Originally Posted by WynPro  I do some engraving running the machine at 3200 RPM Redlined and would be interested on seeing a picture of your router setup on the quill. |
Here is the only pic I could find of it. It isn't pretty, the "outrigger" itself has been cut up and modified 3 times. It used to hold a little air die grinder which I found spectacularly useless, then a "rotozip" spiral saw which required having it's bearings replaced every two weeks or so-- I crashed it bad one day and bent it's spindle, so I bought the bosch and it works very well. It has been going for about 6 months and is just now looking like it is going to need a rebuild. I have all the parts to make a ER32 HS spindle insert, I just need time to finish it up. It will be belt driven from a big 2HP router.
Originally Posted by Horsedorf OH my, that is superb! Thumpin' car stereos tha tlook great. 
I'd love to know how you got the different colored reflections in the Phoeinx though, some areas were orange the other's yellow, how did you do that? That looked fantastic! |
Both of the amps I did for customers are going to be wall art. The Big black one is already in a beautiful frame and hanging on the guys wall. The one with the Phoenix is going to be used in a home theater room and framed and mounted as well.
The color gradient was all trial and error. I didn't even know if it would be possible to get it to come off remotely close to what I envisioned. The leds are grouped by color along the long edge of the acrylic, the reason the bird lights up different colors is only because the cut is grabbing the light, and it is more in line with one color than the other. I searched online to try to find out if a gradient was possible, and as far as I can tell no one had tried it, and if they had, they had not posted up their results...
Originally Posted by Geof Cast acrylic should be a 'happy' plastic to machine but extruded is difficult.
Have you tried a very fine mist of soapy water as coolant/lubricant? It is necessary to be careful with what fluids get near acrylic but very mild liquid soap is okay. |
I have machined some cell cast acrylic, and really didn't notice as much difference as folks claim. From what I understand, it is rare to find cast in the thinner acrylic sheets I use. I have been using extruded acrylic almost exclusively. The only time I have seen it getting even a little bit gummy w/ the onsrud cutters is when I am using a Vee bit and a very shallow cut.
I've tried windex, which works pretty well for cutting fluid, but I found that compressed air is nearly as good, and it has the benefit of not destroying the MDF spoilboards I use for backing up the work.
Originally Posted by Radigan I have had some luck using WD-40 as a lube. Kind of messy but it worked. |
You need to be careful with oils and acrylic or polycarbonate. From what I understand, a lot of fluids won't impact them right away, but will cause crazing and hazing over time.
Later,
Jason