Reply with QuoteSo nobody has a suggestion for removing a broken tap?
FLA-100 80/20 build (my first cnc)
So here is my plan... I want to build the FLA-100 2'x3' machine but with a few modifications (really just bells and whistles). I built a table/stand for it over the weekend. It is nothing fancy, just some 2x4 framing with 3/4 ply for the surfaces. I intend to house the PC and all electronics on the bottom shelf, along with a dust collection unit. I will most likely partition the area in order to separate the electronics from the DC.
So the 80/20 arrived today. As with what seems to be tradition, I laid it all out to get an idea of how it was going to look. This gets the juices flowing! But the excitement was short lived as I realized the scope of what was ahead for me. I ordered the 80/20 direct in order to save a little money. So, that meant I had a lot of drilling and tapping to do. The first thing I figured I would do is tap the legs. I got through 2.5 of them before the first casualty of this endeavor. I broke my tap off in the leg! AAARGHHH!!! So, my first question as you may have surmised is... What is the best way to remove a broken tap?
Until I get that worked out I guess I'll just start drilling some holes in the rest of the extrusions. I'll try to update this thread as often as possible. There will likely be days I don't update it though, the wife and kids require a little bit of my time as well.
My next update may be on Wednesday. I will be getting the steel and fasteners from FLA that afternoon. Hopefully things will really start coming together by the end of the week.
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So nobody has a suggestion for removing a broken tap?
Cmorrowk,
You might try a long set of needle nose pliers and try to reach in between the flutes of the tap and back it out. If that doesn't work you may be looking at a new piece of material. The only other way I've ever seen broken taps removed from material is by burning them out with an EDM.
There was a thread started several months ago by a "Jason" that tapped his pieces using a drill and cutting fluid. Kind of like using a Tap-a-matic head on a mill machine. You might look up his thread and see if he can offer any help.
I also noticed in one of your pictures a can of WD-40, don't use that as cutting oil for you tap. Go to a local hardware supply and get cutting oil. If you used the WD-40 with the tap, you most likely seized the tap into the aluminum because there isn't enough lubrication for cutting the treads. Make sure to use lots of cutting oil and after a couple of turns make sure to back off the tap to clear the chips.
Good luck with your build.
Chuck
Thanks Chuck. I'll give that a try. I just need to find some needle nose pliers that are fine enough to get in there. Luckily, if need be, I suppose I could just leave it in there, since it is a leg.
making some progress
Ok, I got some hardware delivered yesterday. I also got the steel plates and went ahead and painted them. I also managed to finish drilling and tapping everything. Finally, I got a chance to do a little assembly tonight. Just the main frame so far, but I also dry fit the gantry and z axis just to get an idea of how it was all coming together. It's gonna be a while before I get the bearings and leadscrews, so in the mean time, I'm gonna be working on the lights for the gantry. My plan is to use some blue led's on the sides and white led's to light the work surface. (I have to give props to CNC74 for the idea of lighting the gantry) While it might not be everyone's cup of tea, I think it looks great! Please let me know your thoughts and feel free to give advice. I am new to this, so any comments will be appreciated.
Broken tap
Not sure if you had any progress removing that broken tap, if not you can purchase a tap extractor from Mc master carr. Not sure what size you need but here is a link McMaster-Carr.
They run $9.00 - $15.00 plus shipping. Make sure you back the tap up after every half turn to break the chip and make sure the tap is perfectly perpendicular to the surface.
Proof of concept
Thanks Galtor for the helpful info. Actually, I did not get the tap out. But luckily, it broke off in a leg, so I just put that side down. It won't impact anything.
Now on to the cool stuff... Since I've done about all I can do until I get the next order of supplies in, I thought I would have a little fun today and tinker with some lighting ideas. I threaded some blue leds into the vertical gantry columns and then played around with different ways to route the wires to hide them. I think I've come up with a good solution. The pics are just proof of concept. After I got the led's in the tracks, I did a quick wire up and plugged it in to see how it looked. I'm liking it! I still need to get the white led's to go along the bottom side of the gantry to illuminate the work surface. It should look pretty cool once complete.
