So some news from me, I have started the printing process for an LR3. I have been looking at the instructions and have the DXFs for the YZ plates. Plan to cut them out myself, and am looking for the size of the holes for the MGN12H Rails. I know you cut them yourself, so what bit do you use?
Thank you for your time!!
Rick
I use the 1/16" endmill as a drill.
drats…I don’t have one of them yet…hmmmm…I’ll have to get one!
Thanks again!
I just put an actual drill bit into my router, into the 1/8" collet. Because the bit was too small for the collet, I had to wrap painters tape around the bit so I could get a tight fit! I mentioned it in one of my videos way back. Don’t remember which one. Maybe on the LR3 plasma build series!
Yikes. That’s gotta result in some kind of runout…
I’ve used a 1/8" drill bit for a cribbage board.
I have a drill chuck that has a 1/4" hex shank, which I was considering putting on a lathe to smooth the hex to a 1/4" smooth bore for fitting to a collet, but the router speeds aren’t good for the drill bits.
I used a 1/16" bit to make the pilot holes for my plywood LR3 YZ plates, the acrylic ones were lasered with a 2.5mm opening that I thread tapped with an M3 tap.
As a result for smaller holes in most projects like circuit boards, I put in a pilot dent with a 20° V bit and finish the holes on a drill press. It works well enough, and avoids bit wandering and runout issues.
I imagine it did! It somehow was accurate enough to give me a nicely functional LR3. I am pretty sure this was on the one I’m currently using for the plasma cutter!
This is a good approach, right here.
This to me speaks to the engineering that went into the LR3.
Tolerances.
The MGN rails are one thing, but the #4 wood screws as recommended actually allow a little bit of wiggle for the pilot hole locations. So long as the holes are in parallel lines, a little bit of deviance from perfect placement is acceptable. The M3 screws that I used with the acrylic are a little less forgiving, but the tapped holes I ended up with were also higher precision.
Of course, even with the #4 screws, higher precision means better performance, but if you run the XZ plate up and down the rails before and after tightening down the screws, you are guaranteed that the rails are parallel enough, and get smooth precise operation.
I was thinking about this last night after I got the answer from Ryan. I have a 30 deg V-bit and was just thinking of having it make pilots that I would finish off on my drill press with the 1/16" drill bit. I am pretty sure I have some left over 1/2" MDF that I can get the plates cut out of. I just have to measure them against the DXF to make sure they are big enough.
This is what I did. I just used the 45 V bit from the shop and had it drill 1-2mm holes. Then drilled through on the drill press
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