In parallel to the table setup and waiting for parts to print I have also been working on the XZ plates and the struts that are needed for the beam. I was hoping to use my LR3 for both of these items, sadly that wasn’t possible.
For the two strut plates on my beam they needed to be 1389mm in length. Sadly my current LR3 setup maxes out at just under 1300mm length on the Y axis. So I will be printing temp struts and having my LR4 cut its own parts. Same thing I did with the 3, so not worried about that.
The XZ plates is where I have had a lot of fun lately. This is my first steps into cutting aluminum on my machine and I have learned a lot, as well as being totally impressed with what these machines can do. I used this great write up to help me get started -
It got me a starting point, and I went from there. Did some sample cuts testing feeds and speeds. Lot of new items were learned around material hold down as well. I was able to get the V1 logo cut after a couple tries.
First one didn’t go so well.
Got some settings I was happy with and started cutting the XZ plates. First one went well, but was a little short in regards to depth and didn’t fully cut it out. I was able to manually get the piece out and then a bit of sanding on the edges go me a final part I could use. Adjusted the depth of cut and tried to get the second one as well. Adding that extra 1mm of depth really messed up the cut and I ended up with some missed steps in the process, trashing the part. Had to slow the speed of cut down and was able to get the second one finished. I now have two XZ plates that are ready for a machine build I think.
Next update will hopefully be the machine going together.
Philip