Thread: Alpha Zoot ... new aussie machine on the way!

Well, not much action with Alpha Zoot of late ... too many other distractions unfortunately. Have been making lots of tree signs on the Widgitmaster which will help to defray the costs of Alpha Zoot!

Post Christmas I have cleaned up enough of the workshop to start construction. Have constructed the legs for one side of the table and am working on the other side, hopefully today! When it starts to look like a table I will post some pictures.

Have learnt lesson "101 Hole Tapping" ... don't be too agressive when tapping ... broke a spiral tap in a hole and they are a cow to get out! Only that the bolt will be highly visible did I perservere with the removal ... next time I might be tempted to epoxy a bolt head on the outside and leave the broken tap for someone else to find when I am gone to CNC Heaven.

Cheers,

Alan

Hi Alan,
Good to see you are making some progress.
If I have trouble getting a tap out I get a drift and a big hammer and drive it thought either side depending on how deep it is in but usually from the back so the taper works for you. Sometimes you can re-thread or go to nut and bolt or larger size bolt and tap again. If it is a tungsten tap they break up easy but if HSS you have to grit your teeth and go for it - brutal but it works.
If you are lucky there is enough of the tap left that you can use a pair of vice grips to unwind it.

Zoot just quickly went through this thread great work have saved all the pdf's etc and booked marked to come back and have a real read.

Having seen the Ornamental CNC on Utube in action its the way to go

Ray

I broke 3 taps myself, 2 of them due to not enough lubricant (1st I didnt know, 2nd I was too lazy and thought there was enough), 3rd one just grabbed onto the steel and snapped.

I was agressive, I got fed up with the million holes that I broke out the drill.

What I learnt from my dad was that you get a center punch and shatter the tap, same goes for drill bits, you will either force the tap out or shatter the hell out of it, I shattered a HSS drill bit that broke half way through my rack but the taps just fell out, just retapped them and they were fine. Not sure if you would want to do this on something fragile thou, I was working with 4mm RHS which can support a car probbaly so hammering like mad wasnt going to do much if any damage.

Then again if you are not using lubricant start using it, I get this stuff from the Fastening store in a black can, kinda like WD40 but better.


BTW rod you need a bigger shed/garage.

Trefolex (spelling ??) or tap magic are both good products but anything is better than nothing.
The most common cause of broken taps is not tapping square to the hole. Anything that is not vertical to the hole will bind and snap the tap. If I have a lot of holes to tap I use a cordless drill but always run the taper tap in first as it helps to keep it sqaure to the hole. Set your clutch on the cordless to low torque and run it forwards and backwards as needed so you don't snap the tap. It helps if you have somebody to line the drill vertical as it is hard to do from behind the trigger.

Some modest progress ... have almost finished the table. Some pics so that you can see I have been doing something!!

I am amazed at how stable it is now, even before I add the diagonal bracing.

Cheers,

Alan

Hi Alan,
I expected good workmanship from you and have not been disappointed. I say I expected it because I have seen the fine detial in your box making.
This has the makings of a great machine and keen to see it progress.

Only thing is you might want to get rid of the brace off the front leg - it's ugly and it isn't doing much.

Well spotted ... the "brace" has now been bolted in for the side of the control box.

Hopefully today, if I can find time, I will fix the X axis rails and make a start on the gantry ... then it will begin to look like a proper machine and not just a table!!

Cheers,

Alan

Can my electrickery friends please help!

Table is slow unfortunately ... swmbo has me doing some fencing on the farm, so Alpha Zoot has been relegated down the list.

I am planning my control panel and am in 2 minds ... go for the retro look and just use toggle switches - no lights, bells or whistles! OR use these small round illuminated switches. They look good, but worry me when they say they need 2v @ 20ma for the led and there is only one terminal for it ... how does this work?

SPST Round Red Illuminated Actuator Rocker Switch

- Snap fits into a 20mm round hole
- 6 amps @ 250VAC
- LED requires 2V @ 20mA
- Q.C. tab termination
- Solder tabs for LED

Have also attached a first run layout for the panel ... any suggestions? No spindle at this stage, but am planning for one!

Chhers,

Alan

You could go really cutting edge and use some of these.

Of course on top of working out how to connect them, you have to write software to drive them. Still, it would look pretty cool

[Are you sure that the round switches you show only have one connection for the LED? The ones I've seen have two solder tabs for the light/LED]

They certainly look good, but at US$36.00 compared to AUD$2.65 from Jaycar x 8 ... I think that the simple look is going to fit my modestly priced machine!

As far as the Jaycar switch is concerned, I have one in my hand and the back has only 3 terminals ... top 2 are definitely the 240v switch ... checked it with my multimeter ... with one gold coloured terminal at the bottom. Somehow it has to be linked with one of the other terminal to know when to light up.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Cheers,

Alan

Between building swmbo's very large vegetable garden and 35° temperatures outside, I haven't been spending much time in the shed.

But I was a bit concerned that my legs (the table legs that is) were a bit off vertical ... 2mm max ... so before I fixed my cross braces I borrowed one of our hydraulic jacking kits from the Rescue Squad that I am a volunteer with, and it worked a treat. I suppose if the Rescue Squad jack can open up a mangled car, my task was just a walk in the park! ... everything now horizontal / square / vertical. I bought all my sheeting for the table top today with lots of 'screw in insert nuts' so I can use Rod's method of adjusting the top using grub screws.

Photo's to come when the top is on! Only trouble is that by putting a top on the table, it will probably end up like all other horizontal surfaces in my workshop ... chockaas!

Cheers for now,

Alan

Hi Alan

I would imagine one leg off the switch is connected to the led and the gold leg is the other leg of the led.....Are you going to switch 240v with the switch ...????

HTH
Frank

Hi Frank,

Most of the switches will be 240v, but again I am wondering if I need to use relays or just go gungho and switch direct.

The led asked for 2v and am not sure where I would get that from. My control power supply is 24v ... do you know any smart way of just plopping a resistor in the line to reduce it down to 2v?

Cheers,

Alan