Making Large "Turner's Cubes" on an Engine Lathe

[BobWarfield]

Eric, so glad to see you're getting back into the shop a little bit. I'm sure most of us wish we could be as productive on an hour a day!

Your cube display looks magnificent. Be sure to put a little spot light nearby. The reflections on the ceiling and the rest of the room should be mesmerizing.

Best Regards,

Bob Warfield

[widgitmaster]

Thanks Bob!
Its good to be back on the Zone, instead of lurking around in silence!
Eric

[pete from TN]

That there is super cool I don't car who you are....!! Very nice work man. Someday I will get around to trying to make one of those cubes... Really neat.

Peace

Pete

[widgitmaster]

Well it took me a while to do it, but I made a little transmission to make the cube spin!

First I made a black Delrin block that bolts on the bottom of the upper plate, and bored a 7/8" dia cross hole. Next I made a slide out of 303-SS, that fit nicely in the bore. After winning a 56-RPM gear motor that runs on 3-VDC, I bored one end of the slide to fit the motor. Then I made an extension spindle which has two bearings, two spacers, one nylon bevel gear, and a hole with a setscrew to attach it to the motor's shaft.

Then I turned the outside ends of the slide to .75" dia, and made two clamps with long arms. Next I made two 303-SS buttons with 6-32 UNC threads on one end, so they can screw into the long arms of the clamps.
One of the buttons has a 3/64" radius groove, which will trip the micro switch and turn the motor on!

The reason for the over complicated gear box, is that for everyone I had shown my project to, they all smacked one point of the cube to get it spinning! Well, those little nylon gears would not last very long, as the power ratio at 2" from the cube's centerline is more than the little 3/8" OD gear can handle!

So I devised a mechanism which engages the gear as it powers up the motor, and puts the cube in free wheeling mode when power is off!

Now I have ordered two single "C" battery holders, and will have to wait for their arrival before I hog out the inside of the wood! It would be nice to be able to remove a cover plate from the bottom to replace the batteries, so I will try to think something up!

Here is a nice movie of the spinning cube:
VIDEO

[cnc_swe]

Your cubes seems pleasant to make. I do not find the original estimate, how do I do this? I think of the circles size relative to depth.
Is there a complete G-code to a size of about 75-50mm.
would be fun to try the steel before I buy home acrylic.

I'm lazy because I'm over fifty years old