it could finish writing so I affectionately call it "THE TAVE"



LEDs mounted under clear-shaft pots with clear knobs



An obligatory gut shot. Not my tidiest ever, but admittedly in my top 5

[Perrow]

The Tave worked out beautifully.

I would've guessed it was the z-axis that broke (i.e. the one bringing the tool up and down). If the x-axis stopped working I thought we'd see a straight line dug somewhere on the enclosure

[duck_arse]

etched enclosures.

that allows me to ask "vigil, did you use the normal life of a thing connecting to a leadscrew in one pedal, or did you get a machine that won't survive your workload?", which I will now proceed to do.

vigil, did you, etc.

[vigilante397]

I would've guessed it was the z-axis that broke

The *cough* inconsistencies in the depth of some of the pockets came from a number of things: 1) The box was not perfectly level while engraving 2) Several bits broke, causing rough patches here and there and 3) related to 2) I had to start over a couple times with a different bit than before, causing very visible *cough* inconsistencies.

that allows me to ask "vigil, did you use the normal life of a thing connecting to a leadscrew in one pedal, or did you get a machine that won't survive your workload?

Suffice to say a little bit of both This was nowhere near the first pedal my machine has worked on, though it was definitely the most taxing. I didn't think my workload was that heavy, but the threaded pieces I stripped out are made of moderately soft brass, so it may just be poor design. Either way, the company that makes it sells spares for EVERY SINGLE PART OF THE MACHINE on their website, I don't even have to call or look through a stocklist. The part I stripped was $8 for a new one, so I ordered a spare just in case

I have another project I did before this one that I meant to put up, but I can't seem to find the pictures. They'll be up soon though

[Mustachio]

Hey it still came out looking pretty good! Breaking stuff is a right of passage, at least its a cheap easy fix

9 and a half hours seems pretty long for that design and at that size, how many passes , what was the depth per pass and what was the feed rate speed ? I know pocket milling takes much longer especially when the tip of the bit is small but 9 and a half hours seems a bit long.

Check out this page for feed rates and info on depth passes
http://www.2linc.com/engraving_assistance_feeds_speeds.htm

I'd check those rates against some others online and use it as a loose guide and adjust as needed.

I know one time I didn't check my feed rate on a new tool path, it was pre set to 100 inches per minute , I was using a 1/4" end mill and it snapped pretty fast. Another time my collet failed and a 1/4" end mill started coming loose and ran itself into the waste board pretty deep, luckly I hit stop in time!

[vigilante397]

That was with a feed rate of 200 mm/minute, which is approximately 7.87 inches/minute. I'm not positive what RPM my spindle was going at, but based on the voltage from the power supply I believe it's going to be around 7000-8000. I played around with feed rates and unfortunately my stepper motors just can't go faster than 200 without skipping steps So I've just accepted the fact that large complicated things like this (this was my first and will likely be my last with pockets) will take a very long time.

There are definitely a lot more exciting stories from this than from regular etching Like on this box I had it stuck to the table with double-sided tape, but I realized it wasn't quite aligned right, so I tried to pull it off without even thinking about how close my hand was to the spindle (it wasn't spinning at the time, I'm not that dumb ) with a brand new V-bit on it. The tape stuck pretty well but it gave all at once and the v-bit went straight through my thumbnail and into the flesh underneath. It's still a little tender. 

Anyway, very useful chart, thanks for that I'm looking into getting some proper steppers for my machine, and this will definitely be handy for motors that can actually handle speeds like that.

[Perrow]

The *cough* inconsistencies in the depth of some of the pockets came from a number of things

I had no problem with the inconsistencies in depth, what I meant was simply that if the x-axis stopped and the y-axis and z-axis continued working I would've thought it would carve a straight line somewhere on the enclosure (where the x-axis stopped).

[Mustachio]

Ouch! Vbit through the finger nail, that's gotta hurt! I know I've stabbed myself a few times but not that bad!

Some times slow and steady wins the race, I don't think going super fast with metals is a great idea, I think shallow passes is good and the right rpm spindle is key. Cutting oil will help big time but kinda smells(not that bad).

I was drilling some bar stock on the drill press last week and my bit got tired and wanted to take a nap haha, So I added a few drops of 3-in-1 oil and it started cutting like butter. It also threw some hot smoking hunks of steel on my hand and I couldn't move cause I was holding the piece by hand. Wasn't a big deal  didn't hurt really and you don't wanna wear gloves working on a drill press.

I think you might be able to use a larger clear out bit on some of the big areas of the pocket and then make another tool path to get the fine lines, split your work load up into multiple tool paths and give the machine a break in between.

 I don't know much about your machine , but it looks like a quality machine. It uses nema23 steppers right ? those are pretty good. I have a feeling your machine should do more then 200mm/min without skipping steps. I did a quick search and a forum post popped up saying people running them at 1500mm/min

http://forums.zentoolworks.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2430

[vigilante397]

I had never heard of using oil, but it seems like that could help a bit to smooth things out

As for the feedrate, there are two different leadscrews available for my machine, the F8 and the standard. I believe the max rate of the F8 is 1500, but if I understand right the max for the standard leadscrew (which I have) is 400 mm/min, still twice what I am running. I have no reason not to believe what I read in the forums, but for whatever reason my motors will not run smoothly above about 220 and I lose a lot of steps. I think I may post around Zentoolworks' forum and see if anyone else has had this problem.

And I believe it's been awhile since I've thanked you for all your help and advice on all things CNC, so I shall do it again

[mfunky]

AMZ  mini Booster with Battery in a 1590a. Unfortunately, the clear coat made the black paint flake, even though it is acrylic (and the black is based on "Kunstharz", another solvent...). Looks a but beat-up, let's call it "vintage" [emoji6]

[darron]

AMZ  mini Booster with Battery in a 1590a. Unfortunately, the clear coat made the black paint flake, even though it is acrylic (and the black is based on "Kunstharz", another solvent...). Looks a but beat-up, let's call it "vintage" [emoji6]

so unusual to see two audio jacks side-by-side, in-line with each other in a 1590A. i'm boggled to understand how there's possibly room but there I can see it.

[mfunky]

Glad you noticed the jack alignment, thanks! Gut shots for the booster can be found here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=111341.msg1024114. Here is a link to the 1590a picture thread, where I included a drill template for this: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=64752.msg1023485#msg1023485

[darron]

Glad you noticed the jack alignment, thanks! Gut shots for the booster can be found here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=111341.msg1024114. There is even a link to the 1590a picture thread, where I included a drill template for this.

whoa... lol cool thanks. and a battery :S

[mfunky]

darron, just had a look at your enclosures. Total envy, please tell me, that you do this for a living ;-)

[darron]

darron, just had a look at your enclosures. Total envy, please tell me, that you do this for a living ;-)

thanks heaps i started with acid etches, just think they are so raw and cool.. just the metal and the guts!

i do it full time as of very recently. the work has been there for are long time but i still don't pay myself enough

[mfunky]

I like etching as well, not only for the look. With etching, I can keep working on the boxes. With decal, I have to print, WAIT, clear coat, WAIT, slide on, WAIT, coat again, WAIT. And than, decals can produce unreliable results as well. Decals are like making a fruit salad, etching is grilling a T- Bone. Both food, yet different...

[darron]

I'd like to a see you drop an etched enclosure and ruin it with a little chip in the corner (sarcasm).

Haven't done one for a whole, but for a clear I used polyurethane spray designed to apply directly to aluminium car wheels. That stuff was tough.