<<Re-post of Bartman's LR3 build thread - A New(bie) Adventure! - #130 by Bartman >>
Well where did those last six weeks go? Time seems to accelerate, and progress on the LR3 seems to creep along.
I ordered a few more end mills from V1E, then edited the g-code to resume the cutting where the previous effort left off. I managed to finish the cuts without breaking or welding aluminum to the new end mill, so I have no idea why the earlier one broke where it did.
The LR3 seemed to cut through the 2mm aluminum really easily. I used Trochoidal Milling for most of the cuts, and Regular Milling for the smaller text on one of the struts, and both worked great.
Feeds and Speeds:
Trochoidal: RPM 20000, DOC 2.75mm, FR 2250mm/min, Plunge 500mm/min, Plunge Angle 90, Trochoidal Stepover 7.9%, Trochoidal Width 35%, Finish 0.35mm
Regular: RPM 20000, DOC 2.75mm, FR 475mm/min, Plunge 475mm/min, Plunge Angle 90, Finish 0.35mm
Some video highlights of the non-trochoidal cut:
The 2mm aluminum seemed a little thin, and still had a bit of flex when cut to the 80mm width of the strut. So I cut a total of 6 struts, and doubled them up . Two of the struts had the Lowrider 3 logo cut out for the top layer of the front and back struts:
(The top two aren’t as shiny because I cleaned the others with IPA and a ScotchBrite before taking this picture, but hadn’t done the last two yet)
I painted the lower strut and then laid the upper strut on top, for a very nice contrast (at least IMO).
Next up is cutting of aluminum XZ plates (6mm) and YZ plates (9mm). Stay tuned…