[CNC] S45 Plasma Head 3d-print For Cnc Diy Torch Holder.

countryguy

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Well the post should really be titled "How I spent my Summer Vacation". I'll see if the Misses can forgive my chronic toydum' over the summer of 2016 and do something nice to her craft room over Winter! -Pay'n the piper on this one guys!

Issue 1: My S45 Machine Torch (from Everlast) went belly-up. It simply would not stay running. I knew it was the head assy. To get a new Head piece was going to be $170+shipping.
Item 1: My Son talked me into a new 3D printer for the shop! And it's a dandy! I used it to fix my DoAll power down feed geared head Drill not long ago. (on another thread).
Item 2: I have been dying to get away from Draftsight and into Fusion360! A 3D CAD program w/ built in CAM support and 3D printer compatibility. It's just amazing!

Mix that all together a few months back and you get the Video below:

This Machine torch goes with my first ever CNC end to end Milling project which is the torch holder in the pics. I did a write up here: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...ct-is-done-thanks-to-hmers.39980/#post-348838

A few pics of the unit all buttoned up and a short test cut run. NOT dialed in. Just tossed something up. Just proved we're operational again! Whew!
... thumbnails- click to open.
IMG_0501.JPG IMG_0496.JPG
IMG_0500.JPG IMG_0499.JPG

A few final comments:
The video printing our part is about 3 printed parts into the total of probably 15 or so we actually printed out! things like 3D settings, blocking, layer adhesion/temp, Wow- We learned so much about 3D printing (My son and I). We're excited on the way it supplements our budding shop. The Speed at which Fusion360 can crank out a part, and the overall element of DIY!

Lessons learned:
- Expect to design the part quickly. Fusion360 (never touched it before) and I had the basic 3D render done in about a day. After that it was learning all the extra elements for making it into a real functional part with trial and error prints out and finding out it needs this or that moved and tweaked.

-Nothing is fast in 3D printing. Each side takes 3.5 hours. We did just upgrade to simply3D rather than Cura and that runs about 1.5hours w/ some special gCode optimizing and material fill-in algo's.

- Use Goggle ChromeCast- Setup my Lappy to the 55" TV and use YouTube to watch the Fusion360 channel from Autodesk on a big screen. In the space of about 2hours of videos, I then had my part ready in less than a day.

- I have found the NY-CNC youtube channel full of info on the use of Fusion360 and the CAM functionality. I'm told autodesk bought HSMWorks (hope I have that right) and integrated it into the CAM of F360? Either way- the NYCNC host loves it and had sold me on it. Will be making 2 more CNC machine torch holders & heads w/ my Son for his school w/F360 CAM replacing DolphinCAM.

Not sure if folks consider the 3D realm as valid HM forum material, but since it's tied in w/ my DIY torch kit and the ability to aid and assist our home shop of machines, how can we not welcome this tech w/ some really wide open arms!


Enjoy the coming Fall! I'm now behind on a few things but my torch is up and running and Fusion360 is our devoted CAD and CAM tool going into late 2016. Just cannot beat this one.

Jeff and Mitch.
 
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Not sure if folks consider the 3D realm as valid HM forum material

Absolutely YES!!!!

Although I have no CAD/CAM/CNC abilities currently in my shop (my "CAD" is still mostly pencil and paper), I see a bright future with it. As prices come down due to increasing use, I hope to someday add a 3d-printer to my shop too. I am always glad to get some recommendations on software, and hardware along the way.

Thanks for sharing this!

-brino
 
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I have an Ultimaker II+ that get a fair amount of use. In fact, I just finished a project that combined parts make on the Mill and parts make on the 3D printer. It was a little awkward using Metric for the 3D printer and Imperial for the Mill but I managed.20160605_142312.jpg 20160509_211158.jpg
 
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