What should I make? Taking a machining class.

I can't view your picture because of the firewall here at work, but if you don't want to beleive me, you will find out for yourself.

You can use CAM software to generate G code... it is the right way to do it... but until you have a alot of experience/familiarity with that CAM, your CAD, and your CNC - and how they all interact, you had better double check every single move that it is commanding... because the cost of the CAM software converting something just a little wrong is at best a new cutter, at worst a damaged machine.

Not to mention there is a difference between ideal feeds/speeds and real world performance based on the variables inherent to your situation.

Cutter sharpness, quality, lubrication, etc will all effect what your speed/feed will need to be... and having that wrong can destroy a part or cutter in a hurry.

If you have no experience w/ machining, I think the absolutely WORST thing you can do is jump right into the CAM approach... because you have no frame of reference to compare the output to.

Cutting electrons in a simulation is a lot different than cutting metal.

Spend some time making relatively simple manual parts first, and get a feel for how the material behaves before you get too deep into the CAM stuff.
 
It's also entirely possible to design parts that cannot be produced with your machine. For example, you can model a hollow sphere but it would be damn near impossible to make it on a CNC lathe or mill just by plugging in the design.

And some things just don't translate well from electron to metal. There are always tolerance and surface finish and hardness issues to deal with, among other things.

This is where the art of machining meets the science of design. And this is why I love our machine operators. All their experience really helps make the designs a reality.
 
Here's a simple machining project I was interested in:

I had asked my machinist about making up some of the conversion "pucks/cups" for using small non-synchro 3spd 100 series u-joint driveshafts with 8" rears or Transmission conversions. The idea is to slip them over the small u-joint bearing caps to fit the typical post '67 six and Vee8 yokes and rears. My machinist said "no problem making them" but the setup charge was more than a driveshaft.

If you could make some I'd line up for a few pair and you may even become world famous ':roll:'

With Kudos to RickWrench:

cups3d.jpg



cups1.jpg


Here's the FSP thread on the adapters, ( they convert the 1100 type universal to the 1300 type):
http://fordsix.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... ght=nickel



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