Handy 3d prints for the workshop

[ukracer]

It's for speed mate just to see if it cuts better at a shallow angle.

 

[Screwdriver]

LOL. That looks well used!

I might revisit the design and see if I can come up with something...

 

[Screwdriver]

Meanwhile, anyone else got one of these bent tin allen key racks?

I am sick to death of trying to poke those blasted things back into their holes. So I did this:

Grab a photo, pop up into 3D, model some holes and make them into funnels.

Now the allen keys drop right in... <phew> Been meaning to make one of those for ages.

 

[ukracer]

Meanwhile, anyone else got one of these bent tin allen key racks?

I am sick to death of trying to poke those blasted things back into their holes. So I did this:

Grab a photo, pop up into 3D, model some holes and make them into funnels.

Now the allen keys drop right in... <phew> Been meaning to make one of those for ages.

I have a couple of those things. remarkably useful as they are Orange handles for imperial and Blue for Metric BUT the best part is even if I use one else where it gets put back because it has a home..lol

Strangely I have just stopped for some food and only about an hour ago I used a metric 4mm as I had printed another blade holder as the old one was a bit rickety now..lol

 

[DAPPH]

I have a photographers guillotine with a 15 inch slightly blade on it , can visualise a solution for you .

eBay 255029561302

Some thing like that with an extension table & a simple over centre bar clamp to hold things in place whilst you guillotine things & a simple extension table with a settable stop on it should see you able crank off many many squares quite quickly

Or perhaps a bigger better device .
Two 8 inch 12 mm square tool steel blades or maybe even long lathe parting blades could be used as the shear blade and anvil on a printed base or metal welded /bolted up base. Just give the blade & anvil a speray with wd40 or white spirit and a wipe to keep them clean . use a hefty spring & to keep the blade pressed to the anvil

Another thought is have a look at the needle work items for a rotary cutting wheel tool . they are horrifically sharp & IIRC can be mounted on a shaft with a draw bar block to give you a stroke cut ... like a tilers tile cutter over a fairly long distance if the cutter is set on two stout fairly decent guide rods such as 12 mm precision drill rod . Run the cutter along a precision ground edge to get a brilliant clean cut . You could also set things so that you can cut an angled shape like diamonds if you want to make loads of individual roof tiles / shingles .

 

[ukracer]

I have a photographers guillotine with a 15 inch slightly blade on it , can visualise a solution for you .

eBay 255029561302

Some thing like that with an extension table & a simple over centre bar clamp to hold things in place whilst you guillotine things & a simple extension table with a settable stop on it should see you able crank off many many squares quite quickly

Or perhaps a bigger better device .
Two 8 inch 12 mm square tool steel blades or maybe even long lathe parting blades could be used as the shear blade and anvil on a printed base or metal welded /bolted up base. Just give the blade & anvil a speray with wd40 or white spirit and a wipe to keep them clean . use a hefty spring & to keep the blade pressed to the anvil

Another thought is have a look at the needle work items for a rotary cutting wheel tool . they are horrifically sharp & IIRC can be mounted on a shaft with a draw bar block to give you a stroke cut ... like a tilers tile cutter over a fairly long distance if the cutter is set on two stout fairly decent guide rods such as 12 mm precision drill rod . Run the cutter along a precision ground edge to get a brilliant clean cut . You could also set things so that you can cut an angled shape like diamonds if you want to make loads of individual roof tiles / shingles .

I will get round to replying to all suggestions but I think I tried a rotary cutter and it does not cut well.
What the difference between these two other than 90 quid.

