Adding a subject to learn

Welding takes practice. In any event, i have had a stick in my hand, a TIG welder in my hand and a MIG welder in my hand. I did very well on all attempts. Probably because I can solder, silver solder (braze) and work with quartz and pyrex (Nothing fancy except sealing quartz containers hand made from square or round tubes under high vaccum)

The helmet isn't the only protection. Any place where the skin is exposed. The auto helmets are really nice.

Jason... If you go with KISS's idea to make a 3D printer... can you make me one? Reprap has all the design files on the net, I'm sure between us we could develop a slightly better heating nozzle, you could change the code to run on an ARM (its based on arduino at the moment)..

Welding with exposed skin is a bad idea. I did some MIG welding a couple of years ago without gloves and got quite severe sun burn.

Mike.

Yeah.. good isn't it... I some times tack weld without the mask (only for a brief moment ) Then wonder why your face hurts at night time.

Hey Jason. Since you mentioned Chemistry first, then think about it. Do not blow up Brooklyn as I plan a trip home in a week or so.

Years ago when I was a kid there were really cool Chemistry Sets available. You did different experiments with the host of chemicals and beakers etc. provided. Those things were great for learning. Anyway, chem would be fun because it could easily fit into your environment. Model rocketry is obviously out. Welding while nice requires space, ventilation and such.

Ron

Reloadron said:

Hey Welding while nice requires space, ventilation and such.

Ron

Click to expand...

Not to mention lost of $$$'s. I have more money tied up in welding gear than I do furnature for my house, and it's only a hobby.

AtomSoft said:

Hey Mcik i love the idea! I always wanted a CNC machine. The thing i never understood really is the controller. Like where would it start? is it like a printer? where it starts top left goes right then down and repeat?

Click to expand...

To put it basically, a CNC router/mill/engraver etc. uses stepper motors or servo motors, to move the cutting tool in a single, or a combination of the axes in use, commonly three for DIY, these being X Y & Z. The controller, usually a PC in the DIY versions, reads the G-code which has been produced by CAM software and sends out step & direction signals to the motor drivers, via the parallel port.

The XYZ start point is decided in the CNC software environment and all subsequent machining or traversing movements use the start point as a reference - X0 Y0 Z0.
For instance, you could have the vertical axis (Z) start point barely touching the top of the workpiece and X & Y at the top left, just outside the finished size of the workpiece.
Or, you could have the Z axis two inches above the workpiece and X & Y dead-centre.
Both are still classed as the start point....but the actual first chips of material to be removed will be determined when generating the tool paths in the CAM software. If the start point is far away from the first machining operation, time is wasted by having the cutting tool travelling in free space without cutting chips.
There's a lot more to it though, this is just a very basic outline.

This was a very good video on 3d printers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqhq5p6cKpM

Mick thanks for the info. I think i want to try it out. I will try and get about $100 to buy the stepper motors first. then play with them until i know how to control it.

Cool video gabeNC

Was just looking at https://buildyourcnc.com/default.aspx read a couple of the steps and fear they may have made that a bit over complicated or didnt explain it good enough. I think i have a fair idea on how to build one tho. I will check out CNC Zone again ...

I built the very 1st version on that website, with the table at 2' X 4'.
I used NEMA23 steppers and M8 X 1.25 threaded rod for the leadscrews. It would have been much faster with proper leadscrews, but it produced decent results for the projects I cut on it (mainly wood)
Unfortunately, I had to dismantle it due to a lack of space and the weight of the thing - it was in the loft and I had concerns about the ceilings below. The machine used about 11 or 12 sheets of 2' X 4' MDF plus the weight of the fasteners and angle-iron, motors etc and when small cracks started to appear, I pulled it apart with the intention of building a smaller one. I haven't got around to doing so yet though.

Hey mick... That's a collection of cordless toolery you have there

Mick that CNC looks sexy heh. and the dewalt collection is awesome! i had only 1 drill and cost me about $100 heh... I dont have much space here really. I was thinking of a SMALL CNC. Something in the rage or 1.5'x1.5' almost everything i work on fits in that realm of space. If i had a CNC the first thing i think id make is a case for my pickit 2 heh.. it has taken so much damage heh but its still alive

Like a lot of males, I have needs tool-wise.
Just like women have needs handbag/clothing/shoe-wise.
However, my needs get fulfilled only after careful deliberation as to their possible suitability and potential longevity.
I don't have any tools I have used only once and then donated to charity, or given away to family members.
I don't have any tools I wouldn't dare use again, once someone has seen me use them once.
I have plenty of tools I am proud to use day after day, week after week, year after year.
I would be quite happy to use my tools in the same space as someone else using the exact same tool and not have to rush out to buy a different one.
I would happily lend my tools to a mate and not worry what they got up to with them.
I wouldn't get mad if a mate then went out and bought the same tool.

Jason,

bear in mind the size of the actual cutting area. If you need to cut items up to 1.5', your machine will need to be larger to accomodate this.