Home Made CNC cutting aluminum clock gear 1/4" thickness Part 2

[ftownroe]

Is that completed gear ready to run or does it need further shaping? It's just that the tooth shape looks somewhat rounded over.

[AtienzaLouie]

@ftownroe I'm honestly not sure, as that was the way it was in the CAD file...

[175myles]

Please rename this to "part 2" it will make it less confusing for people who don't actually read the description.

[AtienzaLouie]

@175myles Fine. God forbid I confuse 26 out of 32,300 viewers!

[175myles]

@AtienzaLouie, Watch your likes rise =D

[Christophercruznavar]

@AtienzaLouie Lol... I completely missed your link since youtube's condensing of the description hides it behind the drop down. Glad I wasn't one of the ones that downvoted. (Just a suggestion, if you have the time for it; you can add a quick annotation to the video to link people.)

Impressive work btw. Is that single motor with belts driving threaded rods on both sides or just one?

[AtienzaLouie]

@Christophercruznavar Yes, I'm using timing belts to drive both leadscrews on the X axis. There are benefits and problems of going either way, but this way seemed to give me the least headaches. These are actually 8-start ACME leadscrews with delrin anti-backlash leadnuts.

[Christophercruznavar]

@AtienzaLouie I think the reason why you got some thumbs down is because your video title is misleading. When i saw it i was expecting to be watching your cnc in the actual process of cutting the aluminum, not just the finished product.

[AtienzaLouie]

@Christophercruznavar Yes, I mis-titled the video, but I think if people actually read the description they'd see the link to the actual machining video.

I actually posted this as a demonstration of the machine for my build thread in the CNC Zone, with part 1 actually the machining video, and this was to show the actual cut quality. I guess for some odd reason, this has become my most watched video, but if you go to my channel you'll see I have plenty of videos demonstrating aluminum cutting

[mic363]

nice work

[AtienzaLouie]

@mic363 Thanks! Though I am at a loss for all the thimbs-downs?! It's a darn machining video, not Justin Bieber!

[ChevyTBlover]

Where do you get your metal?

[AtienzaLouie]

@ChevyTBlover Look for mic-7 cast aluminum on eBay...

[HeadShot360IN]

what type of g-code did you use? was it a special gear cam or was it just zig-zag to cut it out?

[AtienzaLouie]

@HeadShot360IN Not sure I understrand the question, but I used profile toolpaths to cut both the pockets and outer profile.... It's a gear for a metal clock, the plans are on the CNC Zone if you dig through...

[HeadShot360IN]

@AtienzaLouie okay, so it was profiling...i've been doing for 3d stuff and that just does zig-zag, and when i was trying to cut out gears, zigzags wouldn't work unless the stepover was 0.0001inches :|

[AtienzaLouie]

@HeadShot360IN Hmmm what software are you using? Definitely more efficient to profile cut this rather than using pocketing... Check my youtube channel for the cutting video...

[AtienzaLouie]

Maybe I didn't resond correctly; this is the finish straight off the router, I just used dishwashing soap and a toothbrush to remove the oil and swarf...

[AtienzaLouie]

Thanks rodjava!

I just used the 1/8" spiral-"o"-flute bit from Amana for the whole job, climb cutting the whole way, I'm a bit impatient; I could have gotten an even finer finish, cleaning up with a 1/8" 2-flute bit, taking less than .005", cutting conventional, which is what I do when I want the edge to look nicer. As is, the finish came out OK...

Hope all's well, haven't seen you on the forum lately... your machine is still killer!

[rodjava]

Great end.

How did you clean up and finish the part? In between the gears, it looks very shiny.

Thanks again