How Do I (Did I) Make This?

[Geof]

There have been threads asking 'how do I make this part'?

I am cheating I guess, because I have already made it so my question is; 'how did I make this part'?

It started off as a piece of 3/4" black Delrin and finished up about 38 seconds later, as a wedge shaped forky thing. Actually its 'official' name is "Lipsync Mouthpiece Extractor" but possibly someone will identify the mouthpiece in the pictures. If you want to know what a Lipsync is: http://www.acctinc.ca

[DSL PWR]

I'd guess in a mill with a 4th. 1st profile the sides, then index 90 and do the slot.


Or you may be a beta tester for one of those new haas live tooled lathes...

[tobyaxis]

Well Geof I know you don't have one but I would do it on a Mill/Turn so it comes out nice and pretty.

Seriously though you could have turned the OD, Faced and Chamfered both ends, then used an Indexer or a 4th axis.

Your a bit more crafty than that though so my guess is as good as yours

There are a million and one ways to skin a cat so you might just get a million and one answers.

Cheers!!

[Geof]

It didn't even get near a lathe.

No that is a lie; after cutting on the bandsaw I carried it past my TL2.

[Jason3]

Hmm, standing on end as in Photo 1 top left, with a ball end mill?

Heh, I'm dying to know now!

Regards,

Jason

[Geof]

Hmm, standing on end as in Photo 1 top left, with a ball end mill?

Heh, I'm dying to know now!

Regards,

Jason

Three of the steps were done with a ball end mill.


Hamilton? It has been a few decades since I was in Hamilton.


Stay tuned, I will show more detail but at the moment I am seeing if anyone can figure out how it was fixtured.

[Jason3]

Yep, Hamilton. It's probably changed since you last visited

180 flip fixture on a 4th? I'm imagining a row of holes that clamp the diameter at the midpoint, round over tool on the back end and then flip, same tool on the tips of the prongs, then ball end for the rest?

...bet it's something so simple we'll be kicking ourselves!

Best regards,

Jason

[Geof]

...180 flip fixture on a 4th? I'm imagining a row of holes that clamp the diameter at the midpoint,..Jason

Yes very simple, gripped not quite at the midpoint.

Building the fixture was simple the awkward part was programming. I had a picture in my mind for what I figured it should look like but no drawings. Instead of doing even a hand sketch I just ran the machine using the Jog controls and made one that looked like what I wanted it to look like and simply calculated the tool positions and paths backwards from the coordinate display that I wrote down for a few key locations.

From starting to build the fixture to having about 40 finished was a bit less than eight hours.

[chuck_hobby]

Well, does the mystery get solved?
How does our intrepid hero end up fixturing this part? Does he get the girl and beat the bad guy at the end? Is there a rainbow and violin music?

So many questions.
Chuck

[Geof]

Jason3 did answer correctly; multiple pieces clamped at the midpoint in a rotating fixture. I tried uploading pictures but for some reason my computer is sulking and will not load them.

[59caddy]

Can anyone tell me what is the best way cutting Delrin or High Density Polyethylene?
I have been trying to cut it with a 1/8 bit at very low speed and feedrate but it still doesn't work to good,


Thx caddy

[Geof]

Polyethylene needs a high feed rate; difficult with a very small cutter. The problem with plastics is that if the tool rubs too much, as it does with a slow feed rate, it overheats and melts the plastic. With a small cutter you need to slow the rpm and take a modest depth of cut or only a partial width tool engagement so the cutter can take a chipload of several thousandths of an inch without breaking. Ideally the chipload should be around 3 to 6% of the cutter diameter

Delrin is not as bad as poly for overheating and melting but again you need to have a good chipload, about half what is needed for poly, to avoid rubbing and melting.

In both cases sharp tools are essential, if the tool has touched metal at all it is not suitable, and an air blast to clear chips is very helpful. Coolant also helps if it is possible to use and just a fine mist in the air blast can make a big difference.