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Retracting Key Ring Corrals Chuck Key. Noticed this write-in tip from Matthew Hakeman in the most recent issue of The Family Handyman. Googling discovered the title image in a thread over at GarageJournal.com, from user evintho. Looks like he’s put a metal strap around the key between the handle and the teeth. The illustration to right is from WoodworkingTips.com, and shows an alternate method for attaching the key ring to the chuck key using a short wooden dowel. I like this tip a lot, and I happened to have one of those retracting spring-reel key rings lying around, so I tried it on my own small drill press, as shown in the picture below.

I was able to use a small split ring to secure the chuck key at the end of the chain. Figuring out how to get the split ring in place without taking the chuck key apart is left as a homework assignment / tavern puzzle. Related. How-To: Center Stock in a 4-Jaw Lathe Chuck. Tools, Parts, Kits for DIY'ers - Curious Inventor. Basic Metal Working « MachinistVideos.com. Dank. Grbl is a free, open source, high performance CNC milling controller written in optimized C that will run on a straight Arduino. Get the code at Github | Follow Grbl on Twitter MIT Center for Bits and Atoms designed a beautifyl snap fit CNC machine controlled by Grbl. Nortd Labs runs their open source laser cutters with a Grbl-based firmware Who shoud use Grbl Makers who do milling and need a nice, simple controller for their system (and who can handle the lack of a user friendly, graphical client) People who loathe to clutter their space with legacy PC-towers just for the parallel-port Tinkerers who need a controller written in tidy, modular C as a basis for their project.

Nice features Grbl is ready for light duty production. The G-code interpreter impements a subset of the rs274/ngc standard and is tested with the output of a number of CAM-tools with no issues. Acceleration management Limitations by design At this time we have no nice desktop client for Grbl. Coming attractions. Extruder. Grinding Lathe Tools on a Belt Sander – For the New Guy | MachinistBlog.com. I’m a believer. As a new guy I totally sucked at grinding lathe tools. It’s almost painful to admit how many stubby, misshapen, multi-faceted, overheated and just plain ugly lathe tools I made back then. The amazing thing is that some of those tools actually worked as well as the pre-ground tools that came with my lathe. I started to believe those guys that tell you, “… just get it close and it will work.”

Fast forward 15 years and now I believe, after having ground many experimental tools, that the best lathe tool for a hobby-class lathe is a HSS tool with its tip geometry modified to reduce the cutting forces it produces, ground on a belt sander. Since standard tools are intended for use on industrial lathes their geometry can produce cutting forces that are excessive at times, especially when roughing but this can also affect sizing and finishing cuts. These modifications are not some deep dark secret. As always, working with machines and sharp stuff can result in injury or worse. Grbl development log. First complete job … completed I finished a little Air-app to stream complete jobs to the Grbl and render the result. This is the first “full scale test” running some 7000 lines of sample G-code I scrounged from this thread on CncForum. The Air-app feeds g-code to the microcontroller one line at a time, while the microcontroller generates the steps and feeds them back to be simulated in the Air-app.

Everything seems to be working perfectly - the only thing missing now is a test with real steppers on a real machine. You can get the code for the Air-based test-harness at the github-repository Last major feature in place: Helical motion After completing the support for helical motion, the project has reached the point where it is theoretically feature complete. Grbl now uses a simple buffer mechanism to decouple the production of stepper pulses from the computations of steps.

The next stage is to verify the design. CNC Router Build – The Stand | MachinistBlog.com. The stand for my Solsylva 25x25-inch CNC router is made from 1x4-inch pine boards. Two of the supports are hinged so you can fold the router down so it takes up less storage space. Building the stand for my Solsylva 25×25 CNC router was pretty simple. The hardest part was attaching the hinged support.

I also had some trouble finding straight lumber for it and the rest of the router. David Steele’s instructions and drawings are excellent and are easily among the best I’ve ever seen. The stand supports the router and it provides you with a work table to build it on. The Plans & Design Goals There are 109 pages of instructions and drawings that are very well written and drawn.

He designed this CNC router so it could be built with very basic inexpensive tools and so you can buy most of the materials at your local lumber yard or home improvement center. Buying Wood I learned a few things about buying 1-inch thick pine boards. Some suggestions if you build your own. Router Tool Holder by Rob.

The Largest Machinist Community on the net! - View Single Post - Epoxy-Granite machine bases (was Polymer concrete frame?) The Largest Machinist Community on the net! - View Single Post - So whats the Exopy Granite Mix? Free Plans: David Kerzel’s C02 Engine | MachinistBlog.com. Info/Images/47158Parts.pdf. Images.harborfreight.com/manuals/47000-47999/47158.pdf.