tv casualty "erik" seen my ghetto cnc hotwire in the starship enterprise background. he asked to see more photos of it. it looks pretty rough, but works well. randy.
Thanks Randy that is really good info. I find myself everyday getting more and more into CNC as a hobby rather then just a means to get out another airplane! I'm really looking forward to taking a break on aircraft and taking some time and designing my own machines. This is all too much fun.
thanks erik.....hey have your father check out my homemade wire temp controller...its very hardcore, runnin on 115volts, turn a 5 foot long wire red hot, lols. he will get a kick outta it. heck they should have the old monkey doin gecko commercials, lols.randy.
Randy, can we get a picture or two of the whole machine? With that and the PP, there isn't much you couldn't build!! Tim AG4RZ
Thanks for the photo Randy! Gives me an idea of what I would need to do mechanically to get one going!! Tim AG4RZ
Randy, In the 2nd picture, you have the pipe mounted with an adjustable block. Where did you get those and what are they called? Thanks, Tim
i made them my self..... as far as what to call them the adjustable block sounds good, lols. all they are is a block with four tapped holes in the sides. square wood ones are easier to make, and work well. i used wood on the phlatprinter. make sure you go bigger on the shaft hole so it has plenty of slop for moving. also they dont have to be precision made, as i just use hand tools here at the home work shop. randy.
I too have often thought about building a CNC hot wire cutter. After building and fine tuning the PhlatPRinter, the hot wire cutter seems simple I have cut a few cores by hand with templates I made w/ my PhlatPrinter, and so far that has been working well for me. What software are you using to run it?
rcav8r, it is called foamworks. i really just like to cut ribs on the phlatty outta foam or balsa....i like the old school look of covering....randy.
Tim (and Randy) - I sent a copy of Randy's photo above to McMaster-Carr, asking where I could find that adjustable mounting flange and what they were called. Her (Joan) response: "We checked into your flange and we do not carry it with the set screws. The item pictured appears to be a modified black steel flange, like our part number 68095K236. We checked with several of our vendors and they are unable to manufacture with the set screws." Wow, maybe one of us should start manufacturing them for the rest of the world.
I'll throw an idea out there, I saw someone cutting mdf. Why not make the part out of MDF and use Hurricane nuts on the inside of the hole then just use bolts.
Thanks for the answers Randy. Dennis, I never even thought about sending a picture to McMaster-Carr. James, I was thinking about using threaded inserts http://www.mcmaster.com/#threaded-inserts/=72s098 like these. They are installed with an allen wrench and should work quite well. Tim
the adjuster block dont have to be fancy at all...i made mine out of mdf long ago, and just tapped the wood, and used ca to harden the threads. they work well. if you want to make up some good ones use aluminum. but all they really do is align the rods. randy.