Looks good. One thing to think about with the lighting kit: the human eye is most sensitive to changes in hue for blue, but of the three colors the eye sees, blue is also the hardest for the eye to focus on. If you want to evaluate the results of your work, especially fine details, don't use a blue light - standard white is better, or you can go with a grading light if you want to spend the money (way overkill for this stuff). If you want to shoot videos in the dark, then go ahead!
Design suggestions?
Bear5k,
Thanks for the suggestion. Honestly, the blue led's are really just for looks. I'll have a couple of rows of high intensity white led's mounted on the gantry above the workpiece. They will provide the primary lighting.
I like the look of silver and blue, so the lighting is really just part of the color scheme. I've been trying to decide what type of work surface to go with. At first, I was thinking of an MDF surface with some Rockler t-tracks every 6" or so. Then I saw the 3" wide t-tracks Rockler has (the same one used for the table top of their Shark CNC Pro Plus. I love it but it gets a bit pricey. I'm also considering 80/20 for the table top. Any suggestions out there for a good but inexpensive aluminum table top for this thing?
Good, inexpensive and aluminum don't go together, from my own research. the MDF + T-track stuff is under $100, after that, you get expensive quickly. If you have a keyhole cutter, you can create your own t-slot table out of aluminum plate, but then that requires a good clamping surface which requires...
"Good, inexpensive and aluminum don't go together". Yeah, that's what I'm finding too. I was hoping I was missing something. I guess I'll call about a quote on some 8020 t-slot extrusion. I think that may be the least expensive option (for aluminum at least). Then again, there's a lot to be said for the ease of replacing MDF.
Try this instead:Originally Posted by cmorrowk
New Customer 30% Off Promotion | MISUMI, the catalog company of Machine Components
Misumi's catalog has a bit of a learning curve to it, but the prices seem to be better than both Bosch (by a lot) and 8020, when looking at comparable extrusion. That being said, I truly like being able to configure the machining online, rather than with 8020's manual process (unless you get the ACAD plugin working).
Thanks! That looks like a good site. If I'm doing it right, it looks like I could get what I'm looking for, for around $85! I'm looking at their 5-series extrusion. The HFS5-2080 looks like a possibility. If I'm figuring correctly, a 36" piece should run about $15.82. And it states 80mm width (that should be just over 3"). I could buy 8 of them for a 36"x 25"+ wide table for around $126.56. Then after the 30% discount, it should come in around $85 plus shipping. That's not too bad. Judging by these dimensions, do these seem like standard t-slots?
Excited and disappointed
Well, I got my next shipment of parts today. I ordered the CNCRouterParts.com Parts Bundle from FLA. Unfortunately, the box was ripped open on the bottom and several parts were missing. I've sent an email to FLA. I hope I'll hear from them soon. Have any of you had this kid of problem before? If so, did FLA work with you?
Anyway, I am excited about what I did get. I was able to get the gantry completed as well part of the z-axis. I've gone as far as I can until I get the missing parts. I also got my white LED's installed (roughly). Here are some pics of the build so far, as well as my jacked up shipment (just in case FLA is reading).
Sorry for the box damage. I will send replacements out tomorrow.
Regards,
Nate
www.finelineautomation.com
FLA is a class act!
Thank you so much for the quick response Nate. I'm impressed. I have several more parts to purchase and I'll certainly buy from you. And for anyone else thinking about buying from Fine Line Automation, I can't say enough to convey what a great company and quality product Nate has to offer. A+ service. Thanks again.
-Chris
I'm liking your build so far!!!
Good stuff!
The blue looks cool!
Its all down hill from here for you. Getting the right parts is the hardest part.
If you don't already have Aspire 3.0 and or VCarve Pro 6.0 you might want to give those programs some serious consideration. They are to good and too easy to use not to have.
Chris,
The parts went out today via Priority Mail. Sorry about the missing parts from the first box. Normally, I've been putting all of the carriage hardware bags into a larger bag to prevent things like this from happening.
Thank you for the kind words, especially after I took a fairly long time to answer your emails.
Regards,
Nate
www.finelineautomation.com
I ordered stuff from Nate at the beginning of the year and any time my boxes came damaged and missing parts he shipped me replacements asap..
Sometimes he was a bit behind but that's what happens when you do good work and the demand ramps up..nothing but kudos for him and his support
I like the looks of your table and should be an easy build. What are the dimensions of the top of your table? Do you find it to be rigid enough for the router?
Thanks, JD