 

[ukracer]

I have a photographers guillotine with a 15 inch slightly blade on it , can visualise a solution for you .

eBay 255029561302

Some thing like that with an extension table & a simple over centre bar clamp to hold things in place whilst you guillotine things & a simple extension table with a settable stop on it should see you able crank off many many squares quite quickly

Or perhaps a bigger better device .
Two 8 inch 12 mm square tool steel blades or maybe even long lathe parting blades could be used as the shear blade and anvil on a printed base or metal welded /bolted up base. Just give the blade & anvil a speray with wd40 or white spirit and a wipe to keep them clean . use a hefty spring & to keep the blade pressed to the anvil

Another thought is have a look at the needle work items for a rotary cutting wheel tool . they are horrifically sharp & IIRC can be mounted on a shaft with a draw bar block to give you a stroke cut ... like a tilers tile cutter over a fairly long distance if the cutter is set on two stout fairly decent guide rods such as 12 mm precision drill rod . Run the cutter along a precision ground edge to get a brilliant clean cut . You could also set things so that you can cut an angled shape like diamonds if you want to make loads of individual roof tiles / shingles .

I have loads of shingles. Lol

 

[DAPPH]

This is the 60 mm dia cutting wheel I've been thinking of :- eBay # 154396186020 on of them locked to steel spindle running in printed axle blocks that form part of the slider handle sliding along bright steel 12 mm
runners or drill rod
Re the cheap guillotine .. the curved 5 mm thick blade type hinged at the rear end & pressed to the anvil by the big spring is I suspect stronger & better , for the blade is ground at an angle and the anvil is also ground undercut so you can easily cut 3/16 inch thick backing carboards accurately .

 

[DAPPH]

Just had a thought .
Get a precision water cut or milled profile male & female in a thick plate & use a long pull down lever & push out spring plate .. to punch out the shingles .

That could give you a double wavy end , a rounded end or a heart shaped end to each 18 inch long shingle , like those on my log cabin roof . Have enough different profiles and you could be able to punch out a dozen or more different ends for whatever orders you get .

 

[ronan]

What printers are you all using ? I might take the plunge if not too expensive !

 

[ukracer]

Just had a thought .
Get a precision water cut or milled profile male & female in a thick plate & use a long pull down lever & push out spring plate .. to punch out the shingles .

That could give you a double wavy end , a rounded end or a heart shaped end to each 18 inch long shingle , like those on my log cabin roof . Have enough different profiles and you could be able to punch out a dozen or more different ends for whatever orders you get .

I only create one item mate.

It's a 275mm square of 2mm Esterflex SBS Roofing felt.
But that square has a 50mm square hole in the center.

The press video you see was a prototype and it worked brilliantly. But it seems they changed the material and it's a lot more plyable. Some rolls are the same as we have always had so it's not the heat. The more flexible it is the worse it presses.
It's Definately different as it's much harder to put into piles as it more floppy.

As I say I have a deadline of Thursday evening as they have to be taken in ....loaded and sent in a load going to Scotland on Friday.

Good news is I got 8 rolls sliced into 275m X 1 metre.

And half way through those slices cutting them into 3. (Plus some scrap!)
The 50mm center hole cuts are really quick but we think it's twisting on the spigot that's holding it in the press , so is stopping cutting cleanly. I am putting a flat on one side and a bigger bolt as the small grub screw is shouting "stop stop". Lol

Have you got more details on "
Just had a thought .
Get a precision water cut or milled profile male & female in a thick plate & use a long pull down lever & push out spring plate .. to punch out the shingles .". Links or anything?

I did mill that punch out but it's crude and made to fit a piece of box section. Welded to a plate to hold it in the press (as we needed a quick test)

I have planned to mill some steel I can get hardened but like everything forgot to do it as the prototype worked so well for the last 4000 we did 6 months ago.

 

[ukracer]

What printers are you all using ? I might take the plunge if not too expensive !

The posh rich ones have Prusas. The less affluent ones have Ender 3's and the geeks/ ones that like a challenge have Anycubics.

 

[Screwdriver]

The more flexible it is the worse it presses.
It's Definately different as it's much harder to put into piles as it more floppy.

Like I said earlier, you need to have a spring loaded hold down mounted above the cutter which clamps the material before the punch hits it. On some of my tooling, it is a simple ring of compressible urethane. The punch and die fit inside that ring. The punch only needs to go a few mm through the material so the spring doesn’t need to have much travel either.

This is on a flypress (which I would strongly recommend) but for your purposes a simple square frame mounted on steel springs would be ideal.

