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Mine is the Model "99-A5" knife grinder. I paid $75 for it at a garage sale and it's been out in my barn for over 20 years but I've never used it. We plugged it in last night and it runs like a sewing machine. Had to load it with a lift boom on a tractor because it's super heavy. Now to get it off my pickup truck and into the shop somehow. I'm going to try grinding a 90° point on some flat bar to make some linear rails to accommodate v-bearings. Hope it works.
Guy, yes it will be a hotwire cutter. My bro-in-law obtained a large amount of 80/20 aluminum T-slot extrusions http://www.8020.net/ and fittings from the textile factory where he works. They were throwing it away and he was just going to sell it for scrap! I paid him about $400 for all of it with other things in mind. There is plenty enough of the stuff to build a frame for a large hotwire foam cutter, a 4x8 CNC router and several smaller machines like small CNC routers or laser engravers. I already built a computer enclosure out of some of the smaller extrusion. This was taken before I added the plexigas and an access door...
I'm attempting to build the foam cutter as inexpensively as possible..Since it will need to run slow with very low acceleration and torque, light stepper motors will be sufficient. Expensive servos would be overkill. Likewise, for the same reason, timing belts will be used instead of expensive rack and pinions. Of course the linear guides (I hope) can be ground to accommdate v-bearings out of relatively cheap flat bar using the old grinding machine. Accuracy would be the only concern here, as the load-bearing requirements are minimal. This will be way cheaper even, than round linear guides. I'm going to try to keep the cost below $1k with the bulk of it going to the stepper motors, drivers, power supplies and some software. My Aspire program can generate the g-code for most operations; even for the rotary axis which I hope to add later, but I will need a program like Mach3 to run it.
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7403 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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Here's the old machine. I discovered that a carriage stabilizer thingy had been installed backwards on the machine, was underneath the rack on the rack/pinion drive and was causing the carriage to rock. I removed the carriage, cleaned the linear slides and greased them, removed two nuts on the stabilizer and turned it 180°, and reassembled. It will be ready for another trial run.
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7403 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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That is cool. I like old that old stuff. I'm currently working on a drill press of the same era. the guy left it outside in East Tn for 12 years, (=rain). All the parts were stuck, but with generous quantities of penetration oil, and a large wooden maul, I've freed all the parts but one. Now using homemade penetrating oil, a mix of trans fluid and reducer. Had lots of the later, so that was the way to go. But enough of my project; I'm wondering about this one you're working on. Not sure what your intent is. Will it be like a computer controlled router table for foam?
-------------------- James Donahue Donahue Sign Arts 1851 E. Union Valley Rd. Seymour TN. (865) 577-3365 brushman@nxs.net
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch, Benjamin Franklin Posts: 2057 | From: 1033 W. Union Valley Rd. | Registered: Feb 2003
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James, Yes, I plan to grind some linear rails on the old machine, for a CNC foam cutter. I have some v-groove linear bearings ordered and they should be in by next week. After re-assembling the top of the grinding machine and making some stablizer supports for the linear slide/carriage thingy, I tested it on a piece of 1/4" flat bar. Just by turning the drive pulleys by hand, it produced a very nice uniform edge. ....
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7403 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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