And so it begins.... (My adventures into Alox!)

[MadPlumbarian]

Oh sweet!
JR

[Huntsman]

Hmmm -

Can the Tormach really machine that finely? I know if Syph is planning to do this - then he will have checked it out and it can!    - Incredible   
I guess the drill/machine head goes around the outside (and inside) of each of the tweezers and leaves the full block (frame) intact and fully bolted down at the corners

These will look amazing - Can't wait to see them 

- But it does seem like a big waste of Ti to me   

[Syph007]

Hmmm -

Can the Tormach really machine that finely? I know if Syph is planning to do this - then he will have checked it out and it can!    - Incredible   
I guess the drill/machine head goes around the outside (and inside) of each of the tweezers and leaves the full block (frame) intact and fully bolted down at the corners

These will look amazing - Can't wait to see them 

- But it does seem like a big waste of Ti to me   

That's a 2 inch by 4 inch piece of Ti.  About 15 dollars of Ti to make 14 tweezers.   The real cost is in broken endmills and I won't know that until I try.

The tormach has the resolution no problem.

[Huntsman]

Hey Syph - Thanks for coming back to us 

So I guess quite a lot of waste - But not a lot of cost and still only $1 a tweezer - That seems worth it!! 
And I guess quite a lot of milling time too.
Hope you don't get too many broken bits !!

I guess if you worked in a foundry all the left overs would go back in the furnace.

I worked in a precision castings foundry once - where we used the inverted lost wax method to make the castings - All the leftover frames/trees just went back in the furnace, for the next run ! 

Sorry to harp on - Recycling and waste is one of my obsessions 

[WWW]

Do you think it is more viable, considering the surface finish and not having to do so much finishing on such tiny parts, to just mill it rather than waterjet cutting? Because of the sizes of mills you will have to use the first thing tht came to mind was the waterjet. But the finishing afterwards on such tiny parts, as I previously stated, made me think it would not be worth it. What are your thoughts?

BTW congrats, I'm glad that you're doing this for a living, I imagine it is really fun.

[Syph007]

Do you think it is more viable, considering the surface finish and not having to do so much finishing on such tiny parts, to just mill it rather than waterjet cutting? Because of the sizes of mills you will have to use the first thing tht came to mind was the waterjet. But the finishing afterwards on such tiny parts, as I previously stated, made me think it would not be worth it. What are your thoughts?

BTW congrats, I'm glad that you're doing this for a living, I imagine it is really fun.

Waterjet finish is pretty rough ya and it also doesnt make perfectly perpendicular to the surface cuts.  Not ideal for very thin components.  Also I can work on a cutting strategy to keep supports in place on the outside while I cut the inside and tips, then cut the outsides last and leave little tabs.  Only the very inside part will need the 1/32 bit the rest will be cut with the 1/16.  I finished the Gcode so I can try it tomorrow.   

[WWW]

Waterjet finish is pretty rough ya and it also doesnt make perfectly perpendicular to the surface cuts.  Not ideal for very thin components.  Also I can work on a cutting strategy to keep supports in place on the outside while I cut the inside and tips, then cut the outsides last and leave little tabs.  Only the very inside part will need the 1/32 bit the rest will be cut with the 1/16.  I finished the Gcode so I can try it tomorrow.   

Good luck!!! 

[Syph007]

First cuts went just fine... Now does it work?

[ReamerPunch]

 

[MadPlumbarian]

+1
JR

[m47mu74nt]

+1
JR

               
                             

[Poncho65]

The suspense is killing me

[Don Pablo]

Me too! 
 

[Psych]

Syph,

Seeing the springy nature of the tweezers you're now working on reminds me that quite a while back, you were making liner locks for some 93mm mods you were doing at the time. Any chance that idea could translate to the 91mm mods you're doing?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MusicMen]

Well???
 

[lister]

So how long before you start making your sak-s completely from the ground up? 

[Syph007]

The leaves of the tweezers were too thin.  Machined fine though but I got a better idea on how to cut them and not need a tiny 1/32 bit.

[ReamerPunch]

[Intensity intensifies]

[lister]

 

[WWW]

Does it involve a horizontal milling machine?

[Syph007]

Does it involve a horizontal milling machine?

No.  I realized I could have machined the tweezers with the leaves far apart, and bend later. I didnt have to have them so close and use such a tiny bit.   

[WWW]

At least you realized that, it didn't even occured to me! My thought process was more in the lines that a horrizontal mill will have more support, you could cut a long groove (like an Al extrusion, think the side profile of the tweezers) and than just cut them off. Good solution you've found, I hope it works well.

[Syph007]

Ive FINALLY come up with a way I like to hold all the scale tools people want.  Drawing it up now in CAD then I can post what Im thinking of trying.  The pen is still too thick to fit unless I can find an option for a thinner one, but regardless if this works I can fit ...

Toothpick
Tweezers
Small firesteel
Pin
Sewing needle and thread 

That takes care of what most people would want, and there will be a small space left over to store whatever else could be jammed in there.

Ive been stuck forever trying to work out the mechanism.  I know I could machine a little drawer hollow that opened in the scale, but how would it lock into place to avoid accidentally opening, and it would also have to be simple so that machining time/cost wasnt too much more and no extra parts like more screws and tapping would be needed.

I did have to go with much thicker Ti for the backscale 0.155" instead of the 0.100" I used now, but that at least this will provide a way to offer people what they want.  It would still be slightly thinner than a stock SAK with plastic scales though (0.070" thinner) since it still wont have the outer liners.  So still an ok compromise I think for those that would want this.

My breakthrough in mentally working on this was realizing how I could machine the drawer to have a built in retension spring to snap it home and become a solid part of the scale when not needed.  A small nail nick would be exposed either on top on inside to pop it open.  It would be part of the back scale and open upwards like a normal tool, but the hinge point would be towards the inside not where the normal tools pivot. 

[Monrogue]

Oh that sounds interesting Syph

Proud SAKMC member

[Poncho65]

Oh that sounds interesting Syph

Proud SAKMC member

  What Mons said

[m47mu74nt]

 



--> [ ]

[lister]

--> [ ]

+1
 

[Syph007]

--> [ ]

+1
 

So far Ive only cut out the thicker backscale.  Im arranging components on top of that to try to decide the shape to cut.

I do have pics of today's build SAK though. 

[Huntsman]

Wow - A Master Ranger - With Pruner and Hex wrench

And settles the CS vs Ph debate 

Is that a Ti corkscrew or is it just a trick of the light?

Amazing stuff as always my friend!!

[Poncho65]

Great toolset on that one

I love the cut out in the scales as well