 

[ukracer]

Like I said earlier, you need to have a spring loaded hold down mounted above the cutter which clamps the material before the punch hits it. On some of my tooling, it is a simple ring of compressible urethane. The punch and die fit inside that ring. The punch only needs to go a few mm through the material so the spring doesn’t need to have much travel either.

This is on a flypress (which I would strongly recommend) but for your purposes a simple square frame mounted on steel springs would be ideal.

Any pics or photos as I can't visualise it.

I really need to make a better jig as it does not actually fit flat to the plate before it's pressed.

 

[ukracer]

Like I said earlier, you need to have a spring loaded hold down mounted above the cutter which clamps the material before the punch hits it. On some of my tooling, it is a simple ring of compressible urethane. The punch and die fit inside that ring. The punch only needs to go a few mm through the material so the spring doesn’t need to have much travel either.

This is on a flypress (which I would strongly recommend) but for your purposes a simple square frame mounted on steel springs would be ideal.

I used to have a number 3 flypress but sold it as I never used it and it took up loads of space..lolmight look for a smaller one. But I think the throat will be too small..

 

[Screwdriver]

Any pics or photos as I can't visualise it.

I really need to make a better jig as it does not actually fit flat to the plate before it's pressed.

Obviously just a hack to show the principle. Green bit is spring and presses on the table. It is fixed to the arbor arm and holds down the material, then the springs compress and the punch engages etc.

On some of mine I have a large urethane ring inside a telescopic body which fits around the punch.

 

[ukracer]

Obviously just a hack to show the principle. Green bit is spring and presses on the table. It is fixed to the arbor arm and holds down the material, then the springs compress and the punch engages etc.

On some of mine I have a large urethane ring inside a telescopic body which fits around the punch.

Ok now I can visualise that one.

But not a polyurethane ring version.

 

[Screwdriver]

Urethane "spring" in green. It is an enclosure which you can insert standard punch tooling.

 

[DAPPH]

I only create one item mate.

It's a 275mm square of 2mm Esterflex SBS Roofing felt.
But that square has a 50mm square hole in the center.

The press video you see was a prototype and it worked brilliantly. But it seems they changed the material and it's a lot more plyable. Some rolls are the same as we have always had so it's not the heat. The more flexible it is the worse it presses.
It's Definately different as it's much harder to put into piles as it more floppy.

As I say I have a deadline of Thursday evening as they have to be taken in ....loaded and sent in a load going to Scotland on Friday.

Good news is I got 8 rolls sliced into 275m X 1 metre.

And half way through those slices cutting them into 3. (Plus some scrap!)
The 50mm center hole cuts are really quick but we think it's twisting on the spigot that's holding it in the press , so is stopping cutting cleanly. I am putting a flat on one side and a bigger bolt as the small grub screw is shouting "stop stop". Lol

Have you got more details on "
Just had a thought .
Get a precision water cut or milled profile male & female in a thick plate & use a long pull down lever & push out spring plate .. to punch out the shingles .". Links or anything?

I did mill that punch out but it's crude and made to fit a piece of box section. Welded to a plate to hold it in the press (as we needed a quick test)

I have planned to mill some steel I can get hardened but like everything forgot to do it as the prototype worked so well for the last 4000 we did 6 months ago.

Let me sketch a while tonight .. am being taken shopping right now with the love of my life

 

[indy4x]

Wasn't sure whether to post here or in Stuff You Made Today?

Am improving the wiring for my 3 phase converter, wanted to change from the big on/off switch to an NVR and Emergency Stop close to the lathe

Ordered a few bits from Amazon to do the job including a project box for the switch. It wasn't an ideal size and after it arrived I had one of those doh moments, kicked myself and then drew up a model to print out

This is the switch I bought



This is ths box and lid




The lid was modelled before the switch arrived from the dimensions in the Amazon listing



Bit of a bugger as the dimensions of the switch I recieved do not match the drawing and only 2 fixing holes not 3

Not the end of the world, PLA is cheap and it didn't take long to ammend the model in Inventor



Its currently printing