Cutting a switch knob from 6061 aluminum using a CNC mill as a lathe

[Ray262626]

nice job on the part and the video. I made a new video for my website miloeng.com.

I wish I would have used your video skills. -Ray

[dav1dh0ff]

how have i never seen this cutting strategy before?! brilliant!

[WingChunLover2]

Is the component holding the piece a typical jaw chuck, or did you just shove the thing into the collet?

[devers6]

@WingChunLover2 Yes, it is being held by a 3/8" collet. Far less runout than with a chuck, although I do have an R8-mounted 3-jaw chuck to hold larger pieces as seen in my other videos. I had been initially thinking of having the collet grab the stock automatically using my pneumatic drawbar, but I figured by the time I got all the kinks out of that with the additional programming, I could just do all the parts manually mounting them - and I did.

[W4llyB4nger]

Very cool. way to think outside the box.

[Bigwingrider1800]

 Yea dont worry about the negitive (haters). well done. i was doing that 20 yrs ago on a manual mill (just step pins). looking to get a machine.do you still like it? and if not what would you get? thanks

[devers6]

I did 20 of them in an afternoon, all exactly the same. I did them for fun, for free, for some friends. That's the point. If you don't want to come across as a hater, maybe you should just think twice about opening your mouth.

[motogpphil]

I dont mean to just come across as a cyber hater, but may I ask whats the point?

I could make thet in not much longer on a manual lathe.

As JohnGrimsmo said not enough speed, not enough feed to break the chip and too small cuts.

So why?

[nitronovice]

first time i've seen a mill used that way!

just started machining at school, and i'm loving it :)

[jtjoser]

Nice thinking of using the mill as a lathe, I never thought of that! Also, great job on the recording!

[powaybob]

Cool! I used to write Fortran II for a PDP-7. 1968 I think. Frankly, I don't remember the switches. By the way, the point of your cutoff tool should be reversed. The longer tip should be against the part.

[cooks9]

Also. I know nothing about the whole CNC lathe thing but I was wondering how you made the machine cut the shapes you wanted.

Do you program the movements with a computer?

[devers6]

Yes, there is a computer controlling motors for the X (side-to-side), Y(front-to-back) and Z (up-down) motion. A program called Mach3 controls these axes in sequence and in sync, using a series of commands called "G-Code" to direct the cutting of the necessary shapes. Home CNC is a rising hobby with many companies offering low cost components to help create these machines. I find it quite rewarding to have a machine that I can control so precisely and with so much versatility.

[cooks9]

Like a laptop computer or some kind of integrated computer?

I have a growing interest for a machine like this and this is the first and biggest question I have.

[cooks9]

May I kindly ask how you got that kind of clarity in your video? I have an HD camera and when I download footage on to youtube it makes it very low quality.

I thought youtube was supposed to detect if the video was HD or not.

[JohnGrimsmo]

As the other guys said, extremely high quality filming! Reminds me of the GlacernMachineTools channel. Very neat how you converted the X3 to a lathe, although you should be able to spin that part waaay faster than 800rpm. On my lathe I'd run it at full speed, 2400rpm. Great job though!

[devers6]

What a kind comment! I have recently found the Glacern web site, and to be compared to them in any way is most flattering. I am really just an accidental videographer (if it's good, it's an accident); but I try to concentrate on lighting and using the camera on a tripod to make the videos easier to watch. Glad that the effort is appreciated.

[chrisjh777]

Great Effort!!! Great photography. What is tha part number of the trigon inserts? I need to get some.

Regards chrisjh777.

[kinglonewolf104]

Cool video. I liked the bit where you zoomed in at the end to show the precise cutting.

&eB

[YoungJim409]

Thanks for putting some effort into the cinematography. There are many videos of people making neat things like this, but whose videos are blurry/shaky/filmed with a cell phone, and unpleasant to watch because of it.