Community Build Project Ideas.

What should the first Community Build Project be.

  • Total voters
    116
  • Poll closed .
Rotary table idea is neat, but I fear it is a bit much for a first project. A simple scisors knurler is more what I envisioned. Personally, I already have a rotary table, so making another does not interest me.
 
turbinedoctor, lots of good ideas. I think they mostly fall under the "not enough parts" category though. From your list, there are 8 of us, so something with 8 to 16 parts is perfect. If it's just under the limit, maybe we could add some little decorative item to add a bit of personalization.

Also, the parts need to interact in some way. Making a set of punches might be neat, but they don't work together in any way. Part of the challenge is to make mating parts that actually fit.
 
How about a coin operated girlfriend ? Lots of parts, challenge to make work. Perfect .....
 
I do think we have to consider what machines the people that are involved have. If we all have the same machines say a SB9A then we can make something for it, otherwise we might be making 8 different parts to fit each machine. I do think we should make something that is not tied to a specific machine and something that no one has or even thought of before. If we just think in this area we might just get something that we would enjoy and use without saying I have 2 of those already. I think we should be more like Frank Ford with his little odd ball tools that do a job and is not store bought, maybe just contact him for ideas, just a thought.
Paul
 
author=turbinedoctor link=topic=3498.msg25491#msg25491 date=1315799021
Here are the drawing for a simple oscilliating engine that doesn't look to hard to make. Only issue is that the diametions are in mm's

Turbo
Click to expand...
Isn't this closer to the point? How about something you can't buy? Maybe this is too simple but I believe it is in the right direction. The only reason I "Hobby Machine" is to produce things that can't be bought. Things that have value and can be treasured by non hobby machinist's (family etc.) It seems there are Hobby Machinist's with different interests. Some focus on the machinery itself(which is cool), others on the products they produce(which is me).
 
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Can you post a pic of the pantograph so everyone can see what you are talking about. Everyone I have seen was big, so a smaller scale might just work out. I thing we should get some dim's. on it to get an idea of size as some of us are hurting for room.
Paul
 
author=cyrusb link=topic=3498.msg25564#msg25564 date=1315862046
Isn't this closer to the point? How about something you can't buy? Maybe this is too simple but I believe it is in the right direction.
Click to expand...

That's what I was suggesting with Elmer's engines. Simple, nearly guaranteed to run, and just about the right number of parts. Start simple, and we'll continue with something more involved if/when this all works out.

If necessary, we can scale them up by a factor (1.5x? 2x?) to make them easier to make. Tiny parts have a way of being frustrating.
 
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The pantograph may be a good choice. Don't know if I need one, but we all have lots of tools in that category. We seem to find lots of uses when we have one.

I like the idea of leaving the base up to the final user - lots of variety there. Another section left out for the community part should be the motor and its mount- again, plenty of possibilities for that. Anything from Dremel to surplus, line voltage to low voltage AC or DC. Any concerns about speed control?

As an aside from the community build, the parallel build concept may be worth encouraging. While the community build will do wonders to get us working to accuracy standards, there are times when a project started and documented by one member may light a fire under some more of us. We could end up building half a dozen VR75 steam engines or some other cool item. No shipping involved, but lots of help available. I'm not suggesting this as an alternative, but in addition to the community build. Even the community project could be paralleled if someone wanted to try it without the multiple production part.
 
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The Pantograph can be made for less money. A old kitchen counter top can be the base or some other material like that and use a dremmel tool for cutter and save the cost of the motor. 80 holes seem kind of overboard, I think we can come up with some kind of clamp system. I am thinking of a old drafting machine that has a arm that travels all over a board, just make something on that order and attach the dremmel and guide to it. Oops I just did away with most of the parts, sorry!!! maybe we can add some more parts so more people can get involved. Just me thinking out load again.
Paul
 
If we do the pantograph I think I'd prefer to use Lautards design rather than take the shortcut of using a dremel.

-Ron
 
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