Gemini Carver

[jtmullet]

Hello all I am brand new to the forum. I am a guitar builder based out of mid missouri but I am typing cause I am need of some help. I am in the process of building a pantograph router that is based on the gemini carver I pretty much got most of the parts sourced but I am needing some measurements so I was wondering if anyone out there has a gemini if they could help me here are the two measurements I need.
1st from the table to the top of the rail and 2nd fromthe bar that joins the pillow blocks to the outside edge of the stylus.http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r...ent=celloo.jpg
All help is much apreciated cheers.

[CarveOne]

jtmullet,

I started homebuilding one of those from the website photos a couple of years ago but didn't finish it. I ran into problems with the rollers not following the rails reliably. I think that it was the rollers I was using since I could not see a clear photo of what the Gemini was using. I redesigned a Copy Carver to use linear bearings and shaft similar to the Gemini (instead of the Copy Carver parallelogram box) and it works fine. I don't do anything with it anymore though, since the CNC router bug bit me.

The distance of the pipe rail above the table isn't very critical. It needs to be roughly in the middle of the expected vertical travel range that you expect to be working with.

The probe distance should be equal to the router bit distance relative to the pivot point. If they are not identical, it will cause the copy object to be shifted by the amount of difference in length. Making the distances the same just insures that the cutter doesn't run off the edge of the workpiece on one end or the other when the workpiece is mounted evenly beside the master template.

The probe tip and cutter tip must be set to the same reference vertically or the copy part's thickness won't be the same as the master object.

Hopefully, someone here can give you the actual dimensions that you requested.

CarveOne

[blackbeard52]

Carve One

Did you make any drawing of your DIY Copy Carver?

Bob

[CarveOne]

No, I didn't. I took some digital photos of it and I still have some notes though. I didn't see any reason to draw plans in a CAD program.

The T shaped pipe contains old lead wadcutter .38 cal bullets that acts as a counterbalance to make the probe almost weightless at the probe knob for ease of movements in all directions. One photo shows the carriage flipped over on the tubing rails so the details can be seen. I used 1" gas pipe and fittings, the router mount is made of 2x4 pine scrap painted with Krylon hammer finish gray. The probe is 1/2" mild steel rod with the ends turned to 1/8" and 1/4" diameters. 1/2" ID washers are tack welded to the probe's T fitting to work with two thumb screws for holding and adjusting the probe. There is a 1/4" thick aluminum plate between the pipe assembly and the linear slide block that has screws to join the two assemblies. The carriage plate is 3/4" plywood and there are ball bearings embedded in the 1" poplar wood at the ends of the axles for ease of rolling. The wheels are 4" cast aluminum pulleys. The rails are 1/2" EMT tubing. The base is made of 3/4" plywood with 1" poplar end boards and 2x6 pine boards for the sides. The pipe section lengths were selected to give the proper spacing of the probe and router bit for working with two 12" x 48" birch plywood panels from the local R/C hobby shop.

Building one from the Copy Carver plans is simpler and less expensive. It seems that I always have to do something other than the plans show, just to be different I suppose.

CarveOne